Da Dong Gone in a New York Minute

A lot of money was spent to open Da Dong in Manhattan two years ago

Da Dong Roast Duck was my favourite place for Peking duck in Beijing over 13 years ago. The location in Dong Si Shi Tiao was fascinating, as you had to pass some imperial granaries before entering the restaurant.

A few years ago my friends treated me to Da Dong kaoya, this time in a new location behind the Worker's Stadium and the gaudy decor with statues of white horses seemed over the top as well as the LED lights representing reeds in the pond were ridiculous.

Da Dong near Worker's Stadium... see the horse in the back?

Inside there was a massive screen showing videos of chef Dong Zhenxiang cooking in France and scenes of people raving about his food. The video and the sound from it overshadowed our dining experience. It was distracting and not very interesting.

Ahhh how the mighty have fallen.

In late November, Michelin launched its first Beijing guide and everyone expected Da Dong to get three stars -- but it was not to be. It only garnered one, at the Dong Si Shi Tiao location.

And now Da Dong in Manhattan has closed, filing for bankruptcy after two years and scathing reviews from New York critics.

There was much talk about the place when the restaurant group announced it would open in the Big Apple, in a space for 400 seats and situated near Bryant Park. The Chinese really like to make a big splash.

The famous roast duck didn't impress Michelin inspectors

But that ambition apparently didn't translate into delicious food, with food critics from the New York Times and New York magazine giving Da Dong zero stars! While New York Post and foodie website Eater tried to find some good things to say about the Chinese restaurant.

Was it really that bad? I will never know because I never got to try it.

Maybe the ducks were not Chinese? Maybe the wood-fired ovens weren't allowed, making it hard to create the same flavourful smell from the wood of cherry and plum trees? Or maybe the restaurant had too much hype, making critics all too eager to take it down to size?

Then over a year ago I went back to Da Dong (albeit on Jinbao Jie, another location) and honestly, the duck wasn't that great. It seemed more oily than I remembered it, and didn't seem so special anymore. The thin pancakes were not warm, and the other dishes we ordered were pedestrian, or even salty.

What will chef Dong Zhenxiang do next?

One wonders what Dong is doing now, licking his wounds from his massive failure in New York. Will he try again elsewhere or just continue to placate the domestic market?

In the meantime the New York restaurant is trying to sell off all of its equipment, crockery, furniture and fixtures. It's a sad flash in the pan for Da Dong, who now knows the meaning of "Go big, or go home".

Roast Duck Empire

Talk about a flashy entrance for one of Beijing's top restaurants!

What's a trip to Beijing without eating Peking duck? And the best place in the Chinese capital to eat it?

Da Dong Roast Duck or Da Dong Kao Ya.

My friends suggested we dine at one of the nine locations I've never been too -- Gongren Tiyuchang Dong Lu, or Workers' Stadium East Road, a block from Sanlitun.

The half portion of roast duck neatly displayed on the plate

I arrived early to find that diners walk a long catwalk into this field with sculpted life-size horses, and in the middle is a "pond" filled with "reeds" that are blue LED lights with a wooden walkway in the middle.

It's very... gawdy which surprised me, as the Dongsishitiao location I used to frequent is in what was formerly the imperial granary, quite a classy place.

But here inside it gets even better. There's a massive screen, almost floor to ceiling (and it's a high ceiling) that shows off many of the gorgeous-looking dishes from his menu, and footage of him giving cooking demonstrations in Europe, hunting for white truffles, and being lauded by laowai, or foreigners.

As a diner facing the screen, it's really distracting to say the least... and there's more horses inside too...

Rapeseed flowers that didn't have much taste

Nevertheless, the food thankfully is still pretty consistent. The menu is a massive tome, a large rectangular book where each page is filled with beautifully-photographed dishes. You kind of need bookmarks to record possible dishes to order, otherwise you'll never find them again.

We ordered the half duck, and as before, it's juicy, tender and the skin isn't too fatty or oily. The pancakes are warm and thin, and we wrap the duck slices with the sauce, spring onions, radish, cucumber, a dab of mashed garlic, and preserved vegetables. They're so addictive that you have to have another one...

A new dish we tried was a massive vegetarian dumpling shaped like a bun, but it's not doughy. Inside was choc full of vegetables and cubed bamboo shoots. This was delicious and the crunchy texture was refreshing.

Braised eggplant with garlic and garnished with flowers

The braised eggplant dish was also a treat, decorated with flowers it was almost too pretty to eat. The slices of eggplant were well seasoned with soy and hoisin, and texture-wise were quite meaty.

However a disappointing dish was one of rapeseed flowers. While they looked pretty on the plate, they didn't have much taste to them, but now we know... it wasn't an expensive dish, but an interesting experiment to try.

Finally we had some mochi filled with durian paste that was fun to eat and the taste of the usually pungent fruit wasn't too intense. The restaurant also served some fresh strawberries that were surprisingly sweet.

Green-coloured mochi filled with durian paste

The chef-owner Dong Zhengxiang is not only a solid chef, but also a smart businessman. So much so that he's ambitious enough to open a Da Dong branch in New York! It will be located in 3 Bryant Park in Manhattan, New York and the rent isn't cheap -- 13,000 square feet there was asking for US$2.3 million per year...

I also heard he is using top quality chinaware with plates that cost 3,000 yuan (US$435) per piece...

Sounds like for Dong, it's go big or go home in the Big Apple...

Da Dong

Beijing Workers' Stadium East Road

Chaoyang District
(010) 6551 1806

Quanjude Celebrates 150 Years

Roasting the ducks over wood from fruit trees gives the birds a sweet taste

A Beijing institution, Quanjude Peking Duck celebrates its 150th anniversary this year.

It used to be the place for the roast bird called kaoya (烤鸭), as the restaurant is covered with pictures of VIPs who have eaten there, but most prominent are the photographs of then US President Richard Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger tucking into Peking Duck in 1972.

The original Quanjude location in Qianmen West

When I first visited China in 1985, we went to that restaurant and I couldn't understand why these famous people would like eating Quanjude's roast duck because it was so oily! And all they had on the menu was every other duck part, such as heart, liver, intestines, web, minced duck wrapped in cabbage, duck soup... was that all the restaurant served?

Then when I came back in 2007, I was so relieved to learn there was an alternative place -- Da Dong Roast Duck, and it is one of my favourite places, not only because the ducks are roasted a bit longer to let the grease drip off and make the skin crispier, but also because the restaurant features a number of other non-duck dishes that are just as delicious.

Perhaps that's why Quanjude is so anxious to trumpet its big anniversary this year, and marking the occasion with the opening of a museum in its Beijing restaurant.

The museum features 20 models that show each stage in preparing the famous dish. One of the stages shows the bird being pumped full of air to separate the skin from the fat.

A perfectly roasted duck before its carved...

How many people will check out the museum is hard to say, especially with hungry stomachs... nevertheless Quanjude boasts it has served 196 million ducks worldwide -- including a new branch in Melbourne!

That's a lot of ducks in 150 years...

Beijing Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant

14 Qianmen Xidajie
Beijing
(86 10) 6511 2418

quanjude.com.cn (in Chinese)