Beijing: Follow the Ducks to some Peking Ducks

In Beijing, or in the past referred to as Peking, a Peking Roast Duck is called a Roast Duck.  It is one of the best and most renowned Beijing dishes, as well as the most notoriously recognized stereotypical Chinese dish in mainstream North American media.  Often ordered in T.V. series such as Seinfeld, or in movies such as Mickey Blue Eyes, this dish is often associated with Chinese people, but it is definitely an association meant as a compliment.  Peking Duck is most famous as both a dish unique to the Chinese, as well as to the well traveled palates, as it's crisp texture, fragrantly flavorful fatty meat and drool inducing smell is none like that of the Peking Duck.  And where better to enjoy this dish than the highly celebrated alley hidden roast duck restaurant in Beijing, Liqun Roast Duck Restaurant.

Finding this restaurant is more than a feat, even for people who are from the area.  The reason being is that it is situated in the middle of nowhere between two major roads, hidden half a block inside an alley off the side of a small street, in the middle of a "Hutong", which is the old houses of Beijing built when dynasties still existed, and still occupied by tenants who are unable to afford anything better.  If not for the bright red lanterns that light the way into the alley, it'd be virtually impossible to recognize the alley entrance to the famous "Time Asia" reviewed and awarded restaurant, Liqun.

My suggestion would be to follow Google Maps to the main street, then head down the small street until you find the lanterns hung above a small alley near a small grocery store in the alley.

Decor
This is definitely one of the most rustic atmospheres you can get in a Roast Duck restaurant hidden in an alleyway in Beijing.  Arriving at the alley, you will see red lanterns hung above, and a huge painted sign with the words "Beixiang feng Hutong" next to the small alley that leads to the entrance of Liqun.  Below the red lanterns that dimly light the streets would be the first sign of Roast Duck, where black marker drawings of ducks on the wall of the alley hop in toward the restaurant.

follow the ducks to the roast duck restaurant!

Once you walk past a few of the "hutong" structures, you will see a well lit area, filled with seats, and most likely alot of people (mostly expats), and this is the place you want to be; the front entrance of Liqun Roast Duck Restaurant.  Beside the front entrance of the restaurant, is a small little podium where you take a number for seating or give your reservation.  On the other side of the entrance, there is a painting welcoming people to the restaurant on a wall, and a stack of wood they use to roast the duck in front of it.  The atmosphere of the "hutong" definitely gives a warm feeling of authenticity.

A warm welcome painted on the wall

Inside the front entrance, you will see where the ducks are roasted, in an oven hidden inside a small opening in the wall.  Huge flames burning all around from the fire wood, and a cook slowly rotates the duck with a long steel pole with a hook on the end, one duck at a time, over the fire.  In the corridor that leads to the oven, you will see on the walls that this restaurant is not only awarded by "Time Asia", but is frequented by well known politicians, singers, actors and even famed martial artists such as Jet Li (in the picture, he looked very young, so I assume there's a possibility he came here near the beginning of his career).

This is not an air conditioned place, so be prepared to dress lightly, and bring a warm piece of clothing in case it gets cold.  Once you get your table, a quick look around will tell you that this is definitely not going to be the cleanest restaurant you've ever visited.  However, the people who work there seem to follow a very unusually high level of hygiene, as I saw the workers constantly wash there hands with soap on a sink by the wall quite often (and quite a comfort to me).  To say that you are inside the restaurant is also questionable, as a quick look around, you will quickly notice that you are actually not inside but between two old "hutong" houses, with a skylight built above to protect patrons from rain and wind.  It is definitely a unique atmosphere.

Menu
The menu consists of more than Peking Duck, and definitely worth a try for each item.  I suggest that one might order the set course meal, as it includes a large variety of dishes without overwhelming with too much quantity.  The set meals also cater more to the expats as the dishes in the set menu are very light, and safely palatable, but in our case however, since the more traditional Beijing dishes (less fancy dishes) were not on the set menu, we decided to order separate dishes from the sets.

Drinks
A must order is the Beijing made Yanjing beer when you eat Peking duck, but of course, the usual variety of drinks is available here.

the interior of the restaurant, unknown to some patrons, is actually between the outside of two hutong building

a traditional Beijing vegetable dish; bean sprouts and green pea stems (dou-mu)

fresh dou-mu and the bean sprouts are a great crisp and refreshing combination for a light vegetable dish

julienne potato strips cooked with red chili peppers

the potato strips are tender but left slightly undercooked to retain a slight crisp; cooked in combination with the red chili peppers compliments the acidic taste of the crunchy undercooked taste of the potato

a traditional and very simple Beijing dish; tomato and egg.  This is not a particularly fancy dish, but sometimes the quality of the most simple dish can give you an idea of the authenticity of the restaurant.  The egg cooked just right so that it was slightly moist, and the tomato was also carefully not overcooked so that it was tender but still retaining a slight crisp texture.  A refreshing non-complicated saucy dish.

the main course of the meal: roasted duck.  The differentiation of the Peking duck here in Beijing (all roast duck restaurants in Beijing, and not just Liqun) to other variations is that here in Beijing, the roast duck skin has meat on it.  I was informed that the more commonly seen Peking Duck with just the skin is a Cantonese variation.  Therefore, if you want more authentic Roast Duck, you would have to fly to Beijing for this delectable dish.

as can be seen, the roast duck here is extremely flavorful thanks to the ducks' natural high fat content, which oils the meat accordingly when slowly roasted over the fire.  The fatty meat is only complimented by the crisp roasted marinated skin.

Roasted Duck is always served with a light crepe/pancake or soft taco like wrapping

the dish is meant to be prepared when consumed.  There are many methods, but at the end, what you would like is to have the duck with the sweet sauce, raw onions, and the cucumber together on top of the wrapping, and then you would fold the ends, roll it, and eat it.

I personally prefer to dip the duck into the sauce directly, then sprinkle with a fair amount of onions and a pair of cucumbers, and roll it as seen in the picture below.  Drool.

here is one of the light footed waiters working at the restaurant; everyone here takes their work seriously, and is often running from place to place.  This particular waiter was also the one that showed us the whole duck before cutting and preparing the duck (which is something they always do)

Location

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