beijing kao ya / peking duck!

every time i'm in beijing, my parents take me to the beijing da dong roast duck restaurant - one of the best peking duck places here.  i don't ever remember eating peking duck anywhere else.

i couldn't wait that morning to get out of bed so we could come here for lunch.  to my pleasant surprise, the restaurant has evolved in the past 3 years to include a wide range of food.  the menu was literally a thick hard cover book, with artistic photos for each item taking up an entire page.

it was overwhelming to think that i would have to make room for the duck AND all this great, creative food.  but i did it! 

salad - i don't think i even touched this

one of my favorite dishes here. i think it's called something like "duck treasure" - tender pieces of duck in a savory hoisin sauce with pine nuts and beans, cupped by a delicate crispy "nest" on lettuce!

some kind of sprout (looks like pea sprouts but apparently it's from some kind of tree?)

this was one of those amazing "new" dishes. on the left side is smoked salmon and some kind of crumbs rolled into a layer of avocados. on the left side are tiny fried dough-like objects. it was beautifully presented. when it came to the table the avocado roll had a round glass over it. inside, it was cloudy - when the server lifted the glass the smoke rose into the air and it smelled like our house when we bbq with wood chips. i wish i got a picture of it before they did that!

another one of those new inventions. it came in a huge black bowl, and when i peered over the edge, two plump birds constructed with bak choy lay next to an "egg". it actually wasn't an egg, but steamed fish shaped like an egg. inside the egg, the "yolk" was made of crab roe. this was so creative and absolutely delicious!

another staple. cabbage with chestnuts.

stir fried bean sprouts and green bell pepper.

*PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL THIS FOOD WAS BEFORE THE DUCK!!

FINALLY. here comes our whole duck. the servers stand next to your table and carve it for you.

all the duck condiments. on the top left corner, you have sliced cucumbers and turnips. to the right of that, hoisin sauce and scallions; bottom right - garlic and sugar, and the last one is 2 types of pickles.

these are the thin pancakes you use to make your little duck "burrito"

mmm duck. 1 whole duck makes about 2 plates like this, plus the head (which i stay away from)

you can dip the crispy skin in sugar and eat it that way too. really indulgent.

duck soup - just a basic broth. SOOO good and flavorful, and not at all oily/greasy. i had two bowls.

finally we get to "dessert" - this is an almond jelly/soupy like concoction.

and fruit! i looove the little clementine looking things - they have a really weird english name which i'll research later but basically they are teeny tiny oranges and you eat the skin too.

i don't think we ate dinner that night. at least, we just had some light snacks. this was worth it - i am going to try to go back again before i leave!!