600 years of being ducky

The attraction of a famous restaurant brand name is that it more often than not prepares classic dishes in a wonderful way. Bian Yi Fang (宜坊百子湾店) is one of Beijing's most popular specialized Peking roast duck restaurants. It might not be the most famous in Beijing, but it is certainly the oldest. Established in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the brand name is more than 600 years old.

Different from other Peking roast duck brand name restaurants such as Quanjude, Bian Yi Fang roasts its ducks in a closed oven, which means no oily smoke will come into direct contact with the duck. To make the duck more healthy, the restaurant soaks the duck in vegetable juice during the process. Apart from the usual spring onion, soy paste and cucumber slices, lettuce leaves and fragrant Chinese sprouts are also served to accompany the duck.

The restaurant's cuisine comprises a number of Shandong style dishes, including two classic dishes: braised sea cucumber with spring onion (葱烧海参) and rolled pork intestines Shandong style (鲁味九转大肠). The sea cucumber is chewy and tasty with dark brown soy sauce. The pork intestines rolls are pleasantly full of slightly sweet and brown soy sauce flavors.