Liqun Roast Duck Restaurant

Difficult to find on a dark night, but well worth the adventurous walk through the hutong.  And there is nothing more fun than having a table set up for you at the end of the dining room when you show up without a reservation.  Sure, the chair was broken, but I was able to sit on it and enjoy the roast duck.

This place is not to be missed - a great experience and a great meal.

Truly representative of a Beijing Hutong, the access looks like a dirty, disorganized back lane, almost construction-zone like, accentuated by the dark of dinning hours. Entering the ornate doorway, (one of it’s kind in this neigborhood), we step from one world of gray, dirt and gravel, into another of overly-ornate décor typical of Chinese desire: rich colored wood, red lanterns, dim light and symbolism floor to ceiling. At the end of the short, narrow entry hall are the objects of our desire: roast duck (whole) hanging by the neck in the open flames of an oven fire. Despite the u-turn neck ending in the beak, the ducks look delicious, golden-brown.

Yes, reservations would have been good, but they squeezed us in. We didn’t have to wait long for the natural fire-oven cooked delicacy. They anticipate busy nights now that they have good reviews in the guidebook. But don’t let that turn you away, the busy atmosphere suits the ad hoc layout of the place that is clearly a few Hutong dwellings molded into one fine restaurant. Our food was excellent at a better price than other roast duck places.

The friendly owner may be outside on one of a few chrome and red vinyl chairs lining the lane near the door. He smiles for the camera with our kids, and probably all the way to the bank, ... deservedly so.

A note about getting there – an address is not necessarily enough for every cab driver, or any other Beijing resident, so just keep asking until you find one that knows. In fact the phone number is more useful than the address itself for getting you there.

It used to take a determined effort and good sight to find your way through the back streets (hutong’s) of Beijing to Liqun’s Beijing Kaoya (roast duck) restaurant. As Beijing continues to modernize losing its old housing and cobblestone laneways in preference for multilane roads, it is now an easier and somewhat disappointing trek to Liqun’s. You can easily walk there from Tian’anmen square.

However, the food, service and atmosphere remain the same. Roasted in the traditional way and served with the precise amounts of slices (done at your table) Liqun’s is unquestionably one of Beijing’s finest kaoya restaurants. There are also a great range of just as delicious dishes to complement the duck highlight. Also, make sure to have the waiter make soup from the duck bones as an end of meal refresher.

The restaurant itself consists of what would have been a courtyard style house. You enter past the impressive display of ducks roasting through a small doorway into the courtyard and know that this is a ‘real’ Chinese restaurant – there are no pretences. If you are lucky you can find your table straight away. The packed rooms are often smoke filled with little ventilation, in summer heating up uncomfortably, this adding to the atmosphere and experience of real dinning in China. 

Tsingtao beer is a good choice through the meal as the beer cuts through the duck fat well.

Service can be slow and unless you have made a booking it is almost unlikely you will get into the 40ish seater restaurant.