Beijing

There is absolutely no point in being timid when you commit to dining here. Embrace it. Embrace every divine mouthful. And recognise as well, your chef shan’t be holding back on portion size.

So let’s look at the detail:

Although it’s not the law, it does make sense to consume duck in such an establishment. And for those who maybe a little concerned about their cardiovascular risk profile – these succulent, now none feathered birds, are referred to as ‘lean’ – so everyone wins.

Kindly, you are also served at the table, so you get the bonus of admiring your chef’s admirable skill with a super sharp carving knife; gauge a couple of great take home techniques; and feel very much part of the experience. Also, you’ll discover (or you might know already), that Peking Duck is served three ways. Firstly, the 13 year old’s favourite, just dip your moist warm meat into sugar and pop it into your drooling mouth. Secondly, wrap it up in a pancake with spring onion, hoisin sauce and cucumber (yeah I know that). And thirdly, place the duck inside a pastry shell and fill to overflowing with any condiment to hand.  Are you on your plane yet?

We perhaps went a step too far and ordered more. Not duck, but a fabulous spicy (though not hot) prawn dish, some really yummy greens and 20, I repeat 20, steamed assorted dim sum.  Yes, we could hardly move, it was just like a Greek Christmas spread, however it was pretty close to heaven in terms of a memorable dining experience.

Oh, and finish off your meal with a 70 minute trip to your closest foot massage centre (ours happily was two flights down in the same complex). You might snore, I did, but at least the staff will giggle politely. You also might wish to sleep in the marble corridor just outside, post your foot/food pleasure, as another chap was. Just let your body take control.

So to your closet restaurant… there are apparently three restaurants across Beijing.

We headed to:
5/F, Jinbao Dasha, Jinbao Jie
Dongcheng District

And the others are:
1-2/F, Nanxincang International Plaza, 22A Dongsishitiao
Dongcheng District

3 Tuanjiehu Beikou, Dongsanhuan Lu (southeast corner of Changhong Qiao)
Chaoyang District