I ate Peking duck four times in one week in Beijing, and I regret none of it. If you are visiting the city, this is the one meal you should not leave without, and it deserves to be done properly at least once. Here is what I worked out about where to go, what it costs, and how to order without looking lost.

How the duck actually works

The bird is roasted in a wood-fired oven until the skin turns amber and separates easily from the fat underneath. The chef carves it at your table or at a carving station, usually in three passes: skin first, then a mix of skin and meat, then the remaining meat. You get thin pancakes, a dish of sweet bean sauce, julienned scallions and cucumber, and sometimes sugar for dipping the skin.

The ritual is simple. Take a pancake, brush on a little sauce, lay in a piece of skin, add scallion and cucumber, roll it up and eat it in one or two bites. The skin course, dipped straight in sugar, is the part that surprises people. It tastes nothing like what you expect duck skin to taste like. Crisp, faintly sweet, almost like a pastry.

Then the bones come back to the kitchen. Ask for them made into soup, which is usually included, or you will get a bill for it later and wonder why. A whole duck feeds two or three people comfortably. Four if everyone is ordering other dishes.

The famous houses

Da Dong is the one most foreign visitors know. The skin is glassy and thin, the presentation is meticulous, and the bill reflects all of that. Expect around 300 yuan or more per person once you add side dishes. Reserve ahead, especially for the branches near the Forbidden City. I found it excellent, but I am not sure it is four times better than the cheaper places.

Siji Minfu sits a short walk east of the Forbidden City's east gate and has become the practical choice for travelers. A duck costs around 240 yuan, the queue is long but moves, and the carving happens beside your table with proper ceremony. Go at 5:30pm or after 8pm and the wait drops dramatically.

Quanjude is the oldest name, in business since 1864, and the one Chinese families still recommend to their visiting relatives. Honestly, I found its branches uneven. The original Qianmen location has history you can feel, but service can be perfunctory and they add a service charge. Go for the landmark experience, not for the best duck in the city.

The neighborhood option most tourists skip

Here is my real advice. Every residential district in Beijing has roast duck shops that sell half or whole ducks for takeaway at 60 to 100 yuan, and some of them are superb. Look for shops with a queue at 5pm and birds hanging in a glass case by the window. You take the duck home, or back to your hotel if you are bold, wrap it in pancakes from the corner shop, and eat like a local family does on a Friday.

One of the best meals I had cost 88 yuan for a whole duck with pancakes and sauce included, eaten at a plastic table with a bottle of cheap Yanjing beer. Was the skin as perfect as Da Dong's? No. Was the dinner better? In every way that matters, yes.

How to order

• Ask for "yi zhi kao ya" for a whole duck, or point at the menu photo. Most places in the center have English menus.
• Say whether you want the bones made into soup: "jia tang" means yes.
• Add two or three vegetable dishes. Duck alone gets heavy fast. Smashed cucumber and stir-fried greens are the standard partners.
• Pancake refills are usually a few yuan each. Do not be shy about asking.

Practical tips

• Reserve by phone or through a hotel concierge for any famous house at dinner time. Walk-ins at lunch are much easier.
• Duck houses close early by Western standards. Many kitchens stop taking duck orders after 9pm because each bird needs 40 minutes or more in the oven.
• Vegetarian traveling with you? Every duck house has decent tofu and greens dishes, but the pancakes are your friend: order extra and fill them with vegetables.
• If a restaurant charges separately for sauce, pancakes and service, the price on the duck is not the real price. Check the menu's set price first.

My honest ranking after the week: Siji Minfu for the balance of quality, price and location, a neighborhood shop for the real everyday version, Da Dong if you want the full polished production and are happy to pay for it. Quanjude only if the history matters to you more than the food. However you do it, do it once, and do it with someone who can share the second half of the bird.

Originally published on 71Asia Tours blog.