Duck de Chine 2: A First Taste

Back in May we posted this this sneak peak of 1949 Jinbao Jie, an under construction dining project from the team behind 1949: The Hidden City in Sanlitun. The complex (in between Jinbao Place and the Legendale Hotel on Jinbao Jie) is now open for business, and last night we scoped out one of its two food outlets, Duck de Chine.

Design-wise, this second branch is rather more glitzy than the Sanlitun location - think Hall of Longevity meets GT Banana (but more classy). The faux Ming complex is also on a much bigger scale than its predecessor, set in its own walled compound, complete with underground car park.

A shimmering sweep of bar (why is it always a sweep?) stocks bottle after bottle of Bollinger champagne (the perfect pairing for Peking duck apparently, and they might have a point) plus various Grand Cru wines at regal prices.

Two humongous dining rooms have a clubby, subdued feel, rather more Chinese in aspect and approach than at Sanlitun, Both are partitioned by an outer courtyard which also houses a trio of giant brick duck ovens.

I counted around 10 ducks hanging in this one. FYI fact fans, the chef is using a yachang to baste the nearly roasted bird amongst the flames, rendering off more of the fat and crisping up the skin.

Like the Sanlitun branch, the arrival of each duck to the dining room is announced by a gong. Our chef got to work slicing and dicing the bird (RMB 238 with fixings) into surprisingly large pieces, not as elegant as I've had before.

The taste? Wonderful as ever. In fact maybe more so; the skin like melting caramel, and the pale meat carved totally separately, presumably so health-conscious diners can roll leaner pancakes, and fatties ... fatty ones.

Nothing new on the sauce front, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Imbued with all sorts of medicinal goodies, it's the best in town in this diner's opinion, and beautiful to boot.

Of a handful of new menu items, this peculiar dish - Yunnan mushrooms with vermicelli and dried shrimp (RMB 98) - was our favourite, though half the amount of seafood would have made for a more balanced dish.

Chilled shavings of pumpkin dressed in plum sauce (RMB 38) - a lovely, cooling dessert type dish, but a bit of an appetite killer for starters. Aside from a handful of new items, Duck de Chine hasn't taken much of a departure from its successful Sanlitun formula. If anything the culinary focus has shifted northwards - fewer Cantonese dishes, and more stuff designed to appeal to native Beijingers (including "treasures", more cold dishes, sweet appetizers and the like).

The final word has to go to the oddly intrusive presence of a lone hutong house jutting into the car park. Back in May we reported that the developers were having trouble with an elderly local who refused to be chai'ed. Well, looks like the little guy won.