Peking duck (北京烤鸭 — Běijīng kǎoyā), also called Beijing roast duck, is Beijing's signature roast-duck dish. It is known for crisp skin, tender meat, tableside carving and thin pancakes served with sweet bean sauce, scallion and cucumber. For first-time visitors, choosing the restaurant matters mainly because Beijing has both traditional and modern styles, ranging from historic roast-duck houses to contemporary fine dining. This page is a practical Beijing food guide for eating the dish in the city, not a recipe and not a history of Chinese food as a whole.
Quick Answer
- Best all-round choice for most visitors: Siji Minfu (四季民福).
- Best for history and tradition: Quanjude Qianmen (全聚德前门店).
- Best for the traditional closed-oven style: Bianyifang (便宜坊).
- Best premium/modern experience: Da Dong (大董).
- A famous roast-duck restaurant generally requires roughly ¥150–200 per person at mainstream establishments, while premium restaurants can be ¥300–500+ per person once additional dishes are ordered.
- A whole duck is normally shared rather than ordered individually.
- Prices vary by branch and menu. Treat the figures below as approximate, current indicative prices for planning, not guarantees.
2026 menu snapshots — useful as reference points, not permanent prices — put Siji Minfu's signature duck around ¥259, Quanjude Qianmen's premium duck around ¥268, and Da Dong's signature duck around ¥398.
What Is Peking Duck?
Peking duck is Beijing roast duck rather than simply any Chinese roast duck. Many Chinese restaurants roast duck. What distinguishes Peking duck is the preparation of the skin, the roasting method, the carving and the way it is served.
The duck is traditionally carved at the table. Crispy skin is a central part of the dish, not simply a by-product of roasting. Diners are meant to notice the contrast between the brittle, lacquered skin and the tender meat underneath.
It is normally accompanied by thin wheat pancakes, sweet bean sauce, scallion and cucumber. Some restaurants serve pieces of especially crisp skin separately with sugar before the pancake course, so the texture can be tasted on its own.
Peking duck belongs to Beijing's restaurant culture rather than to home cooking. The Beijing food tradition includes many other dishes — noodles, mutton hotpot, snacks — but roast duck is the dish most visitors recognise first. Beijing duck is the same dish under a shorter English name; both point to this carved, pancake-wrapped roast duck, not to a generic poultry plate.
*Peking duck is traditionally roasted until the skin becomes crisp and glossy before being carved for diners. Photo: Bjoertvedt / CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.*
Hung-Oven vs Closed-Oven Peking Duck
Beijing has two major traditional roasting systems. Beijing government sources describe them as the city's two main traditional Peking-duck styles. Neither method is objectively superior; they produce different textures and belong to different restaurant lineages.
Quanjude — 挂炉 / hanging oven. The oven has an open front. Ducks hang inside over fruitwood and an open flame. This hanging-oven roast-duck technique is particularly associated with Quanjude, which was founded in 1864. The technique is recognised as national intangible cultural heritage.
Bianyifang — 焖炉 / closed oven. The oven is preheated and then closed. The duck cooks primarily through retained and radiant heat rather than a direct open flame. Bianyifang traces its history to 1416. Its closed-oven technique is also recognised as national intangible cultural heritage.
*Quanjude's hanging-oven method uses ducks suspended inside an open-front oven over fruitwood fire. Historic photograph of a Quanjude hanging oven, 1933; public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.*
A visitor comparing the two is tasting two recognised Beijing traditions, not choosing a single “correct” roast.
Best Peking Duck Restaurants in Beijing
The restaurants below are grouped by visitor use case — first visit, heritage, closed-oven tradition, or a premium modern dinner — not by a claim that one is the best restaurant in Beijing.
| Restaurant | Best for | Style | Indicative budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| Siji Minfu | Best all-round first visit | Modern traditional Beijing roast duck | ~¥150–200 pp |
| Quanjude Qianmen | History and heritage | Hanging oven / fruitwood | ~¥160–220 pp |
| Bianyifang | Traditional closed-oven duck | Closed oven | ~¥120–160 pp |
| Da Dong | Premium modern experience | Contemporary, leaner-style roast duck | ~¥300–500+ pp |
These budgets are approximate meal ranges, not fixed menu prices.
Siji Minfu — Best All-Round Choice
四季民福烤鸭店（故宫店）
11 Nanchizi Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing 北京市东城区南池子大街11号
Siji Minfu is the most practical all-round Peking duck restaurant in Beijing for most first-time visitors. The Forbidden City branch sits on Nanchizi Street, so it pairs easily with a palace visit. It serves roast duck together with a broad selection of Beijing dishes, which helps if the table wants more than duck alone.
It is extremely popular. Queues can be long, especially at dinner. It is not a hidden local secret; it is now very well known to both Beijing diners and visitors. Current listings show the signature duck around ¥259 and average spending around ¥160 per person. Treat those as 2026 reference points.
Beijing's municipal government specifically recommends the Forbidden City branch and describes Siji Minfu as known for traditional hanging-roast technique and Beijing dishes.
Quanjude Qianmen — Best for History
全聚德前门店
30 Qianmen Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing 北京市东城区前门大街30号
Quanjude was founded in 1864 and remains the most famous historic Peking-duck name internationally. The Qianmen flagship uses the traditional hanging, open oven and fruitwood. Choose this primarily for heritage, ritual and the classic Beijing roast-duck experience, not because it is automatically the cheapest or the most local-feeling meal.
Quanjude is not necessarily the cheapest or most local-feeling choice, but the Qianmen flagship remains the clearest choice for travellers who value the history and ceremony surrounding Peking duck.
Its Qianmen location pairs naturally with Tiananmen, Qianmen and the southern Central Axis. Current listings show premium roast duck around ¥268 and average diner spend around ¥160–190 before substantial additional dishes.
Official Beijing sources identify the Qianmen branch at No. 30 Qianmen Street and the hanging-oven technique as part of Beijing's culinary heritage.
*Quanjude's Qianmen restaurant is the historic flagship associated with its hanging-oven roast-duck tradition. Photo: Gisling / CC BY 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.*
Bianyifang — Best for the Closed-Oven Tradition
便宜坊鲜鱼口店
65–77 Xianyukou Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing 北京市东城区鲜鱼口街65–77号
Bianyifang traces its history to 1416 and represents the second major historical Peking-duck tradition. Unlike Quanjude's open hanging oven, Bianyifang uses a closed oven. That makes it particularly suitable for travellers interested in food history or in comparing the two roasting systems in the same part of the old city.
Xianyukou is immediately beside the Qianmen area and fits easily into a Central Axis itinerary. Indicative spending is roughly ¥120–160 per person, depending on what else is ordered.
Official Beijing sources identify the Xianyukou branch and describe Bianyifang's closed-furnace roast duck as one of the two prominent Peking-duck traditions.
Da Dong — Best Premium Modern Experience
大董
Da Dong is the contemporary premium alternative to the historic roast-duck halls. It is known for its “酥不腻” — literally “crispy but not greasy” — roast-duck style. Presentation, dining-room design and accompanying dishes are considerably more refined than at the mainstream roast-duck houses.
It suits a special dinner, a business dinner, or a traveller who prioritizes a higher-end experience over a historic hall. Current Beijing listings put its signature roast duck around ¥398, before additional dishes. Once sides and drinks are added, ¥300–500+ per person is a realistic planning range.
A typical central Beijing example is a Dongcheng branch such as Nanxincang (南新仓). Menus, prices and opening hours are not identical across branches; confirm the specific location before you go.
How Much Does Peking Duck Cost in Beijing?
For most travellers, it is more useful to budget for the whole meal than to compare the duck price alone. Pancakes, condiments, additional Beijing dishes, drinks, service and the restaurant level can materially change the final bill.
| Type of meal | Approximate budget |
|---|---|
| Casual/local roast-duck restaurant | ¥80–150 per person |
| Well-known mainstream restaurant | ¥150–220 per person |
| Premium roast-duck restaurant | ¥300–500+ per person |
| Signature whole duck at major brands | roughly ¥250–400 |
These are planning ranges, not fixed menu prices. Prices vary between branches and may change.
Two people do not need to order two ducks. A whole duck is commonly shared. A couple should normally order the duck plus a small number of side dishes rather than build a huge banquet.
Pancakes and condiments may be itemized separately at some restaurants, so the duck price on the menu is not always the full cost of the course. The remaining duck frame may sometimes be prepared as soup or another dish; ask when ordering.
Do not treat a 2026 snapshot such as ¥259, ¥268 or ¥398 as a guaranteed current price. Use those figures only to recognise the difference between a mainstream signature duck and a premium one.
How to Eat Peking Duck
*Tableside carving is part of the traditional Peking duck dining experience. Photo: Pixor / CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.*
The sequence below is the usual table method. Restaurants vary the extras; the core combination stays the same.
Step 1: Try the crisp skin
Some restaurants first serve pieces with especially crisp skin. These may be eaten alone or dipped lightly in sugar so the texture and rendered fat can be tasted before adding sauce.
Step 2: Take a pancake
Lay one thin wheat pancake flat on your plate.
Step 3: Add sauce and vegetables
Add a small amount of sweet bean sauce, then scallion and cucumber. Do not overload the pancake.
The Beijing accompaniment is 甜面酱 — tiánmiànjiàng, sweet bean sauce. English-language menus sometimes loosely call it hoisin-style sauce, but sweet bean sauce is the more accurate Beijing term. Hoisin is a related condiment in overseas Chinese cooking; it is not the precise name for what is served with Peking duck in Beijing.
Step 4: Add the duck
Add one or two slices containing both crisp skin and meat.
Step 5: Fold and eat immediately
Fold the lower edge up, fold the sides inward and eat the wrap while the duck is still warm and the skin remains crisp.
*A classic Peking duck wrap combines carved duck, sweet bean sauce, scallion and cucumber in a thin pancake. Photo: J. Patrick Fischer / CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.*
Some restaurants provide additional garlic, pickled vegetables, melon or other accompaniments. Variations are normal. There is no need for foreign visitors to imitate ceremonial rules rigidly. The essential combination is hot carved duck + pancake + sauce + fresh aromatics.
Official Beijing tourism material describes the classic combination of duck, sweet bean sauce, pancakes, scallion and cucumber.
Add Peking Duck to a Beijing Food or Hutong Experience
Peking duck works particularly well as the dinner component of a Beijing food or cultural day rather than as a standalone sightseeing stop. A common combination is the Forbidden City or Qianmen during the day, a walk through Beijing's historic neighbourhoods, and Peking duck for dinner.
Food and Hutong experience
If you want the dish inside a wider eating day, start with Explore Beijing food experiences and Explore Beijing's hutongs. A hosted neighbourhood meal such as the Hutong calligraphy and dumpling experience is a daytime counterpart — Chinese dumplings at lunch, roast duck at dinner is a balanced pairing, not a duplicate of the same meal.
The restaurant dinner is not automatically included in those experiences unless the specific product says so.
Custom private itinerary
If you want to combine sightseeing, a Hutong visit and a Peking duck dinner in one private Beijing itinerary, DragonTrail can help arrange the route around your hotel, attraction reservations and preferred restaurant. Get in touch.