Beverly Hills Beijing Roast Duck Restaurant

There are plenty of players duking it out for the title of Sydney’s best Peking duck. Many will point to well-oiled machines such as Quanjude and Beijing Impression, or to the CBD’s grand old Cantonese restaurants as being the best in class. Beverley Hills’ Beijing Roast Duck isn’t able to keep up with the consistency of these larger places (duck quality is of course seasonal, and restaurants will have good and bad days).

Where it does trump the others, though, is the fun factor. Eating at Beijing Roast Duck is a damn good time. The place is totally stripped of pretension, the walls are simply decorated and the family that owns the restaurant is also the one that’ll cook your food and carve the duck for you tableside.

As is traditional in Beijing, your duck will come to you in several ways. First in a clear but immeasurably complex broth. Then on a dish of carved breast and thigh slices served alongside brittle duck skin, a side of pancakes, sliced shallots and a bowl of dark hoisin to dip it all in. For a bit of extra cash, the last bits of meat on the bone will be battered and fried into an addictively salty snack.

But you shouldn’t ignore the rest of the menu. There are a lot of old school Beijing dishes here that are hard to find in Sydney. If you’re curious but unsure of what to try, ask the staff and they’ll point you towards something interesting – just be sure to stress that you eat “everything”.