Back for More: Plucky Duck at Red Chamber
Spend 30 years doing anything and it’s safe to assume that you will be pretty good at it. Chef Yuan Chaoying isn’t just good at roasting Peking duck – he’s an expert in it. As Beijing Cuisine Executive Chef for Shangri-La Group, he has been called in to create the Peking duck for Red Chamber, the first time the restaurant will offer the dish. Fans of dining within the Shangri-La Group hotel might recognize Chef Yuan from the Kerry Hotel’s Horizon restaurant, where he is also in charge of the Peking duck.
Like Horizon, the duck at Red Chamber (RMB 238 plus 15 percent service charge) is roasted over date wood using the “hanging oven” method. This makes for a duck with thick, yet crispy skin, and juicy meat, particularly on the legs where the fat hasn’t completely rendered away. Fans of the leaner roast promoted by the likes of Da Dong might find the duck a little greasy, but everyone knows that fat equals flavor. We also appreciated that each dinner is given their own set of condiments, avoiding that awkward reach over the table for the last scrape of sauce.
In reality, the duck is little more than a good reason to revisit a justifiably popular restaurant. The pan-Chinese menu might exasperate purists, but it means that it really does have something for everyone. The strongest dishes come from the Cantonese section of the menu, although the head chef is a specialist in Huaiyang cuisine. Across a couple of recent visits we stuck with the dim sum-style snacks and were very satisfied with the quality, particularly the minced shrimp patties (RMB 68). Prices are a touch higher than average, but not out of the ordinary for hotel dining, making Red Chamber a good option for out of town guests or CBD-based Beijingers with a thirst for foul.
Red Chamber
Daily 11.30am-2.30pm, 6-10pm. 4/F, China World Summit Wing, 1 Jianguomen Waidajie, Chaoyang District (8571 6459)
红馆：朝阳区建国门外大街1号国贸大酒店4层
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Photo courtesy of China World Summit Wing
