Is Your Favorite Beijing Restaurant Among Star Chef Eddie Huang's Top China Picks?

Eddie Huang's verdict is in, and Peking Duck is amongst his top picks. The famously flamboyant and outspoken food personality – who founded the BaoHaus Baozi restaurant in Manhattan, hosts Huang's World for Viceland, and whose autobiography Fresh off the Boat was adapted into a hit TV show – recently named DaDong as a can't miss restaurant in Beijing in an essay for the Hollywood Reporter.

He said Da Dong's take on the quintessential Beijing dish is special because the restaurant readies it at a lower temperature over a longer period, allowing patrons to easily peel the fat and skin from the meat. "I've actually lifted the skin up to the light, and it's translucent," writes an obviously impressed Huang. "When you bite into it, you can feel every spell of oil just crushed lightly under your teeth. It's one of the top five bites of food I've ever had in my life."

And while Peking duck fans will applaud Huang's choice, other Beijing foodies are bound to balk at his essay. That's because he cites Da Dong as his sole "really good pick." His other paragraphs are dedicated to the capital's longtime rival Shanghai, in which he praised the lion's head meatball at restaurants like Fu and Madam Zhu's, and the ambiance of Old Jesse.

"Shanghainese food is my favorite cuisine," he writes, to the ire of the capital's restaurant lovers. "It's very nuanced, while Beijing food is a little heartier."

We think that if Huang had bothered to try the elegantly elaborate vegetarian fare at King's Joy, more laidback eats like the black bean sauce noodles at Chao Gan, lamb leg in Bexinqiao, the pub grub at any of the capital's craft breweries, or one of our city's many regional cuisine options like the Mongolian hotpot at Houhai adjacent Nan Men Suan Rou, then the restaurateur would be better equipped to evaluate Beijing's food scene.

Read Huang's China restaurant comments here.

Which of your favorite Beijinger haunts got snubbed in Huang's article? Weigh in in the comments section below. 

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Images: Eptrail.com, People, the Beijinger