The art of the Peking duck
One duck,one hundred and eight slices
A century-old Peking duck house in a restored courtyard mansion, carved tableside with imperial ceremony.
The house
A house of ceremony
Empress Roast has carved Peking duck with imperial ceremony in a restored courtyard mansion for a century, ducks lacquered to glass and sliced at the table.
Book the carving. It is the whole point.
The ritual
The carving, in four acts
Lacquered for a day
Glazed and air-dried for twenty-four hours, until the skin sets like dark glass.
Roasted over fruitwood
Jujube and pear wood in the brick oven, the way the first fire burned in 1926.
Carved at your table
One hundred and eight slices, counted aloud, each with skin and fat and meat.
Wrapped and eaten
Warm pancakes, scallion, sweet bean - assembled and gone in a breath.
Heritage
One oven, one century
1926
A two-table duck house opens off Xisi North Street.
1958
The house moves into a restored courtyard mansion in Xicheng.
1999
The knife passes to the third generation, slice by counted slice.
Today
The same brick oven. The same counted ceremony.
The banquet
The imperial table
The table
Whole Peking Duck
CN¥298
Carved tableside, pancakes, scallion
Duck Three Ways
CN¥168
Skin, meat, stir-fried mince
Imperial Duck Soup
CN¥58
From the bones, cabbage, tofu
Court Cucumber
CN¥32
Smashed, garlic, vinegar
Sweet Bean Pancakes
CN¥28
To finish
One bird, five courses, nothing else.
The rooms
Around the courtyard
Spoken of the house
“The carving is the theatre; the duck is the crown.”
The Vermilion Gazette
“A century of fruitwood smoke in every lacquered slice.”
Beijing Table Review
The audience
Request an audience
The whole duck needs 24 hours notice. Parties above eight, please telephone the house.
9 Xisi N St, Xicheng, Beijing
Daily 11:30-14:30, 17:30-22:00