Some follow up notes to explain further are that the chilli prawns were a disappointment – the prawns were succulent but effectively ruined by the near-tomato ketchup taste of the sauce.  The cod was actually very good but just very small for the price and I didn’t really like the way the remaining duck meat was chopped into small pieces as this completely took away the texture of what could have been lovely duck.

In the first portions of duck pancakes, the skin was great and the meat underneath very nicely done, but there simply wasn’t enough duck meat to compliment the skin inside the pancakes and I was surprised at this choice of presentation.  Nevertheless, this was good to have at half price to see, but I wouldn’t run back to this restaurant in a hurry, let alone pay much attention to its Michelin grading of 2 stars.

What I would run back for and recommend is the rooftop bar at The Peninsula, Sir Elly’s which has the perfect view of the river and the New Town from the perfect vantage point on the Bund – well done, Peninsula, well done for securing the location for your hotel many moons ago.  I have included pictures of the area from Sir Elly’s so that you can get a sense of why this is one of the most picturesque spots, probably in the world.

As we were not hugely hungry we simply opted for the restaurant’s version of duck.  This was Cantonese in style which the chef informed us was more salty in comparison with the aromats used in the conventional preparation of Peking duck that in the case of HKK used cherry wood to smoke and roast before the sweetened spices were ‘painted’ on and the date wood used in Made in China (Beijing) using a great deal of sugar and syrup to coat the skin.

This version was actually equally pleasant in that the change from sweet to savoury worked well and was therefore welcome although, one could spot the difference in the quality of the dark sauce here which had a layer of oil all the way round and was a tad too bitter and heavy for the duck even in small quantities.  The quality of the pancakes however, were utterly stunning.  It was actually a shock at how superb the pancake flavour was in comparison to Dadong when that duck had been so memorable.  The remainder of the duck was used to form a noodle dish which had good texture and soy handling.

The hospitality at Huang Tang was wonderful in that they had run out of their normal Peking duck but on seeing how devastated our expressions were, somehow they rustled up another version because they wanted to provide as much as possible and thank goodness this was the case as it afforded us another version of the fabled duck.  The head chef himself came to welcome individual tables and groups painting a very welcoming and hospitable feel to this restaurant.

The signature menu here is priced at CNY 796 for two (about £45 per person) which, for 7 courses each is absolutely cracking value considering it includes half a Peking duck to share.  Although not first on the advertised menu, first to arrive was braised Bejing cabbage with chestnut served in a deep chicken stock and pot sticker dumplings (similar to fried gyozas) with minced pork, prawn and mushroom which were enjoyable.

Next came the courses intended for the start of the meal starting with spinach leaves with sesame sauce and Chinese rice vinegar. The sesame sauce for this dish proved to be a little too acidic and harsh for the spinach leaves.  Right alongside came poached chicken with crushed peanut, sesame and spicy sauce served cold.  Whilst a surprise to be cold, it was a decent dish although it seemed a little like sesame-based sauce overkill bearing in mind the spinach leaf starter immediately before.

Braised blue cod was extremely good as if someone had turned up the cod volume three times over for normal cod found within the UK shores.  The homemade chilli and crispy shallot sauce was also an absolute belter to go with this cod and was clearly well made – a cracking dish.  In contrast, the stir-fried lamb with leek and black bean was a pleasant enough flavour but the lamb was quite tough and dry making it only so-so to eat.

However, then came the duck, which I would like to focus on briefly, as I seem to be emotionally connected to this dish.  Restaurants in China are now banned to have a woodfired oven installed and only those restaurants that had them built into their kitchens prior to this ban (reportedly 2008) are allowed to keep them.  This is the traditional Peking duck (not aromatic which is deep fried) and the dish that it is partly responsible for birthing my love of food from childhood following numerous celebrations at The Laughing Budha restaurant in Blackheath.  The wood used for burning to cook the duck is important – HKK, when it was open, used cherry wood, whilst Made in China use date wood.  The aroma from these sweet woods (there are others that are used) obviously boost the flavour of the duck and help to sweeten the skin.

Made in China were happy to give me their 7-step process for making Peking duck:

• Offal removed and replaced/stuffed with chopped mushrooms;
• Air blown into the duck to separate the skin from the meat;
• Hot water poured gently over duck skin to open the pores;
• Brown maltose sugar melted with hot water (syrup-like consistency) then brushed all over the duck skin;
• Air dried for at least 24 hours;
• Refrigerated for a further 12 hours (to ensure the crispiness of the skin);
• Roasted for 75 minutes using wood from a fruit tree (at the time of my visit, date wood).

The result was the pinnacle of duck skin that was carved as close to perfect as one can do – there was hardly any grease on the underside and where there was fat left on, it was micro-fibre thin.  The skin was presented first to simply dip in sugar or this was the greatest duck skin I have ever experienced – it’s just a bit of a shame you have to fly 5,050 miles to get it.

The rest of the duck was sliced beautifully thin separately to give the choice to the diner how much duck to skin slices are placed in the pancakes with an intensely deep (and umami rather than sweet) duck sauce.  Spring onion, cucumber slices and garlic puree was also provided (the garlic puree being surprisingly good to go with the pancake mix).  The duck itself was very good quality (tender enough and with amplified flavour) however, the only aspect I thought was a fraction of a miss were the pancakes.  It was great attention to detail that there was a layer of rice paper in between each pancake (to make sure they did not stick together) however, they were thicker than most duck pancakes had and too doughy as a result, which slightly interfered with my duck heaven.  It was a very minor setback however and this is clearly a very fine, nip pick thought, but overall, this Beijing duck was the best I have been privileged to have in my life so far.

The signature menu came with an assortment of desserts which were actually all quite pleasant (desserts are not really the forte on the whole with Chinese cuisine).  The array included coconut yam sago (similar in texture to fine rice pudding), Jasmin tea and chocolate ice creams, honey and rose muffin and sea buckthorn cheesecake with cranberry.  A selection of fruit included jackfruit (akin to a mix of pineapple and plum) and some other fresh fruits which were actually below average in ripeness and quality.

All in all, this visit proved to me that if you want the best Peking duck on the planet, you simply have to go to the city where it was conceived – Peking and have it a la Beijing duck.  A milestone visit for me and one I would certainly recommend having if you travel to the country’s capital.

‘Cherry liver’ was a very attractively designed dish as came in the shape of spheres that were coated in hawthorn gel making them looking like berries.  This was a very nice idea and they looked fabulous but the parfait was grainy in texture with a poor liver flavour and the surrounding gel was quite bitter making this, unfortunately, an absolute flop of a parfait dish.  A seared foie gras dish was also tried and this was a better flavour of foie that was cooked well.  Whatever was done to the cold parfait version had not come off, unfortunately.

Crispy prawns were pretty much that and the light coating was pleasant but the prawns themselves had no inherent sweetness and just came across as overly chewy.  However, all this fell into insignificance when the duck arrived.  This was wonderfully prepared and in a break with the Western norm of just having plum or hoisin sauce to add, here in Beijing this is taken more seriously and an array of accompaniments are offered: dark sweet sauce (akin to hoisin), white sugar, shallots, garlic puree, pickles, radish, cucumber and crispy crepes to have the filling inside as opposed to thin pancake.

I was surprised just how well the garlic puree worked with the duck as well as the pickles instead of the time-honoured cucumber strips and the authentic Beijing suggestion of having in a small, rounded and brittle crepe was (almost looking like a mini burger when ready) was a very pleasing variation with the thin, bread-like case.  I was actually told off by the chef for putting too much dark sweet sauce in my pancakes which was a first and actually this was very good he did so as I do have a habit of overdoing it on the sauce from time to time (others will testify to this being the understatement of the century so far).

Strawberries were served on ice for every table and looked good but were patently not even close to the levels experienced in Japan and if fruit is going to be given on its own I would say it needs to be pretty good produce.  The glazed apple fritters were comparatively ok, the batter being thick but the coating delicate, however, the candied fruits on a stick were not a success with the outer sugar being as hard as rock sticks at a funfair and stuck in the crevasses of every tooth in the mouth that had survived.

£70 a head with wine in a decanter to share represented a fair enough price but this was mainly for the quality of the duck.  Regrettably, virtually all the other dishes were an example (to me anyway) of style being more important than overall texture and flavour which they can probably get away with in comparison to most surrounding restaurants of the area but certainly not in comparison to how it can be done.  A lovely experience for the duck though.

The technical prize from the whole of this China visit went to the braised ‘Dongpo pork’ which was served with mini chestnut pancakes (akin to mini pita bread).  Imagine the longest streak of beautifully soft bacon but nowhere near as salty yet with wonderful fat content throughout, wrapped into a pyramid shape, layer after layer – this is that.  The idea of eating is to literally unwrap it layer by layer, going around the base at first and the pyramid disappearing the more you unwrap towards the top.

Small pieces of pork, cured bamboo shoots and small pok choi are placed in each pancake almost as a mini sandwich and is particularly lovely to have (the succulent pork, the juices from the pork soaked by the pancake, supported by the crunch of the pok choi and acidity of the cured bamboo shoot.  A great combination and flavour all round – bravo.

This ‘Dongpo’ pork is named after the poet and gastronome Su Dongpo who is said to have forgotten about his pork belly braising on the stove while playing a game of chess 900 years ago when the dish was conceived, resulting in a far more tender finish than expecting.  The dish is served ‘Hangzhou’ style, meaning braised in soy sauce and huangjui (wine).  Boiled noodle soup came with sliced pork, bamboo shoots and preserved vegetables. This was an earthy and satisfying dish, the noodles being well done.

Two chicken dishes were tried.  One of these was a signature favourite called ‘beggar’s chicken’ worthy of its own attention.  The dish comes from the neighbouring Province of Jiangsu and is said to have originated in the Qing dynasty when a starving beggar stole a chicken and after slaughtering, hid his loot buried in the ground until he could safely cook.  On returning to his prize, the mud had set all around and in order to get rid of this he set light to it until the mud cracked open – this revealed a beautifully tender chicken which reached the Emperor’s attention and declared it so delicious that it was ordered to be included in the Imperial court.

A nice story and whatever the truth of its origin, the tradition of cooking chicken in clay remains a prominent part of Chinese specialities and in this case, the chicken is marinated in spices, stuffed with mushrooms, wrapped in lotus leaves and then roasted in a (non-toxic) clay pot. This dish has a fun additive in that guests are invited to volunteer to smash through the clay with a huge, wooden hammer.  I probably should have whacked it harder but didn’t want to demolish the chicken inside.  This was indeed a really succulent piece of chicken with the skin satisfying all the way through.  The second chicken dish (also cooked in clay) was served with pork knuckle and was as beautifully succulent as the beggar’s chicken and perhaps with an even more fantastic mix of stock, soy, spices and chicken juices in the bowl.  I thought both of these dishes showcased chicken to levels of succulence and flavour that are surely impossible to improve.

The dessert chosen was chocolate durian cake with caramelised pineapple and chocolate ice cream.  This was pleasantly done, the durian (a very pungent fruit) being mercifully soft but with its aroma and taste pronounced enough.  The chocolate ice cream had a stretchy sponge-like texture in the centre and was fine.

If you see the receipts, you will find this in two parts; this is purely due to the fact that we only just made it in time for lunch with the taxi queue at Hangzhou station being approximately 300m long and thick traffic en route and by the time we arrived, the beggar’s chicken had sold out.  Thankfully it was available for dinner and as we were swinging by again in the early evening, we popped in to have this as an early supper along with the dessert – a meal essentially spread over a very late lunch and early evening with a very expensive tea at a nearby venue further down the lake’s edge in between (beware of the price of certain teas is China).

Wine choices were reasonable with glasses of verve champagne at 19 and a decent enough Chardonnay at 11 which sit perfectly within London prices.   All in all, this is great option as a venue and justifiably popular.