Huang Tang (Beijing)

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.