peking.duck.北.京.烤.鸭

you feel like writing about the food in beijing today.  that's the problem when you visited so many places within the last seven weeks if not because you have a book where you journal down the special thoughts and sketches of places or taste of the food, you would have forgotten the name and the taste of the dishes...

together with your friend D, you went to a peking duck restaurant (北京大董烤鸭店), not the most famous tourist hot spot but one that recreates peking duck with modern twist.  there are many peking duck specialty restaurants, but you both prefer this one. you ate here many times before and the standard of the peking duck is always consistent and great, what surprise you this time is not that the peking duck is still equally great but the presentation of the food has changed. change for the better, in fact the presentation increases the overall impression and hence stimulate the taste bug further. since it's only two of you, you only ordered a few dishes and just half a duck as one would be too much for both of you...

 gong pao shrimp (宫爆大虾) - peppery hot and yummy

 

 from a different perspective but same delicious gong pao shrimps

white tofu with spring vegetables called 香椿豆腐 , the presentation is just as cute as a french macaron. 

sweet and sour fish cake 糖醋黃魚扇 with caramelized bed of vegetables. appetizing.

of course the main focus is the peking duck. it is yummy, especially the wrapper doesn't get harden when it is cooled. 

the condiments for the peking duck and the green dish from the left top photo is called 豌豆尖, another spring vegetable.   the food here is really from what used to be already really good to now finesse.

if you ever want to try peking duck in beijing while visiting beijing, this is really a place to be. the queue is long (we waited for 45 min) but it's worth the wait. and while waiting make sure you help yourself with the sour plum drink (酸梅汤) the smokiness and the sweet sour juice is divine.

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weather has been really good and kind to me here in the netherlands.  the unpacking is almost done, i paid all the bills and sorted out all the paper work, two rounds of laundry (and more to go), i collected my new lease car from your new employer yesterday and yes, i am excited for the weekend and the new week to come!!
hope you enjoy your weekend too!
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