SIJI MINFU

32 Dengshikou West Street, Dongdan, Dongcheng District +86 10 6513 5141

This branch of Siji Minfu is near our hotel. There are no bookings – you take a ticket then wait on stools outside. It’s part of the restaurant’s charm and the line moves pretty quickly. We queue for 30 minutes and are offered water while we wait.

This place is famous for the duck but don’t underestimate the rest of the menu. It’s here that I have my favourite dish of the trip: green cauliflower stir-fried with onion, black beans, pork belly, chilli, garlic, ginger, soy and shaoxing wine. Simple but so delicious.

There’s also tenderised beef marinated in soy, dry-fried with Sichuan pepper and green Sichuan peppercorns and bursting with five-spice flavour.

The tender pork belly steamed with rice meal and served with steamed buns is another hit; it’s almost impossible to stop eating it. But hold the phone. The duck here is the best we taste. Okay, perhaps the skin isn’t quite as crisp as Da Dong’s but the meat almost melts in your mouth. Wrapped in a pancake with classic hoisin sauce, cucumber and spring onions, it’s a total winner.