Heard from various Chinese foodies that the food was mediocre and overpriced, this place was not worthy of a visit. My mum is visiting and we visited this chain in Beijing 10 years ago. I insisted to take mum there for our memory, realized that words of mouth from the locals was accurate.

It started with making the reservation. They put my name is “Lin” as that’s Mandarin. It only confused my guests.

They nicely sent me a reminder about the reservation, dress code and three hour parking. When we arrived the parking garage, it appeared to be a public parking with some lots reserved for the restaurants. When we used the parking machine, there was no option for the restaurant customer or three hours. We chose “until 10 pm” as we did not want to risk being by towed. Upon arrival, I checked with one of the staff, he said it was free as long as I parked in one of the lots reserved for restaurant and there was no need to pay. I showed him the ticket I paid and asked if they could validate for me. He said sorry and there was nothing they could do about it. We often pay our ticket first, and the restaurant will then validate our ticket or refund us by cash. I wished there could be more details about parking in the reservation reminder.

We put effort to dress up, but saw a lot of other customers were wearing casual wear. We could have done the same as well.

We were put into a long table for a party of seven. With three at each side and one at the edge. This seating arrangement was not the best, but it was good that one of my guests could not make. We wanted to make conversation easier and asked if we could have a round table instead, but they could not do it, or we had to limit our dining time within 2.5 hours as the guests they prepared to seat at the round table would come later. I did not understand how their logic worked, so I decided to remain at the long table.

We came here for the duck, but it did not live up to the name of Quan Ju De from Beijing. It was pretty dry as the meat was too thin/ not enough fat. It was also quite bland without much flavour. The skin was thick and the duck did not seem to be freshly cooked. The number of pancakes was also not enough for our party of six. I also wished there was cucumber served with the Peking duck. Even though they carved the Peking duck in front of you, to me, it was more about the entertainment.

Then, we ordered other dishes. There was a male manager who was helpful and gave recommendations. A few dishes he recommended turned out great: a starter of Shanghai braised fish, an angus beef dish, and the prawn. A fried rice he recommended was too dry and my guests did not eat much of it.

Overall, food was like what I heard - mediocre - with some dishes nicely done and others not so good. It seemed to be more about presentation than the quality of the food. They put dry ice under various dishes/ desserts. The first time we saw it, it was like wow 🤩, but then we got used to it.

For dessert, they went out of the Jasmine Tea Crème Brûlée. So, some of us ordered Almond Tofu instead.

Overall, service was mixed and disappointing. The male manager was excellent, but it was only him and he alone could only do so much. There were a lot of staff working, but every time I tried to get attention and looking around, none of them noticed. It was very confusing, as when I paid, I still had no idea who our server was. There was a female staff kept asking one of my guests who sat by the window about stuff, but obviously it was me who was in charge and going to pay. It was quite embarrassing for my guest. Quite often, I had to wait until the male manager caught my intention seeking for help. Salute 🫡 to him.

The washroom was also frustrating. My mum alerted me there was no toilet paper 🧻. And an hour later when I went, there was still no toilet paper. A nice lady customer kindly warned me about it once I entered. I shared what my mum told me with her, and she said someone at her table told her the same thing! I heard from my guests that there were things broken in the gentlemen.