Bian Yi Fang – 便宜坊

Another time-honoured brand, Bian Yi Fang, was established in 1416 during the Ming dynasty, and was initially a small workshop similar to a tavern that served duck and chicken primarily

Bianyifang has many branches across Beijing, but we visited the Deng Shi Kou brand, which is very near my hotel. I was surprised to find 1 outlet near my hotel as I went to Qianmen to try to find the one I had visited years ago, but could not find it

Located inside a food mall, the restaurant occupies 2 stories of the space, with the 1st floor mainly for registration and waiting. I came by the night before during dinnertime, and the whole 1st floor was packed with customers waiting for tables. As we visited during off meal timing, we were shown to the 2nd floor immediately via the dedicated escalators

On the 2nd floor, we were greeted by rows of ducks waiting to be placed in the oven for roasting. Each duck is roasted only upon order, so it is always fresh. We were given a number and shown to the waiting area for a table to clear up. There were another 3 groups ahead of us, and we waited close to 15 minutes to get a table. The decor of the restaurant was modern and functional, with no additional over-the-top decorations

The menu clearly reminds diners of the history of the restaurant with a traditional leather-bound book. The variety of dishes included the usual Chinese stir fry dishes, seafood and most importantly, the Peking roast duck

2 dishes caught my eye, so I decided to order them. The first was the crab roe tofu, which came in a big dish with cubed tofu, minced meat, green peas, cubed mushrooms and a thick, flavourful crab roe gravy. The dish was kept warm with candlelight, and it was extremely comforting with warm white rice. While the dish looks very simple, it packs quite a punch with deep umami flavours from the crab roe infused throughout. It was light yet addictive at the same time, which made me chomp on it, scoop after scoop

The next dish was homemade braised pork belly with claypot scorched rice. The pork belly was glistening with beautiful colours, and the flavours were well infused throughout the piece of meat. The balance of fats vs meat was also good, with a burst of juicy yet oily flavours that were not too overwhelming. The scorched rice provided a nice textured crunch to break up the meaty and oily bite of the pork belly

The star dish, which every table has to order, is the Peking roast duck, which comes with condiments, steamed flour pancake wrap and the duck soup. The size of the duck was much better than the one from Da Dong, as we ended up with 2 to 3 plates of sliced duck skin and meat. Comparing them to Da Dong, the skin had a thicker layer of crispy fat, which melted into oil with each bite. The first few mouthfuls were absolutely delicious and packed with flavours, but after the 5th wrap, everything started to get too heavy for the stomach. I started adding the different condiments like hawthorn slices, garlic paste, to lighten the fattiness of each mouthful. The soup was a light-flavoured soup with a hint of peppery taste and duck meat flavours from the bones

Overall, the food is delicious, and the duck was really very traditionally made, but as they were a fatter breed, it was quite impossible to finish one duck if you only have a small group of people. We struggled to finish our food, as there were only 2 of us, and the oiliness of the dishes overwhelmed us. To better enjoy the food, I would recommend either ordering fewer dishes since there was no half order for their ducks

Address： 东四南大街157号2层202室 ( Deng Shi Kou Subway Exit A)

Baidu Link

Opening hours: 11 am to 9. 30 pm