Dayali Beijing Roast Duck

We came here on a recommendation for Peking duck. After a 15 minute wait, we were crammed into a table for 4 that was made into a table for 5 and the restaurant was packed. 

Since we didn't know what to order - we went with the set meal with lobster and Peking duck. 

Ok...salad course? 

The top salad had some strange brown sauce I've never had before and it was cold. The bottom salad was tossed with a light vinegar dressing and kidney meat. OK - I have no idea what's going on here - but these were two of the blandest and strangest salads I've ever had in a Chinese restaurant

Ma-Po tofu soup

Something I recognize! The soup was spicy, but seemed a little watered down. 

Peas? 

I kept looking around to see if I was actually in a Chinese restaurant. 

Peking Duck!

Finally! Although we were puzzled by the Peking Duck, that was all??? They only cut up 1/4 of the duck and skin for us and it was nowhere near enough for those pancakes. Also, the vegetables looked like they were kind of haphazardly thrown onto the tray...where are the cucumbers? 

I'm totally not seeing the hype about this place. 

Steamed fish

Finally! Something I can handle, although the fish wasn't scaled in some places - which is just awful. 

At least it was big, although quantity doesn't make up for quality. 

Oh - the rest of the Peking Duck came after we finished all but two of the pancakes: how lovely (*heavy sarcasm*). However, the duck was really juicy and quite tasty. 

Lobster

I have no idea why it was in such a big plate that took up 1/2 of our table when we were already super crowded. Eventually, one of the waitresses had to downsize our plate so we could fit everything on the table. The lobster was okay. 

Green onion pancakes

I was actually kind of excited when I saw these! Usually these are pretty good at most restaurants, but it wasn't the case here - they were oily and doughy and bland tasting. Fail.

Overall: I would say I'm usually pretty balanced in my reviews, but I couldn't figure out if it was (a) just a busy night, (b) we ordered the wrong things or (c) the food and quality of the food was just that terrible. It also didn't help that the service wasn't very good - no one really told us what we were eating and they kept struggling to put everything we ordered on the table because our table was small and the plates were big (the actual plates, not the food). I'd say it was a disaster and I probably wouldn't come back.