Meizhou Dongpo Restaurant

"You can find pretty much anything inside this 1,300,000-sq. ft. shopping mall, including some of the best peking duck outside the SGV. Meizhou Dongpo is a Beijing-based restaurant that serves a plump, glossy $89 duck that comes neatly sliced on a cute duck-shaped platter. It also serves as a beautiful centerpiece for all of the spicy, lip-tingling things you can surround it with, like poached sliced beef swimming in bright red chili oil and fried chicken coated in a mountain of Sichuan peppercorns. It’s an outrageous (and incredible) meal to have next door to an AMC, but it’s what we need after untangling ourselves from the H&M sales rack. " - brant cox, sylvio martins, nikko duren

"Eating an entire peking duck at the mall sounds equal parts outrageous and incredible (because it is). Meizhou Dongpo is a place to partake in such luxuries. Located inside the Westfield Century Mall, this Beijing-based restaurant serves a whole duck for $89, which comes neatly sliced on a cute duck-shaped platter. The meat is plump, and the glossy, deeply browned skin crackles in your mouth. It’s an indulgent meal that easily beats any food court option, so consider splurging on a whole duck before a night at AMC." - brant cox, sylvio martins, nikko duren

"In a very Century City turn of events, one of the best places to eat in this particularly soulless part of Los Angeles is a restaurant in the mall. Meizhou Dongpo is a Chinese place that’s a big deal in Beijing, and also has a couple of other locations in California. The Peking Duck, sliced up by a chef tableside, is the best you’ll find without having to drive out to Arcadia, and the dan dan noodles are pretty excellent too. " - Jess Basser Sanders

"Spend enough time tangled in sweaters at the H&M sales rack and you'll need to decompress with a good meal at Westfield Century City before navigating that maze of a parking structure. Go to Meizhou Dongpo, a Beijing-based chain that makes some of the best Peking duck outside the SGV. It gets carved up by a chef tableside. We usually throw in some dan dan noodles and spicy chili chicken covered in Sichuan peppercorns and call it a day. " - Sylvio Martins, Brant Cox, Nikko Duren

"With locations in Irvine, Arcadia, Century City, and Universal City Walk, Meizhou Dongpo is a restaurant empire in China. In California, however, the restaurant is mostly known as a higher-end Chinese restaurant that is almost exclusively located in big shopping malls or tourist locations. Because its signature Beijing-style roast duck is so good (Meizhou Dongpo was chosen as the official food sponsor for the 2008 China Olympic Games), people tend to forget that the former mom-and-pop shop is actually a Sichuan restaurant. Meizhou Dongpo’s braised pork belly dong po rou, dan dan noodles, and bang bang poached chicken are solid takes on the traditional dishes." - Kristie Hang