Beijing Boyce

Last Saturday night was supposed to entail getting together with friends for a few drinks. Instead, it turned into a bar-hopping marathon. I don’t typically stay out until the wee hours any more, but this was an exception:

Beer Mania (Sanlitun South; 20:15): You rarely go wrong by starting a night with a few Belgian brews, so RJ, SW and I met at Beer Mania. We pretty much had the place to ourselves as we sampled seven different beers, including a nice Rochefort. Manager Marc van Bever is planning to do beer tastings every Thursday. Patrons get to sample ten beers for 150 kuai. Call 13126-904-396 for details.

Browns (Sanlitun South; 22:45) Carnegie’s in Taipei is famous (infamous?) as the city’s most raucous night spot, featuring great service, a massive beverage selection (including 366 shooters), an admirable layout and a long bar where the wilder (and usually drunker) clients get up and dance the night and early morning away. It’s a runaway success and now Browns is seeking to emulate it in Beijing (there are also Carnegie’s in Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Perth, and a Browns in London). With RJ heading home, Agent Red Wolf and WF joined us to check it out.

Although only open for two days, and having details to work out - the menu desperately needs a spell check: “Soff drinks”, “Carlsbery”, and on and on; there are some weird prices: 42 kuai for a martini, 43 kuai for a “martini favorite”; and the toilets need a cleaning - Browns has the potential to be a great bar and possibly the best of the year.

The martini was decent (though not particularly dry), the beer was reasonably priced (pints of Kilkenny and Guinness at 35 kuai), and the thin-crust pizza was tasty. The staff, which includes five Filipinos, was polite and efficient (though they could drop the “ma’am” and “sir” stuff). Lisa, who handled our table, was excellent. When Agent Red Wolf felt her Long Island Iced Tea needed more rum and lime, it was quickly topped up.

The long bar has a brass railing up top to keep the expected dancers from falling into the employees and massive shelves of alcohol. In front of the bar is a standing / dancing area, and behind that two levels of seating. The decor is flat black and white, with dark wood, brass and glass accents, and the walls contain music-themed pictures and instruments. The high ceilings will minimize smoke.

We had a nice chat with Lawrence Chen, the general manager, and Jacky Kong, the supervisor, who said they plan to open adjoining Mexican, Japanese and other themed rooms. Hmmm. In any case, it’s a great start for Browns, with the only downside being that the spotlights and dance music were out of sync with the feel of the bar, especially given the sparse crowd. It just doesn’t seem right to have electric guitars and pictures of Jimi Hendrix on the walls and then only play music typified by Black Eyed Peas’ “My Humps.”

Palms (Chaoyang Park, South Gate; 00:30) Some random observations during my second visit to Palms: It’s in a mall; the menus are shaped like pianos and wine bottles; there are too many chairs; the men’s and women’s toilets are far from spotless and there was no toilet paper (again). When I ordered a martini, the waiter asked, “With ice”?

On the positive side, the management and staff at Palms are extremely friendly and open to comments. Something is amiss, though. Maybe it simply needs some fine-tuning with the drinks (my martini was sub-par) and decor. Or maybe the live music doesn’t fit the environment (or maybe it’s good in a bad way, depending on your taste). When I hear a band member shout out “everyone, sing along!” for “Jesus Christ Superstar”, I have to ask, Does anyone in the place know that song, let alone the words? Would it not be better to have fewer songs in English and more in Mandarin (a la Teresa Deng and Faye Wong), thus drawing a moneyed Chinese crowd that would enjoy being in a big interactive KTV lounge?

By the by, after the set ended, SW started shouting out “Phantom of the Opera!” and got into in protracted negotiations with the singer that eventually ended with the band doing a raucous, if slightly over the top, rendition of “Don’t Cry For Me, Argentina.” That was the high point.

Nashville (Maizidian; 01:40) When we rolled into Nashville, we figured the place would be half-empty and the band finished. Instead, there was a good crowd on hand and singer-guitarist Chris had the place rocking. Bar-goers hooted out requests and sang along, and one patron got up and sang The House of the Rising Sun. (Note: This is the atmosphere for Palms to create.) Good times all around as Chris cranked out everything from Lynyrd Skynyrd to Bryan Adams to Johnny Cash. Agent Red Wolf and WB both thought the Long Island Iced Teas were good.

Maggie’s (Ritan Park, South Gate; 02:50) We dropped SW off on our way home and then decided last-minute to keep the night going. The new Maggie’s is much tamer than the old and the layout is too narrow, but as Agent Red Wolf points out, they play fun music. We hit the dance floor and unloaded a few of the calories picked up earlier in the night.

As usual, there were ample people-watching opportunities, with the guy beside us falling asleep on, and then falling off, his chair. He lay on the floor, apparently unconscious, for a few minutes. The security guards propped him up and then he suddenly popped back to life. I suspect something stronger than alcohol was in his system. Anyway, this incident seemed to inspire another man to move in on WF and it wasn’t long before we spirited her away. To our horror, the hot dog stand outside had already closed!

Agent Red Wolf and I dropped off WF and decided that, sans hot dogs, we needed food. Where to go? The Den? Bellagio? 7-ELEVEN? We ended up at Dacheng Jie (beside Gino’s) and pigged out on dumplings, xiaolongbao, soybean milk and more. We briefly considered hitting one more spot, but decided to end the morning on a high note and get some sleep before Sunday brunch.

(From Beijing Boyce IX, first emailed on January 26, 2006)