Beijing Boyce

Email: “Blarney Stone and O’Malley’s are not ‘British’ pubs. They are Irish… Sorry for being so patriotic and stubborn.” - GP

BB: I knew something felt wrong when I put together that special Shanghai edition. Thank Buddha you clarified this before St. Patrick’s Day or I might have had a knuckle sandwich to go with my green beer.

Email: “I sent your newsletter to a few Shanghai friends… I note there were no comments on which are the best ‘pick-up’ places. Now, that is useful information.” - ME

BB: Being as pure as the driven snow, I’m an improbable person to pick out the pick-up places, but perhaps can peruse my pub list and propose some potential ports. If you are low on cash and/or like mates who trail toilet paper streamers, then Windows; if, in either whole or in part, you are a dancing fool, then Zapata’s; if you have a bundle of money and are willing to part with a good portion of it, then Bar Rouge or Park 97. And if you like the young expatriate professional types who talk so incessantly they don’t even realize they’re being picked up, then Cotton’s. Good night and good luck.

Email: “Well, I must admit Browns must be good since you have gone there ten times. But then again, if you are there ten times, aren’t you forgetting follow-ups to other bars? … And also, the year’s best bar, give [Browns] a couple of months before you declare it.” - DF

BB: Ah, the pitfalls of drinking and writing (yes, this email’s author admitted to having a few). I’m not sure how to respond. I go out to meet friends and we tend to stay local and Browns is in our vicinity, so… And while I try my best to venture to other areas, this newsletter is just a hobby, not a job, so…

By the way, I never “declared” Browns as the year’s best bar, but said it had the potential. And frankly, it is fulfilling it with each passing weekend. That’s not to say no challenges loom: Guinness and Kilkenny sell almost at cost (not the best business model); other players could target the same market, including Carnegie’s, of which Browns in a knock-off; the place could suffer the type of HR problems that have hurt other local bars, including First Cafe and Midnight; and so on. Having written that, I’ll close by adding that there is no Beijing bar that comes even close to having as much success, or impact, as Browns this year.

(From Beijing Boyce XIII, first emailed on March 24, 2006)