Beijing Boyce

that’s Beijing’s will announce its bar and club awards winners tonight, with the magnum-sized prize being, no surprise, that for Bar/Club of the Year. Why not have a Bar of the Year and a Club of the Year - especially since bars and clubs are often like apples and oranges, Beijingers and Shanghainese, single malt and green tea?

Well, maybe it’s time to get creative and take matters into our own hands. Here’s the breakdown of that’s Beijing’s nominees…

I’m disqualifying one place - D22 - because it hasn’t inspired me to visit. It’s a truly pitiful marketing effort on their part. Kidding aside, I plan to visit D-22 this summer, but the dozens of comments I’ve heard about it suggests remote odds I’d rank it my favorite.

It’s a love or hate it place, and I fall into the latter group when it comes to Bar Blu, though the fact that those who love it hang out there and not at my favorite spots is something I like and, perhaps, even love. (Note: At the TBJ awards at Bar Blu two years ago, I told manager Ben Hails I desperately needed smokes - I’ve since quit - and despite being busy with a few hundred patrons, he hustled off and returned shortly with a pack of Chongnanhai. My point: I hate Bar Blu, but Ben seems okay.)

I visited the old Vics whenever friends felt like they needed a display of my two-step overbite shuffle. The place was okay. I haven’t been to the new and improved Vics, but I can’t imagine it’s done enough since re-opening to deserve an award with “of the year” in the title.

Still holding in there, The Den has a solid staff, decent pub grub, a great happy hour, an “I bet this place was pretty good at one time” aura, and, unfortunately, occasional packs of very dodgy characters.

The Stone Boat - I like the location, I like the music, I like the owners, and maybe it’s a blindspot in how I view establishments, but it just doesn’t feel like a bar or club to me.

The Rickshaw - The best bar of the last two months, but not “of the year”. It takes about six months of operation and exceptional performance - i.e. Browns last year - to sneak off with best new bar and best bar/club awards.

* Club of the Year: Great music, a unique (though over-the-top) decor, an efficient staff, a touch of Cloud Nine spirit, plenty of seating and people-watching options, and decent pours make China Doll an excellent late-night stop. It ranks among those rare spots that bridge culture by drawing both a local and an expatriate crowd. Check the bar and you might see a trio of dice-throwing local women beside a pair of foreign businessmen beside a group of local and expatriate college-age kids beside… you get the idea.

* Bar of the Year: Despite the bigger digs, bartenders extraordinaire George and Echo, along with partner Ralph, have continued to provide high-quality cocktails in the just-over-a-year-old Q Bar. They offer patrons a perfectly lit spacious interior and a tranquil deck, and took their game up a notch by training a sizeable team of polite and industrious bar staff. The learning curve for these guys has been huge.

* Bar/Club (Blub) of the Year: The place that many love to hate - The World of Suzie Wong. Given that surviving a year is an achievement for a Beijing bar, Suzie looks mightily healthy as she approaches her fifth birthday. The place has done well with timely redesigns, picking off key staff (such as from Hed Kandi and Browns) and by appealing to an incredible range of niches, whether it’s those looking to dance, drink, pick up, entertain clients, show visiting friends a famous bar, relax on a deck, or check out Eastern European models. They also have a coat check. When it comes to embodying both a bar and a club, Suzie beats all others on the TBJ list of nominees.

* Bar/Club of the Year (write-in vote): I love bars that attract a diverse crowd because they appeal to something that transcends age or gender or profession. First Cafe, and to an extent Q Bar, did it with cocktails. Browns did it for a while by providing a place for people to get silly and dance on the bar with friends and co-workers. My write-in vote does it with music. This place is long and narrow, has no windows, so-so air conditioning (thus is best during the fall, winter and spring), a good happy hour and decent regular drink prices, and a décor highlighted by a pool table and oil paintings of nudes (the owner was formerly an art student). It doesn’t sound like a winning combination, but for at least most of the past year, it has absolutely rocked on Friday and Saturday nights, as teachers, students, diplomats, journalists, businesspeople - you name it - of all ages and all nationalities turned up to hear and cheer and drink and dance to fantastic live Xinjiang music.

This place embodies the spirit of what a bar atmosphere should be. This place is Cheers.

(Speaking of awards… why not go here, scroll to Beijing Boyce, and click the “+” sign til it turns green. I can’t think of a better way to spend a few minutes of work time than by making a (somewhat) young bar reviewer’s day brighter.)

Yikes! I promised to make my picks before that’s Beijing announces the winners of its bars and clubs awards tonight. Here are ten quick ones, with five qualifiers -I don’t necessarily think my picks will win awards, they aren’t necessarily my favorite places, I haven’t been to every spot nominated, I’m no bars or club expert nor do I play one on TV, and I’m spending only an hour on this and might have missed someone (Zing by Doodoo’s still open?).

Best new bar: The Rickshaw - This place has delivered, with excellent wings and burritos, a friendly staff, an unpretentious atmosphere and a good happy hour - it’s a nice fit to the Beijing market. It’s also increasingly popular with the wireless crowd. A shout out to co-nominees China Doll (it would get my vote as best new club, if there only were such a category) and Pepper (I’ve only visited once, but it has potential).

Best wine selection: My definition of “best” includes a combination of quantity of choice, quality of choice, and price. My vote goes to Palette Vino, which has an excellent selection, reasonable prices and a tasteful tasting area where you can give a bottle or two a test run. Write-in vote consideration goes to Café Europa.

Best place to start the night: In support of those who line their stomachs with food before liquor, this is a three-way tie among The Den (half-price pizzas and drinks, 5-10 PM), The Tree (more pizza, this time with Belgian beer) and The Rickshaw (great pub grub and cheap Qingdao, 4-8 PM). If it’s Friday night, they take second billing behind Sequoia Café (Sanlitun branch) and its weekly wine tasting / BBQ.

Best outdoor terrace: Again, it’s a three-way tie, this time between a rooftop (Q Bar), a patio (Pavillion) and something more secluded, yet still central (The Stone Boat Café).

Best for cheap drinks: For a few quick drinks before heading to other nearby bars, it’s Shooters; for a longer stop and a chat with friends, it’s Phil’s Pub.

Best sports bar: Given the hurdles I faced trying to catch NBA playoff games a few months ago, this is an easy (and, yes, a personal) one. The winner is - well, there is no winner.

Best happy hour: For its food and drink combination, The Den, though Bar Blu gets kudos for its creative concept, Cheers for its 15-kuai Wild Turkey shots, and Centro for providing high-end value.

Best place to bring a date: The Tree is an all-purpose date place - with plenty of good drink, good food, and a no-pressure environment that can still feel intimate even when it’s crowded. An added bonus is that it won’t break most people’s budgets.

Best events / parties: Frank Siegel gets this one not for the popular quiz night he leads at Tim’s Texas BBQ, but for - and this is a write-in vote - the creative events and relaxed atmosphere he creates for the Friday night wine events at Sequoia Café (Sanlitun branch).

Best cocktails: The Press Club has good drinks and short-lived Wonder Bar put together a decent martini or two, but for a mix of quality and creativity, nobody beats Q Bar.

I’ll be back at noon to cover the Bar / Club of the Year award…