Beijing Boyce

Oh, how the mighty - I mean, mini - have fallen. Wonder Bar, which was Taniwha, which had been the reincarnation of that same bar from old Sanlitun South, has up and changed its name… again! The marketing geniuses behind this spot have come up with a beauty, too. It’s… [drum roll]… Taniwha!

This place has been a disaster from day one. It wasn’t long ago - late last year - that I wrote about its opening:

Eddie O and I showed up at this Tongli Studio bar last Saturday night to discover it was holding… a launch party! It was either a hide-and-seek event or an experiment in minimalist performance art, or perhaps they had already shot the patrons into outer space, because people were sparse. I hate to be mean, but Taniwha looks unfinished, there is hardly any seating, the dance floor beside the pool table ensures conflict between house music and eight ball lovers, and my drink was so-so. True, I’ve only visited once, but I have a feeling the review would be worse after a second visit, so I’ll wait and see if the place makes any changes. Given the traffic heading upstairs to Bar Blu, this location has potential for success, but the owners need to rethink its identity or, even better, get one.

In fact, for six months, it didn’t get better, and the place took on numerous names, at least in my mind - Taniwhat’swrong. Taniwhawful. Taniwhy!?

Then Roger Huong (First Cafe) jumped on board to turn the place into a jazz and cocktail bar in May. He had the bartender (Daniel), some loyalty (those who know him from his previous bars) and money for a re-design. But, it appears patience was lacking. In true Taniwha style, dance music replaced jazz within a few weeks and that meant quizzical looks on the faces of those I took there to introduce them to this “new jazz place.”

Taniwhatever…