Beijing Boyce

9:15 PM, The Den, second floor

Blogging live with Special K and Miss P from the brand new second floor of The Den, which the staff inform us - with some arm twisting - we are the first to patronize. Special K had the first Carlsberg poured. Unfortunately, no one else is upstairs to celebrate with us, but the first floor is packed. Susan, the lone employee up here, is incredibly friendly, in case anyone from The Den’s management is reading. She informs us that more people will soon be up here and, lo and behold, customers four and five just showed up.

By the way, we just left Hooters, which was also packed.

The crowd was diverse, with plenty of younger Chinese and numerous families, and had a good vibe. I think this place is easier to grasp if you consider the Hooters girls simply as cheerleaders who occasionally smack into one other when they do their collective dances. By the way, they almost have “Mickey” down.

We stuck to beer, although you get ten free wings if you order a bottle of Dom Perignon - we recommend the crispy-skinned ones for your champers. We watched televised sports included women’s softball, women’s nine-ball, and guys racing cars with trailers attached to them.

All in all, better than I expected, though Special K was upset about something that we can currently and possibly never ever talk about (more details later).

As reported in early 2006, Browns opened as a near knockoff of Taipei bar Carnegie’s - the layout, color scheme, decorations and drinks menu were similar. Then-managing partner Philip Cheung said he wanted to open a Carnegie’s branch- othere are found in Hong Kong, Perth and Kuala Lumpur - but the franchise fee was too high.

Carnegie’s celebrates its sixth anniversary tonight and is arguably Taipei’s best bar since 2007, with a good wine and drinks selection, efficient service, a fun vibe for partying with friends, and a massive and tasty breakfast.

In other words, everything Browns might be offering us now. Instead, the place remains closed after Philip - and apparently all of the Browns’ furniture, kitchen equipment et al - disappeared.

Rumors has it the place will reopen, the remaining partners seeing a potential Olympics payoff. If so, let’s hope that they reignite the Carnegie’s spirit that Browns had during its first six months and avoid the costly marketing, quality and human resource moves that ultimately led to this place’s demise.

Previous posts re Browns
Off to a good start: No blues for Browns
Bar of the Year: And the TBJ bar awards winners are…
Warning signal!: On Browns
Browns: Love it…
Browns: … or hate it
Browns: Merry-go-Browns I
Browns: Merry-go-Browns II