Beijing Boyce

Some like it hot, some like it spicy, and p3wong likes her Bloody Mary to be both, and with a pinch of celery salt to boot. Friday night, we chilled out in the upstairs lounge at Nearby the Tree, tried a Bloody Mary – yes, we’re aware this spot is known for Belgian beer – and discussed how her favorite drink fares in this city.

“They never use celery salt [in Bloody Marys] in Beijing,” she says. “A lot of places are also stingy on Worcestershire sauce.”

So, what spots does she recommend?

“Redmoon Bar (Hyatt). They use enough Worschestire sauce and put in cherry tomatoes.”

“Lan – the Sichuan Mary is spicy.”

“[The former] Icehouse [where she once worked as GM]; I could tell the staff exactly how I wanted it made.”‘

“The Bookworm – it has an interesting one. I think they make their own juice because it comes out pinkish.”

“I haven’t tried The Vineyard Cafe yet, but I heard they have a ‘do it yourself’ Bloody Mary and I like that idea.”

How about Face? “Okay, but it seems a little bitter, so I’m wondering if they use pepper vodka.”

Block 8? “They must have the worst one. They shake it with the ice and it gets too watery.”

Aria? “The first one I had there, I could only taste tomato juice. The second one had a lot of vodka but not much flavor.”

Centro? “They’re bad. I was disappointed because I heard Bruce Li [now at Aria] was the best bartender. I don’t know if he made mine, but they weren’t good.”

As for the Bloody Mary at Nearby the Tree, here’s p3wong’s take: “It could be better with celery salt, Worcestershire sauce and more tomato juice.” At any rate, it’s a cozy place to chat and there’s plenty of beer and wine as an alternative.

Here are a few my current and past favorite places for a Bloody Mary:

Café St. Laurent: Its ‘Asian Mary’ includes wasabi and soya, a rim salted with nori, and pickled asparagus, a cherry tomato and a prawn as garnish. It comes in a 12-ounce glass, without ice, so it doesn’t get watery. CSL will soon have Bloody Caesars, made with Clamato rather than tomato juice.

Press Club Bar: The menu includes a half-dozen Bloody Mary variations, including one with Qingdao beer; tasty but pricey. (Note: I hear the St. Regis Hotel, which houses The Press Club Bar, is undergoing some renovations, so I’ll visit soon and check this out.)

Before closing, The Big Easy made a nice Bloody Mary.

When I wrote my last post on Nearby the Tree, I couldn’t find my notes about the place’s wine list, but have since dug them up.

There are 35 wines on the list, including Germany’s Dr Loosen Riesling 2006 (RMB245 / bottle), Australia’s Barossa Shiraz Viognier Yalumba 2004 (RMB375) and America’s Stag’s Leap “Artemes” 2003 (RMB995). Moet Chandon is RMB620, while Veuve Clicquot is RMB680. The by-the-glass list is meager, with one sparkling, one white and two reds, so by the bottle (or Belgian beer) seems the way to go.

In Last Wednesday blues, part 1, I covered adventures at Sequoia Cafe, LG Towers, Kenny Rogers Roasters and McDonald’s. Now it’s time to go out on the town, visit Block 8, Suzie Wong and China Doll, and get fashion advice from Special K.

Block 8
I pick up Special K on the way to Blanes “ten most influential Beijing people“ party, which is linked to Spencer Grey (Alfa, Muse, etc). Hang on: hasn’t this party already happened a dozen times this year? Anyway, I can tell by the look of Special’s K shirt that he doesn’t own an iron. On the positive side, if he gets in a fight or falls asleep on a park bench, it can’t get any more wrinkled.

We catch the last half of the awards – the winners include Alan Wong (of Block 8, no less) as bar creator, Jackson Ren (of Aria) as bartender and Bai Cai as DJ. It seems very “group hug” to me.

Afterwards, we go to a VIP area in I-Ultra Lounge (in Block 8) to drink free Champagne and vodka with about 40 other people. Some observations:
- There is a nice group of locals beside me and we toast each other and relax. Unfortunately…
- Some guy drinks two Champagne flutes of vodka in about 15 minutes, breaks the glass, and two minutes later breaks another one, leaving a mess.
- At the next table, an extremely drunk guy, face red as a lobster, repeatedly (endlessly?) shouts slogans and encourages everyone nearby to repeat them, even though there is ZERO interest in this.
- Another guy takes me aside and asks several times, “Where do you see Beijing Boyce in three years?” In such cases, I try to provide a polite answer, such as “helping orphans and whatnot”, but my overriding thought is “anywhere but this place.”
- Half of the women in our area are taking advantage of the photographers on hand to pose for vanity shots.
- And I think I spot Special K drink his fifteenth glass of Champagne – you gotta keep an eye on this guy.
- Anyway, after the free Champers dries up, most people quickly disappear, including the glass dropper and the yeller. Special K, a patron I’ll refer to as JS, and I order – that is, pay for – two more bottles. Alan Wong, don’t say we don’t care!

It is past midnight, time for bed, and we do the only thing possible when Special K is past a half-dozen drinks: onward ho!

The World of Suzie Wong
This is my first visit to ladies night and the place is moderately full. We order three Gin Tonics and the pours are weak. Before the bartender adds the mix, we note the weakness of the drinks, he denies it, and I want to get a shot glass and strain the alcohol from the ice to prove our case. JG says he has guanxi and will talk to the manager. He comes back five minutes later and says in exasperation, “I can’t believe it!” It appears his guanxi is gone.

Meanwhile, Special K learns it’s best to wear a protective cup on ladies night, as some of the drunker attendees like to check out your assets before asking your name. We quickly finish what Suzie Wong calls a Gin Tonic and head to

China Doll
If you rank my current desire to go to China Doll between one and ten, with one being “I’d rather tattoo an image of a dragon fruit on my forehead with a rusty fork prong” and ten being “I’d rather hang out with that slogan-yelling guy from Block 8,” it was somewhere in the middle.

China Doll turns out to be okay. The drinks are good, the bartenders are proficient. The place is lightly filled, with a handful of people around the bar and several full tables in those canopied lounge areas.

I see an editor from a local magazine. He apparently didn’t like an email exchange we had earlier today and he calls me, in colloquial terms, an anus. He is really drunk and I guess some might think he has a point. I ask the staff to change his diaper, give him a fresh bottle (with a touch of Bailey’s) and rock him to sleep.

Then, I search for Special K. I spot the wrinkled shirt. He has made friends with Czech students and once again shown his tolerance for the peoples, and especially the women, of the world. I check the time and decide to head home - right after this drink – so I can get a few hours sleep before those jackhammers start.

Attention hockey fans,

Word has it that Cafe St. Laurent’s Hockey Morning in Beijing (see here) is AGAIN postponed a week and will thus start on December 16, rather than December 9, rather than December 2. I don’t know if the coffee maker is on strike or what, but watch this space for an update. I’m not sure how much longer I can wait form my bottomless Tim Horton’s coffee.

Note: I’ll have part 2 of “Last Wednesday Blues” later this afternoon.

Sofitel Hotel’s Vous lobby lounge is defined by 1) its space, which includes over a thousand square meters of floor area topped by eight-meter ceilings, and 2) its decor, which makes for a kind of Alice in Wonderland for the drinking set.

Ceiling-to-floor purple drapes affixed with massive Chinese-style hairpins, light fixtures that span three centuries of style, seats of calfskin, velour and, uh, Holstein patterns (!) and in every shape imaginable, massive swaths of art - there’s much to gaze at and that’s before including the shiny stuff (chandeliers, wall ornaments and the like). The Cellar Rat rested in a plush chair with a back so high his head looked like a pea in a half-opened pod. Only a man of his stature can carry that off with dignity.

As for the drinks, that’s where the fantasy ends. The menu lists seven beers, with Budweiser being near the top end. The house Champagne is Moet Chandon at RMB710, while cocktails are priced around 70 kuai. I found my Mai Tai a bit weak. On the other hand, our waitress was extremely polite and brought a sense of humor to the job.

If Loong bar is a perfect set for a Jackie Chan flick, then this one is better for something more Kafka-esque. Perhaps the lead character – say Scarlett Johansson – is staying in the hotel during a time of personal duress and the staff decides to test her sanity by rearranging the chairs every day. She becomes increasingly discombobulated and, in a climatic dream sequence, blows her brains out on a white velour high-backed chair, only to wake up covered in a strawberry Margarita. The service fee is outrageous.

Okay, let me work on this plot a bit more…

Last Wednesday was one of those Beijing days…

My apartment building is a monstrous mouth, every unit is a tooth, and a deranged dentist methodically scrapes, hammers and drills each for a month, before starting all over again.

It’s the kind of nightmare from which one awakens – to the soothing vibrations of jackhammers, no less – when the jerks two floors above spend week after week renovating.

A bad way to start the day, but this one looks okay: a meeting with a wine industry guy, a slew of fun emails to write, and parties at a friend’s company and at Block 8 for “the ten most influential people in Beijing.” (In a major oversight, yours truly was not nominated, but as they say, to forgive is divine.)

Sequoia Cafe
Beijing’s road system forgot to take its city-sized ex-lax today, so I arrive 20 minutes late for my meeting. Actually, it took longer to cab it from my home near Workers’ Stadium (35 minutes) than to walk it (30 minutes).

My friend is not here, so I call … You’re stuck in traffic, I bet! … You’re not? Well, that’s lucky … I see, you realized half an hour after our meeting is supposed to start that you can’t make it… No, that’s okay, I love riding pointlessly around this city with a driver whose breath smells like dirty diapers.One of those days… anyway, I spend the day at Sequoia and drink enough caffeine to wire a baby whale. At 5:20, I figure out the logistics of getting home, changing into a suit, and returning just south of here at 7 PM. I decide to walk.True to form, the key components of Beijing post-work traffic are in full play:

One world, one dream (with a soundtrack of jackhammers and car horns)…

LG Towers
Suited, I leave home and take a cab at 7:05, destination LG Towers. The trip takes an hour. Add five minutes to find the right tower and floor, and I arrive at the office 20 minutes before the event ends. Here’s the best part: the party is on Thursday, which is tomorrow, rather than on Wednesday, which is today.

A lone employee is at the office. I apologize for disturbing her, explain my inability to comprehend the seven-day calendar, and leave a note for my friend. Bummed out, I leave LG Towers and spot…

Kenny Rogers Roasters
Less than a week ago, Special K had a hunger for roast chicken and we wondered if The Gambler, as we know him, had a franchise in Beijing. And he does! Things are looking up. I go in, sit down, and decide to play the safe hand and to order the restaurant’s namesake meal: the original roast chicken.

“Sorry, 15 minutes,” says the waitress. Hmm, a roast chicken place with no roast chicken ready. Granted, it is a bit late, so I decide to wait.

“Not 15 minutes, 40 minutes,” chimes in another waiter about 15 seconds later.

As Kenny sang, “you gotta know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em.” Well, you also gotta know when to roast ‘em. I leave and head to…

McDonald’s
I once went a decade without eating at Mickey D’s, but I am hungry now and combo number seven, displayed on a big poster, looks like the solution. I approach the cashier, say “number 7″ in Chinese and point at the poster. She has a deer in the headlights look. I say it in English and point again. Not even a blink. I hold up seven fingers. Nope. Finally someone else comes over and takes my order and soon I am scooting about with my tray looking for a place to sit.

Unfortunately, I eat near two people in their late twenties on what I guess is their first date. Not first date with each other, but, given the looks of them, first date ever. They are uncomfortable being across from a member of the opposite sex, especially at a distance of under ten meters, and I am a perfect diversion from their unease and played-out conversations about cell phone accessories, anime, Super Girl contestants, or whatever.

“Look, a foreigner,” says one, and points at me. “Yes, a foreigner,” says the other, and stares. They blush, but continue to look and make reference to me. It’s been a trying day, so I walk over, jam a chicken McNugget into each of their nostrils, draw a ketchup mustache beneath, stick pickle slices on their cheeks, and hoarsely whisper in Mandarin, “This is considered foreplay in New Jersey.” Actually, I made that up. Instead, I made a huffing sound and left. Little did I know, things were about to get worse – or better, depending on your perspective.

In part 2, Special K shares his fashion secrets, we drink bubbly at Block 8, neither of us makes the “most influential list” and a magazine editor yells at me.

Wet your whistle at these upcoming wine events in Beijing…December 5, 7-9 PM, Aperitivo (RMB100)
Zonin tasting, with Maura Marciante of Zonin, by Torres China; RSVP with Sophie Sun (5165-5519, x208 / sophie@torres.com.cn)

December 6, 7 PM, Jasmine (RMB249)
Robert Skalli wine dinner, with ASC Fine Wines; RSVP with Dennis Zhang (6418-1598, x130 / dennis@asc-wines.com)

December 7, 7:30-9 PM, Capone’s (RMB 100)
Tommassi wine tasting, with East Meets West Fine Wines; RSVP with Alexander (alexander@emw-wines.com)

December 7, 6:30 PM, Sequoia Café – Sanlitun (RMB 100)
Sparkling wines; join the e-vite list for Sequoia’s weekly events by emailing Frank at frank.siegel@gmail.com.

Note: It’s always best to double-check the details with the event organizers.

Before going to Flo for lunch last week in Beijing, The Flash and I visited The Wine Bank next door. The defining features are 14-foot ceilings, red brick walls, pine shelving and stone floors, with touches of glass, cast iron and gold trim. A second-floor alcove includes two sofas, and there are three tables downstairs, if you want to try a bottle (after buying it, of course).

The Wine Bank is earthy enough, though there is some tackiness, such as plastic plants, brick “wallpaper” pasted over cement in spots, and an all-too-visible golf club collection I’d guess is the owner’s. “This is a nice place to have a seat and a bottle of wine,” says The Flash.

More than 80 percent of the wine on offer hails from Australia, with labels such as Timber Ridge, Tallboy, Ferngrove, Plantagenet, Peel, and Just Red.

The Wine Bank is open 11 AM to 9 PM, with free parking for added convenience. According to one employee, several more branches are planned in Beijing.

Here’s something from the world of sport but that fits here because its a game I associate with bars… 

Foosball fanatics, get your fix: the China Open Table Soccer Championship is set for December 7-9 at Beijing Ti Yu Sports Hotel. I interviewed foosball trainer and promoter Fred Gower about this event (email fred_gower@yahoo.ca for a schedule and other details).

What can people expect if they attend the China Open?
They can expect to see most of the best players in China, from seven different regions in the country. International tournament-quality tables. Videos of past world championships. International teams from Mongolia and India. And one middle-aged white guy (me) looking for others to form a world team.

How does the talent in China stack up to that in other countries?
Talent is strong but still raw. When I first moved here three years ago, I could beat most players with one hand. Since then I have taught dozens of students, some of them very serious. A few beat me now on a regular basis. The teenagers that we teach could be very good in five to ten years. We have rules and training videos in Mandarin, articles, Web sites, and so on to help them.

We were very happy to surprise the rest of Asia this year when we finished second at the International Cup at the VIFA Asia Open in Malaysia. Europe and North America are still a big step ahead of us.

What are the best pubs in which to play foosball in Beijing?
I have only seen a handful of places to play in Beijing. There are a lot of great bars in terms of atmosphere but they are horrible for table quality. Have your favorite bar owner contact us to buy an international quality table at Chinese prices. Shanghai already has about six places with them and players there are moving ahead of Beijing skillwise. Players in Beijing can improve the situation, but it requires some people willing to take a lead. The Chinese Table Soccer Federation can help them.

How about Shanghai?
The best places are Big Bamboo, Baby Bamboo, Eager Beaver, Wunderbar, The Spot, and Oasis Bar and Grill. Most expats play for fun but several of our local Chinese players are very serious.

The only time I met you, I scored against you at Big Bamboo to make it 1-1? How scared were you at that point?
On a scale of 1 to 10? Not a whole hell of a lot. Sorry, I meant to say I was “petrified”. Do you want to play the next one for a little money?

See www.shanghaifoosball.com or www.table-soccer.cn for more information about foosball in China.

After a recent visit to the JW Marriott restaurant Pinot, Sir Campbell Thompson and I headed to the hotel’s bar, Loong, which means “dragon.” Ladies and gentleman, welcome to the perfect set for the next Jackie Chan action flick.

I can visualize Jackie kung fu-ing his way past a half-dozen bad guys against a backdrop of black marble and back-lit onyx-colored marble, flipping across the bar as a shotgun blast blows apart the large crystal dragon above it, and landing gingerly in front of the giant Chinese character for the place’s name. He could even stop for a split-second sip of the bar’s ho-hum martinis before mopping up the trouble-makers as Sir C shakes up bottles of Bollinger and launches corks at them.

Anyway, the main bar area is nicely lit, heavy on the marble, and whispers “we want the nouveau riche” (see “buckets of booze” below). The focus is an oval bar – with precious little space for the bartenders behind it – and a gold-lit dragon (made of hundreds, if not thousands, of crystal pieces) surrounded by silver clouds (made of hundreds more).

The second room is a lounge, with swivel and regular chairs, and a stage for live jazz. It’s also nicely lit save for some shelves edged with glowing lights (hmmm, prime real estate for an alcohol sponsor, no?).

In back is another lounge – “the cigar room” – done in oranges, chocolates and burgundies, with plush chairs and dark wood furniture. It’s an upscale combo of recreation room and den.

As for the drinks, my martini was so-so and at ~70 kuai nothing to write home about. The wine list is extensive, with 23 wines by the glass (10 reds, 10 whites, two sparkling and one Champagne) and 97 by the bottle. Qingdao is 40 kuai; other beers are 48-78 kuai. Loong is among the few places I know that has Woodford Reserve Bourbon.

As mentioned above, the menu includes three “bucket of booze” specials, a name that’s a mismatch for a place like this. How about “dragon lair I, II and III” or “dragon’s delight”, “dragon’s desire” and “dragon’s dream”? I don’t know… anything but “bucket of booze”.

In any case, each package gets you Heineken, a bottle of liqueur, mixers and four Cuban cigars (the more expensive the package, the better the smokes). At the RMB3,888 level, you also get bottles of Moet Chandon, Johnnie Walker Black and Absolute vodka, while at the highest level, RMB9,888, you also get bottles of Dom Perignon 1998, Johnnie Walker Blue and Absolute something [can’t recall which one]. If you’re mixing drinks this much, let’s hope you’re not working the next day.

I’ve long been a fan of China Law Blog, not only because it provides excellent coverage of the business scene and thus makes me feel like I understand things a bit better, but also because authors Dan Harris and Steve Moure cover wine, whiskey and beer. If you’ve not checked out the blog, I recommend doing so. If you like it, then I urge you to vote for the site in the “Black Letter Law” blog contest being held by the ABA Journal.

For more on China Law Blog’s coverage of the alcohol sector, see my post Thinking Blogs? Strike “Th”, replace with ”Dr”.

Joop Shen, who’s worked at China Doll, The Bank* and (most recently) Mingle over the past year, is moving to Project H, a large restaurant, lounge and deck development in Sanlitun’s Nali Studio that management says will open by the end of January. Shen will serve as general manager.

Billy Kawaja, executive chef at the Canadian Embassy, is also on board at Project H and will head up the French-Chinese restaurant, the Asian tapas menu in the lounge and the grill menu on the deck. Kawaja is known best for his brunch menu at Café St. Laurent.

Meanwhile, the management behind Project H, which runs establishments such as Alfa and Le Hugo, plans to open a second Muse in Nali as well as a strip of five bars nearby. More details on the latter to come soon.

* A series of SMS messages from The Bank announces that pole dancing will be featured every Friday night.

Attention hockey fans,

Word has it that Cafe St. Laurent’s Hockey Morning in Beijing (see here) is postponed a week and will thus start on December 9, rather than December 2. Maybe the zamboni broke down or the staff at CSL overdid it with double-doubles of Tim Horton’s coffee, I really don’t know. But I’ll provide a further update on Hockey Morning in Beijing next week.