Beijing Boyce

Glenn Phelan at Paddy O’Shea’s said about 35 Canucks were on hand last Sunday to watch the NHL playoffs. If you want to watch an early morning game, let Glenn know ahead of time at glenn@paddyosheas.com.

Not that the NBA playoffs matter any more now that my beloved Raptors are out, but The Rickshaw has been showing those games that it can pick up by satellite.

The ground has thawed, the leaves are out, and that means The Stone Boat “Tunes in the Park” series is up and running again. The May lineup includes Hussy Hicks (May 1, 9:30 PM; “They actually rock quite clean with hints of country and Celtic Rock”),  Jane Germain and Ian Simpson (May 9, 9:30 PM, “grassland blues”), “Brasil Nite” (May 10, 9 PM, samba, jazz, and bossa nova), Hedgehog (May 16, 8 PM, “pop-punk”), Panjir (May 17, 9:30 PM, “insanely free jazz and Flamenco guitar solos”), Woodie Alan (May 23, 9:30 PM, blues-rock), Enfants Terrible (May 24, 9:30 PM,  “jazz electronica”),  Panjir (May 30, 9:30 PM), and Hanggai (May 31, 9:30 PM, Mongolian throat singing).

The Stone Boat is also holding “Boat Paridiso Video Shorts“, on May 15 at 9 PM, “featuring film/video art, vidcasts, animation, and other shorts highlighting local life and talent.”

All of the events listed above are free. Fishing in the pond next to the Stone Boat is extra.

The resort - an hour’s drive beyond Beijing - sat nestled among a dozen mountains, upon one of which The Great Wall snaked like gray piping on a green felt jacket. Its balconies, pillars, arches, stonework, gilded trim—all seemed as though they had been teleported from Europe with the wave of a magic wand. Upon its vast deck sat scores of attendees sipping cocktails and wine, and nibbling barbecued lamb, stewed beef, and potato salad studded with strawberries, grapes and bananas. As the afternoon dwindled, a small herd of tame deer materialized to mingle among those on the sprawling lawn.

Why, one might reasonably ask, were we there? A press conference for Klubb Rouge*, an establishment to soon open in downtown Beijing, a dozen floors above Hooters on Workers’ Stadium East Road.

Saturday’s event and the club might seem an odd juxtaposition, somewhat along the lines of strawberries in potato salad, but who am I to complain about getting out of the city. And that is what more than one hundred of us – PR people, F&B managers, magazine types, and the like – did as we gathered on three buses that first inched through downtown traffic and then wound past fields, farm villages, vegetable vendors, and reservoirs to the resort.

The press conference proved anticlimactic. A poorly planned Powerpoint presentation resulted in print too tiny to read, while the verbal delivery consisted largely of rah-rah sentiments such as, “it’s really going to change the club scene,” “it’s going to amaze your eyes and amaze your ears,” and “you will be really, really, really delighted.”

Fortunately, I was able to ask general manager David Blais a few questions on the deck (I’ve paraphrased his answers).

Is Klubb Rouge related to Bar Rouge in Shanghai?

No, although a consultant and DJ from Bar Rouge are working on the project.

How big is the club?

The club has 1400 square meters of space on the fourteenth floor of China View as well as a terrace with a 360-degree view, two private rooms, and a mezzanine that can hold 300 to 400 people. The total capacity is 1500 to 2000 people.

How much will cocktails cost?

About 70 to 80 kuai.

Will there be food?

No, at least not in the beginning.

It was then time to enjoy a sunny afternoon in sedate surroundings, and enjoy a buffet of salad, meat and fruit as well as an open bar. Things were made all the more delightful when one at our table - Ross “Papa JJ” Goulding of Time Out magazine - won a draw for a bottle of 1999 Dom Perignon that he decided was best consumed there and then.

We realized that all good things must come to an end (translation: the last bus was leaving). After grabbing a few beverages and petting the deer, we boarded the bus for Beijing and a traffic flow that became increasingly  and excruciatingly slower as we approached city center.

The long ride put both physical and spiritual distance between us and the afternoon that had been. Just before we tranquilized Ross “Papa JJ” Goulding, whose elocution, while endearing, was scaring fellow passengers due to its volume and endurance, he hoarsely said: “Twas a great day, but how the memory fades. In the words of the great Rutger Hauer, ‘All those moments will be lost in time, like my upcoming three-day hangover tears in rain.’”

(And yes, the Champagne was worth including that quote in this post.)

As usual, apologies for the quality of the camera on my otherwise excellent K-TOUCH B922 phone, though in this case the somewhat surreal results fit the event.

Abracadabra!

Oh deer.

Note: I will have more details on the club later this week.

* KLUBB is spelled with the “K” reversed and a double “B”, while ROUGE is spelled with the “R” reversed. I lack the technology, let alone the willpower, to duplicate it here.

If you hear the words “wine humidor” and think of oak barrel displays, wooden shelves, and row upon row of top-end wine, you might be a tad disappointed by the Metro hypermarket on Beijing’s outskirts. This is a storage facility, plain and simple, with fluorescent lights, fabricated steel shelving, and a warehouse feel.

While I spotted wine such as Napa Valley Shafer and Barossa Valley Penfold’s Grange alongside ice wine and the usual Champagne suspects - a three-liter bottle of Veuve Clicquot is RMB2190 - the selection is lighter than I expected.

In terms of Chinese wine, options include Dragon Seal and Grace Vineyard Chairman’s Reserve 2005 (RMB388). But unlike the imported wines they are kept standing rather than on their sides. Why put them in storage if you’re not going to lay them down?

The constantly opening and closing sliding door also made me wonder how well the temperature and humidity is maintained.

Note: Spirits are also available at Metro, including Macallan 30-year-old single malt (RMB3999) and Remy Martin’s Louis XIII Grande Champagne Cognac (RMB12999 kuai), which the sales staff told me is a popular item. A ceramic bottle of 1955 baijiu goes for around RMB50000. German beer fans will find about about 10 brands in the store proper. To shop at Metro, you need to be a member.

Wine writer Robert Parker will make his first trip to China next month and the price tag for the two dinners that ASC Fine Wines is organizing for him is nothing to sniff at: RMB15888 (USD2270) per head.

Then again, it’s not your typical event.

The Beijing dinner will be held on May 24 the Great Wall and catered by Brian McKenna, chef at Shangri-la Hotel restaurant Blu Lobster. The dinner, limited to 40 people, will include eight wines Parker rated 94 points or higher, with three at 100 points, including Chateau Haut Brion 1989 and Shafer Hillside Select Cabernet Sauvignon 2002.

The Parker dinner in Shanghai will be held on May 23 at Noble Seafood, carry the same price tag, and include eight other wines Parker has rated 94 points or higher.

Oh, and each attendee gets a copy of an autographed book by Parker, if you are looking for that little extra to make you plonk down your cash.

Open since December in the ex-Browns location, Revelations held its official launch party Wednesday night with live music, tango dancers (meow!), a draw, and free drinks (for those uninterested in subtlety, the “Revelations” cocktail is a heady mix of what I guess to be lychee and passion fruit).

This cavernous spot remains a bit of a mystery to me. It offers what I consider the city’s best lunch deal - example: fresh bread, soup, quiche, both green salad and warm potato and ham salad, and a Lavazza coffee for 40 kuai – yet draws a small crowd. Perhaps, the launch party will provide the exposure needed to get the numbers up.

Urban Sambal had its re-launch party the same night. While not conveniently located (near Phoenix Town), the space is refreshing, with the high vertically and horizontally slanting roof, cement floors and art giving it a gallery air that is nicely moderated by the bar and huge chandelier.

The place bustled as patrons enjoyed free Mojitos, martinis, wine, Qingdao and tapas (excellent curry!), with many hanging out on the deck to enjoy the cool night air. Parties with their fair share of “beautiful people” are no rarity in this town, but this one was uncommon for the number of women who were attractive and fun (I’ll leave up to the ladies to do decide if the male half was up to snuff). More power to Cho for drawing such a crowd.

On Thursday, The Rickshaw held its one-year anniversary bash. People were flank to shank upstairs as a DJ cranked out tunes and the bar handed out free beer, including three kegs of homebrew from sibling bar The Saddle Cantina.

For all my complaints about the service (and that new yellow paint job), The Rickshaw has served me well these past 12 months with cold Stella, medium wings, a strong wireless connection, and the NBA Channel.

The ballots are out for the City Weekend 2008 Reader Choice Awards (I can’t find any info on the City Weekend Web site, but have already been lobbied twice for votes by Block 8). This year’s contest covers 44 categories. Those for nightlife include:

- Best jazz
- Best for group hangouts
- Best live music
- Best for dancing
- Most loved budget bar
- Mixed drinks to die for
- Best place to find a date
- Most extravagant bar in town
- Best Beijing-based band of the year
- Party of the year (best party promoter)
- Most skilled bartenders
- Best Beijing-based DJ of the year
- Best beer selection
- Best sports bar
- Best wine selection
- Nightlife newcomer of the year
- Best bar of the year

I had my first “inside look” at the Olympics facilities on Saturday night as I attended the Brazil-Ghana women’s soccer match at Workers’ Stadium. The game determined the final qualifier for The Games.

Having neatly ironed the Ghana flag I diligently sourced for the 2006 World Cup, I arrived in the hope that my pennant would not fly alone. That hope was realized. There were dozens of flags - all of them carrying the colors of Brazil, which racked up five goals before Ghana saved a bit of dignity with a late tally. I have no proof, but I believe my team must have gone on a huge drinking binge the night before. You got lucky, Brazil.

In any case, a few “thumbs ups” and “thumbs downs” about the game.

Down
Despite tickets priced as low as 20 kuai, the stadium was only one-third full.

Up
Crowded into half of the stadium, the crowd oh-ed, ah-ed, booed, cheered and had a good time, with those in the nose-bleed sections getting “the wave” going.

Down

The seats were dirty, some dabbled with white paint spots; some rows were 25 seats wide, which meant the guy on the end had to struggle past 24 other people.

Up
Several attendees offered me newspaper pages on which to sit; people were polite about letting each other go by.

Down
The nasty air, with not only visible haze, but also floating tree pollen.

Up
The diligent could have stuffed a pillow with that pollen while they watched the game.

Down
No timer on the score clock, making it hard to know when the game was close to ending.

Up
Replays on the massive TV screen.

Save for the pollution (and the score), I enjoyed the game. The security guards at the gate were polite and efficient, the crowd had a good vibe, and the stadium looked good with its various sections of colored seats. I can only imagine how this stadium is going to rock when it is full!

UPDATE II: The Rickshaw was able to show the Hornets-Mavs and Suns-Spurs games this morning, so it appears that games listed here as being on either bensports 1 or ESPN are available. That would mean the Detroit Pistons-Philadelphia 76ers (7:30 AM) and LA Lakers-Denver Nuggets (10:30 AM) are available tomorrow. (For audio streaming, go to the “scores” on ESPN and click the “listen” button for each game - you need to sign up for this feature, a process that takes about 90 seconds. Thanks to Chad at The Rickshaw for figuring this out for me.)

UPDATE: It is 8:20, I’m at the Rickshaw, and we have been treated to baseball, motorcycle racing, a dog show, and snippets of the Hornets-Maverick game, but no Raptors-Magic. Not sure if the Suns-Spurs game will be on.

Glenn Phelan is showing the playoffs of that well-known Irish sport – NHL hockey - at Paddy O’Shea’s. He is getting the games via the Internet and says the images are good.

The four conference semifinals hit the ice starting Thursday morning our time. Here’s the slate Glenn sent. (If you plan to go, I suggest shooting an email to glenn@paddyosheas.com to inspire Glenn to get out of bed for a bunch of hockey nuts.)

Game 1
- Thursday, April 24, 7 AM and 10 AM
- Friday, April 25, 7 AM and 10 AM

Game 2
- Saturday, April 26, 7 AM and 10 AM
- Sunday, April 27, 8 AM

Turning to the NBA playoffs, Rickshaw manager Chad Lager and I stayed up until 3 AM Monday morning in the hopes of catching the scheduled Toronto Raptors-Orlando Magic and/or Denver Nuggets-LA Lakers games. No dice. Chad managed to get two games yesterday and fingers are crossed for tomorrow morning’s Raptors-Magic (7:30 AM) and Phoenix Suns-San Antonio Spurs (9:30 AM) games.

A bunch of parties going on this week…

Sambal Urban will hold an “opening cocktail party” on April 23, 8:30-11 PM, with DJ Huang Weiwei, VJ G.org and art by Wei Xingyu. RSVP with Cat or Peter at 5866-8538.

Revelations is apparently having its opening party the same night.

And Kokomo now has Cuban band “Son de Cuba” on Wednesdays - the show starts at 9:30 PM. (Buy one, get one free Cuba Libres before 10 PM.)

The Rickshaw marks its first anniversary on April 24, 4PM-6 AM, with some freebies and lots of “surprises.”

I met with wine guru Tim Hanni a few weeks ago and got his consumer-friendly perspective on wine. I posted about this on sibling blog Grape Wall of China and thought readers here might also be interested in it, as well as two other recent posts.

(1)

Screw it? Video conference with Wolf Blass, George Samios

After Australian Embassy staff checked my bag, passed me through a metal detector, and gave me a cavity search (OK, scratch the last part), I joined four local wine journalists in Beijing last Tuesday for a video conference with iconic wine maker Wolf Blass and Foster’s Global Wine Ambassador George Samios. The event - jointly hosted by Austrade and ASC, which distributes Blass’ wine in China - focused on the use of screw caps on wine bottles.

(2)

Lessons learned: Training 2,000 restaurant workers in China

Since her last post, Yvonne Chiong has completed more than 30 two-hour training sessions with restaurant employees in China - all over Shanghai as well as in Beijing and Hong Kong. The idea was to give them a basic understanding of wine.

(3)

Hate Sauvignon Blanc? Try blaming your childhood

“If you hated mowing the grass as a youth, you might just hate Sauvignon Blanc.”

“There is so much stress on luxury goods that we would rather people not drink wine if it’s the ‘wrong’ brand.”

“Imagine you are trying to sell shoes and you don’t realize people have differently sized feet. If a shoe doesn’t fit someone, you wouldn’t tell them, ‘Well, your foot isn’t mature.’”

These are some of the intriguing comments made by Tim Hanni when he spoke to a small group of China wine industry people in JW Marriott’s Pinot Brasserie in Beijing on April 8. Hanni is a wine researcher and educator, one of the first two Americans to become a Master of Wine, a founder of Napa Seasoning and training company WineQuest, and director of the Lodi International Wine Awards.

I first read about Hanni in this Wall Street Journal piece and then interviewed him for Grape Wall of China last month. I looked forward to getting his take on the wine scene and he didn’t disappoint. Over nearly four hours, he covered everything from his experiences with the Master of Wine exam to chemistry, biology and etymology (What do we mean by ‘palate’?) to the history of wine and food to his rock band (that’s a whole other story).

Hanni took the Master of Wine test in 1989 and “failed it miserably.” He knew he had the technical expertise, but was poor at essays, so he signed up for a three-day writing course. The course ended up being for engineers, he took it anyway, and this led to an epiphany.

“It was brilliant. We learned to take words that we think we all know, and to then agree on what they mean,” he says. “It occurred to me that with much of the language of wine, we think we know what we mean, but deep down there is a lack of agreement.”

Forget about notes of gooseberries and hints of cloves: Hanni says he has been talking to wine makers, sensory specialists and others for 20 years just to discover what we mean by “flavor” and “taste.”

“You have all this wine education going on and nobody’s taken time to answer the harder questions, such as “What’s a palate?” Or about the biggest piece of the puzzle, “How do senses work with the brain?”

He speaks of scientists who do brain scans to gauge the impact of our senses on it, of how atmosphere, color and music can affect wine drinkers, or of the power of suggestion (he says one study found that people gave different evaluations of a white wine and then the same wine - unbeknown to them - dyed red).

He goes so far as to make wine sound like therapy. Take Sauvignon Blanc, a wine often associated with a grassy smell. “We find that people who dislike Sauvignon Blanc have grass allergies; have bad memories of childhood summers; have bad experiences with lawn mowing and lawn moving equipment.”

Which is all to say that why we like or dislike a particular wine is individual, a product of our senses, of our memories and preconceptions, and of a myriad of other factors that argue against a “one size fits all” philosophy.

“People are anatomically different - one size does not fit all. And the size that is being pushed on people is dry wine,” he says.

“Imagine you are trying to sell shoes and you don’t realize people have differently sized feet,” he says. “You wouldn’t say, well, your foot isn’t mature.”

On Friday, I will have part two of the Tim Hanni talk, which covers how he categorizes wine drinkers as well as the food and wine demonstration he gave us.

(Thanks to Arcy Y. for the photo.)

I stopped at Tim’s Texas Roadhouse yesterday with two friends for a beer and a bite to eat. The staff was friendly, the food decent. I enjoyed a “border burger,” topped with bacon, Jalapeno peppers and cheese, and a side of potato wedges, while my companions were happy with their potato skins and spicy chicken wings. Qingdao is 40 kuai per jug or 15 kuai per pint. The place has wireless and ESPN.

By the way, the pool table at Tim’s looks as though it were imported from the Lone Star state - by being towed thousands of miles behind a boat.

The veneer is chipped, the cloth is dirty and stained (with one particularly nasty and greasy looking blemish), and the slate is uneven - the balls hit ridges and either veer to the side or rocket off the table. Add in dodgy cues and this table is best used when you are drunk, as it might compensate for your altered senses. It’s rougher than the putting green at a public golf course, the Miss World Acne Pageant winner, the current state of French-Chinese revelations, the morning after a full night of drinking five kuai shots and/or gorging at an all-you-can-eat Szechuan restaurant… you get the idea.

Check out this video which shows balls rolling down the table, hitting a ridge, and leaping into the air like Mexican jumping beans.

Unintentional comedy at it’s finest. And yes, I realize it’s only a pool table and I’m taking too many shots, as it were. It certainly won’t keep me from going back for another “border burger.”

Finally, across the street, the space once housing 5:19 Bar & Grill will soon be a Japanese restaurant.

Hoops fans - even though it’s obvious the Toronto Raptors will win the championship, you can still see the other teams play as The Rickshaw will be showing games, says manager Chad Lager. The Rickshaw has NBA TV, as well as access to ESPN via two dishes.

By the way, I am checking with Frank’s Place about getting some NHL playoff games shown. More on this soon.

By Jim Boyce

The Shuang Jing branch of Carrefour in Beijing launched its 2008 April Wine Fair last Thursday. The event drew a sizable crowd as the opening day included at least a 20 percent discount on all wine.

I arrived around 9 PM, unaware of the scale of the fair or that many distributors would be on hand with samples of their wines.

A mix of locals and foreigners toured more than a dozen tasting stations. Most wines were entry-level, or slightly above, and it was a good opportunity to “try before you buy.” Many shoppers had carts loaded with individual bottles or cases. I ended up going for the “two bottles of Domaine Ste. Michelle and one bottle of Columbia Crest Two Vines for RMB282″ deal.

Here are a few photos from the event. Apologies for the quality - while my K-Touch B922 phone offers good features, an excellent built-in camera is not among them.

Wine guy Badr (left) tastes some wine with Torres China’s Hugo (right).

These guys are stocking up, with a full few carts behind them…

… and one in front.

Even at 9:30 PM, there were plenty of wine lovers.

The Beijing branch of Pantry Magic will open tomorrow afternoon in New Nali Studio, says Robert Esser of the company.

Staff stacked the shelves today with utensils, pots and pans, cast iron grills, fondue sets, and lots more. Cheese lovers will have a choice of cutting boards and more than a dozen specialized knives. I liked the handy oven mitt shown below, which Esser says is the company’s top-selling item and will retail for about 85 kuai.

And it doubles as a puppet.

Pantry Magic is on the first floor.

Not content with our Sunday tour, Special K and I headed out again Wednesday night. Here’s the lowdown.

The Noodle Bar
1949: The Hidden City is livening up, with four venues open (Sugar, Noodle Bar, Duck de Chine, and 1/5 Taverna) and two more to come (Well Bar and 1/5 “lounge loft”).

Noodle Bar has a dozen seats and tight Spartan layout, with a sliding door, a three-sided stainless steel  counter, and an open kitchen.

The noodles start at 28 kuai and are hand-pulled on the spot. Patrons can choose thick or thin with beef brisket, tendon, tripe, or vegetables.

We tried two side dishes - cucumbers with garlic and green beans with preserved vegetables (both 11 kuai) - and found them OK.

The noodles with beef brisket were another story. Expect a hearty portion with excellent broth that you can season with sliced spring onions, roasted garlic bits, cilantro, hot-pepper paste, sesame oil, soy sauce, vinegar, and salt. Special K said this would be a great late night meal (Noodle Bar is currently open until 9 PM) washed down with big bottles of beer (only 300 ML bottles of Tsing-dao currently available). This would also work well as a quick lunch.

Two downsides of the visit: 1) an aggressive staff that interrupted our talk every two to three minutes (the place is tiny enough that it should be obvious if patrons want to buy more side dishes, etc); 2) a 10-percent service charge.

Nanjie
We passed a new night club called, well, Night Club west of Regal Club and south of Revelations. Expect a three-story warped and gleaming silver façade embedded with strings of pulsing neon light, what look like huge papier-mâché carnations, and two signs - one with a pink, orange and yellow alien leaning on a speaker, the other for Chivas.

Speaking of Regal Club, they might want to edit their sign out front, unless they really do want to promote an “over-valued” menu.

And speaking of signs, this “French Snail” sign at the New Nali Studio isn’t much better:

Back to Nanjie - some love it, some hate it, and I like it. With a bar and dance floor downstairs, a lounge area upstairs, and a wraparound balcony, it has something for most everyone and is a handy low-end getaway. Special K tried the Mojito - which he liked much better after adding more sugar - and we watched the street action (note: Salsa Caribe is busy on Wednesdays).

The Tree
As we passed The Rickshaw on our way to Sanlitun North, we saw a thin powerful green beam passing just above our heads. We thought it came from the street corner, but followed it to New Nali Studio before it suddenly disappeared. Weird. Anyone know what that was all about?

As usual, the “lady bar” touts were out in force and, on this night, invading the Tongli studio area. Where are those police dogs when you need them?

Special K convinced me to try a Morel’s passion fruit beer at The Tree and its sour wallop refreshed us. By the way, the waitress in our section efficiently took orders, cleaned dishes, and dealt with the demands of what must have been about 30 foreigners. She didn’t ooze happiness, but did her job and provided the usual good service that brings me back to The Tree.

As we headed home, we noticed a chalkboard outside Ciro’s Pomodoro advertising a nightly happy hour (8:30-9:30 PM), with 40 percent off cocktails, buy-one-get-one-free beer and “shoters”, and “disco music”. This follows up the place’s other recent promotional effort - blasting far-too-loud music onto the street.

The People’s Daily has published a story titled, “Beijing police to raid bars for drugs before Olympic” (original source: Xinhua).

Beijing police officers will secretly search bars for drug traffickers and addicts as of Wednesday to root out such illegal activities ahead of the Olympic Games, local public security authority declared in a circular.

Bar owners and users will be investigated once they were found of being involved in drug-related activities during the two-month checkup, said Zhao Wenzhong, head of the drug-control department of Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau.

According to the post, “More than 20 Beijing-based entertainment resorts that were convicted of involvement in drug cases have been annulled since 2006.”

The authorities conducted a major raid in Sanlitun’s bar district about two weeks ago. See also this China Daily article titled, “Beijing police nab 8 foreigners suspected of drug trafficking.”

(Hat tips to DW and SS for the heads up.)

With his “I’m Beyonce” episode a distant memory, I hit the town with Special K on Sunday. Here’s a roundup of spots we visited that, on second reading, kind of comes off as a rant. I blame the pollution.

Café St. Laurent
CSL draws a strong Sunday brunch crowd, but would do well to reduce the clash between the quality of the food and drink and the décor - savory eggs Benedict versus sitting on emaciated cushions stippled with cigarette holes; tasty Cappuccino versus gazing at a dirty plastic roof; etc. It’s time to upgrade those seats (try Carrefour, it shouldn’t be too busy these days) and unravel the garden hose. Then again, maybe I’m grouchy because a waiter passed a full glass of water over my laptop and spilled some on it.

The Saddle Cantina
Given the squalls of tree fluff in the New Nali Studio courtyard, we grabbed a table inside the bar. Unfortunately, the staff defeated our efforts by inexplicably opening and closing the retractable rooftop several times thus letting in more of the stuff. Were they bored? Is the roof fun to open? Is tree fluff - which tends to have a magnetic attraction to cocktails - considered festive in Beijing and/or Mexico?

The staff is likable at The Saddle Cantina and sibling establishment The Rickshaw but service, while usually OK, can be sketchy. Too often orders get mixed up or misunderstood, no one is able to work the satellite dish, employees compare cell phone rings instead of paying attention to customers, and so on.

This raises the great mystery of service in Beijing: how can it be good at a relative newcomer like Kro’s Nest and such a struggle at The Rickshaw, Saddle, Revelations, and others? For example, I had lunch at Revelations on Monday- there were about ten tables of people, which only represented about a third of capacity. Even so, the staff needed to reconfirm our order several times, forgot the bread, brought my dish 15 minutes before those of my companions, responded to the confusion over my coffee request by repeating themselves at increasing volume. That said, this spot offers arguably the best-value lunch deal in town, so you take the good with the bad.

OK, rant over.

To return to The Saddle Cantina: Special K found his Mango Mojito weak, while I was impressed with /recommend the Pina Colada Margarita. RMB40 is a pricey for a bottle of Corona, though OK for a literally ice-cold pint of Stella. I can hardly wait to see how this place’s home brew turns out.

Luga’s
With not a seat to be had outside, we sat in the new section of the bar, which formerly housed a Xinjiang restaurant that reader ET says had good dapanji and the best noodles in town (by the way, don’t be surprised if there is further expansion of Luga’s). We shared an order of beef nachos and chicken quesadilla, both tasty, and enjoyed a few Coronas. Always one to experiment, Special K stuck his finger in the bottle - I take it that he was fishing for the lime slice - and couldn’t get it out. Luckily, the miracle of mechanics (translation: a lot of pulling) allowed him to eventually free it.

The Smugglers
Special K liked the series of small narrow rooms, the sturdy beer house-style tables and benches, and the posters, finding the place simple but pleasant, though a bit quiet (we were the only patrons). The drinks are cheap (RMB25 for a Margarita, RMB10 for a juice) and the portions are small, while the beer specials are good value.

Kokomo
With the winter roof removed just that afternoon, we enjoyed a stiff breeze beneath the stars. Sam Adams at 35 kuai a pop is nice, though the experimental Champagne Mojito needs more time in the lab. The Christmas-type lights above the bar clash with the candlelight at the table - am I supposed to come here to part-tay or chill out? Expect some summer drink specials from this place.

The Boat
People must have been on shore leave, because only a handful of patrons were on board. Then again, it was late Sunday night. The Boat includes upper and lower decks, ample seating and a dance floor. It’s a cool idea, and I’ll return on a busier night to check it out. By the way, it was nice to see generous space devoted to toilets - this saves guys peeing over the side against a headwind.