Beijing Boyce

Last Friday ranked among the better nights of my Beijing bar crawl life - expect an update this Friday on the more than two dozen places visited during the Olympics opening. But last night ranked among the worst - or at least the wettest.

After dinner at a friend’s house, I dropped into a bustling Paddy O’Shea’s about 11 PM on my walk home. The plan: to enjoy a pint while simultaneously watching badminton, archery, and volleyball. Manager Gleann Phealan headed off as I sipped my suds and watched the unintentional comedy of a dozen drunk Australians trying to figure out how to get to Club P (they gripped a full-page ad torn from Agenda magazine: who says marketing doesn’t work). Thirty minutes later, as I continued my walk, I received a call from Phelan and dumbly answered. He had gone to check out the newly opened bars Bling and All Star, found both closed, and suggested we meet and have - note the singular - “a” beer. Here is what ensued:

Stadium
We met at Drei Kronen 1308, the huge German pub slated to start pouring its homemade brew on August 16, and found the windows darkened… but the door open. We sauntered in, ran into the security guards, gave them the international sign for drinking beer, and were directed upstairs where we found ourselves in darkness. A second visit to security resulted in an escort through that unlit third floor, across a glass walkway, and into the sports bar Stadium. Given our experience, it’s not surprising we were the only customers in this nicely designed two-floor bar. This place has potential if, you know, people can find it.

The Den
It was moderately busy downstairs (I didn’t check upstairs, which is HQ for Danish fans). We had a Kilkenny, watched the Olympics (this place provides a good mix of televised sports), shared three years’ worth of Den stories, and then headed out as the sky started to spit rain. This is when we should have - but did not - go home.

Nanjie
A visit cut short due to a second floor closed. Why? No idea.

Tun
We were the only customers (thus, no problem getting the pool table) except for two women who later sauntered down from the upstairs lounge. Tun has a decent beer selection and we enjoyed bottled Stella while Glenn showed the pool skills acquired from a misspent youth.

The Rickshaw
We arrived soaked after a 200 meter sprint from Tun in the pouring rain. I like The Rickshaw because it spent the cash to get the NBA Channel. And I suppose I can live with the recent 15-percent surcharge due to increased costs for food, logistics, and so on. But in return, it would be great if the place improved its service, which in my experience is defined by mixed-up orders, oblivious staff, and general efficiency. Take last night: given the Olympics and given this is a sports bar, you would think some TVs would show the events. Nope. Every TV was off, and even after we requested some Olympics coverage, the best the staff could do was CNN. We took that as an inspiration, and finished our beers and headed off into the night, our sneakers squishing with every step.