Beijing Boyce

Huh? Don't worry. We'll give you the real deal.

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Gobble, gobble…

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and this is your chance to win a turkey dinner for six, and a bottle of wine, all of which will be delivered to your home next Thursday.

The bird and all the fixings come courtesy of Culinary Capers, which is handling the Thanksgiving dinner at Sequoia Café (see details below) on November 27. The Wine Republic is donating a bottle of Yering Station E.D. Pinot Noir 2006 to go along with the turkey (available at Sequoia for RMB148 per bottle for Thanksgiving).

To enter the contest, simply leave a comment and tell us one thing you are thankful for in Beijing. Yes, I know my contests tend to have sillier themes, but this has been a topsy-turvy year for China – from the Sichuan earthquake to the Beijing Olympics – so why not consider what we appreciate about living here?

The deadline for entries is Friday at 3 PM and I aim to do the draw the same afternoon.

This is the second-last of a barrage of contests I have had in the queue. And I’ll soon have a list of some of the Thanksgiving dinners being held around town. In the meantime, the Culinary Capers special for November 27 at Sequoia Cafe (Guanghua Lu) is available as take out (3-6 PM) or sit down (6-10 PM) for RMB138 per person. This is the menu they provided:

• Wild greens with merlot poached pears, caramelized hazelnuts with maple apple cider dressing
• Oven roasted turkey with gravy
• Celery apple and onion stuffing
• Spiced cranberry chutney
• Chive and crème fraîche mashed potato
• Roast winter vegetables with brown butter and nutmeg
• Pumpkin pie with cinnamon whipped cream

To RSVP, contact Narissa at 13911-264-200 by Friday, November 21.

Tomaz Hladnik of Strait did the honors of overseeing the return of Celebrity Pub Crawl in which participants suggested bars and clubs for Kylie Minogue to visit during her stay in our fair city.* From Kokomo to Coco Banana, from China Club to Cheers, we had two dozen entries. But there can only be one winner of two tickets to the Kylie concert, courtesy of mypiao.com, and two bottles of Yarrabank Crème du Cuvee sparkling rose, courtesy of The Wine Republic. And that lucky person is…

Andrew Lih!

Congratulations and thanks to everyone who participated!

* And he pulled it cause he was in the hood to arrange vodka and gin specials for this Saturday’s set by Danger Boy, winner of the Name That TUN contest, with TUN and Acupuncture Records. More details soon.

Yesterday, I posted 8 Songs’ review of Lugar. Here’s my take on the same spot based on a late September visit.

Lugar is usually billed as serving Vietnamese food, but I went because I heard the place does some mean Taiwanese dishes. A thumb up for the deep-fried combo, which had “three-level meat” (skin, fat, and meat), sweet potatoes, string beans, breaded chicken, and shrimp balls. Another thumb up for the Taiwanese sausage plate, a pungent and powerful dish with ample spices, garlic stems, and sliced chili.

Less enthusiasm for the squid with rice wine, which I found a bit rubbery though creative (the stuffing included carrot, pork, and rice noodles), and for the tofu roll, which had mushrooms, vegetables, and other ingredients, but a too-thick wrapper.

These foods would go perfectly with Taiwan draft, the version that comes in the big green bottles, but given that stuff has a shelf life of two to three weeks, we are unlikely to ever get it in Beijing. So, my friend PW and I settled on cocktails. She had a refreshing house special that included lemongrass, rum, mint, and soda water – call it a Mojito with more zing. I tried the Oriental Bourbon, with ginger, lemon, and orange, and found it  OK, though next time I would stick for straight Bourbon, especially given that Lugar stocks about 100 different Whiskeys. The owner is also making some infused rums.