The extremely annoying “lady bar” touts on the Sanlitun Village side of Sanlitun North appear to be gone – let us hope it is not just for the holidays. On my last five visits at night I have heard not a single “Sir, lady bar,” “Massage-e”, or “Sexy girl!”
Other happenings…
Rooftop Pepper, known for flair bartending shows that delayed drink delivery, is closed. (Hat tip to Mr. Brau and apologies to him for taking two weeks to follow up).
Timeout reports that Song has joined the likes of places such as China Doll 3.3 that have closed for “renovations”. I thought the design was the main selling point? Or maybe the place is finally getting toilets.
Hatsune is slated to open its Sanlitun Village branch in March, while sibling restaurant Karaiya is due a month later. Next month, the current Hatsune outlet will offer a free appetizer and bottle of sake if you say “Samurai sushi” upon ordering.
Maxim’s in Solana has a handful of new French liqueurs, five new flavored coffees, and stocks several Chinese wines, including a Xi Xia Chardonnay at RMB88.
All-Star, which in my mind still needs to earn the words “Sports Bar” behind its name, will reopen for dinner on the 31st. It appears the “open 24 hours” concept is falling by the wayside. A sign on the door lists the hours as 5 PM to 2 AM.
Across the way, a new Banana Leaf is under construction, while a bit further on, Water Bar & Restaurant is slated to re-open on February 6. Meanwhile, the long-awaited Crobar is giving new meaning to the words “opening soon.”
And over on Lucky Street, Tao gets back to business on February 1 and The Stumble Inn is looking to increase its list of 54 beers. One patron has already tried the lot.
went by Song today and black curtains are drawn and there are no signs in the windows/door indicating their closure being new year/renovations related. Seems if they felt like they expected to have a future clientele at all, they’d put a sign up saying they were under renovations.
At least 2 other spots in the basement of the Place — restaurants — have also bit the dust.
Someone smart (and with cash) will do the right thing and open a Chuck E Cheese’s on the 4th floor of the Place where most of the foot traffic is families bringing their kids to the indoor play areas and children’s toy and clothing shops on that floor. That would be a sure-fire home run.
PS: song’s website (http://www.songbeijing.cn) says the following:
“This account has been suspended.
Either the domain has been overused, or the reseller ran out of resources.”
Times are tough when you can’t pay server hosting fees.
Well I called , SONG, now i just need Sex in Da City to close and that case of expired Bud is all mine.
I hate the basement of the Place, but, maybe Accupuncture could work out a quarterly party in the old Arena, Amber , Song space, perhaps 3 venues with 3 different types of Music. 80s, House, and Indie maybe? Make it a go to event on a Saturday maybe?
Flair Bartending the worst thing to ever happen to bars, in fact , im still waiting for a drink from some crappy west gate dance club. Damn YOU!! TOM CRUISE!!
@ m-dawg,
Well, you know Song aimed at the “creative industry” types and updating a Web site, or letting the people who spent money in your place the past year or paying for the server fees and doing the same, isn’t all that fun, I guess.
Cheers, Boyce
@ Mr. Brau,
Indeed, you did call Song to sing its final tune. You may well end up with that Budweiser – and not only is it expired, but it has been nicely warming beside my heater.
As for Accupunture, oddly I talked to Miao Wong a month or so ago and suggested the outfit gets it own place, and Song was one of the spots I named. Of course, she’d already thought of the same idea.
Cheers, Boyce
Malls are strictly day/early evening businesses. Anyone attempting to open a nightclub in the basement of a mall — whose doors are prominently marked with bilingual signs stating “OPENING HOURS 9AM-10PM” — should consider themselves pre-warned.
Signs of life at Song: had its doors open this afternoon and there was a table with two or three people in there smoking what my olfactory senses indicated were big ol stinky cigars.
Heard Song was sold for half a million RMB. That sounds cheap. Of course, there’s the carrying costs. BUT STILL!
Xixia Chardonnay? I saw a bottle in Jenny Lou the other day. Looked remarkedly light in colour for the age (2002, in a clear glass bottle). 2002 must have been a good year in China.
;)
BTW, I haven’t tried this wine, what’s it like Jim?