Beijing Boyce

Super Bar Street will have its concrete and neon tossed in the dustbin of history in as little as two months, according to several sources, including two managers of restaurants there. While Super Bar Street does have its fans, I am not among them, nor are many other people given the light traffic I always find there. It is not so much the bars and restaurants: Shamba, for example, is a cozy spot with lacquered tables, comfy lounge chairs, and a nice deck; Tim’s Texas Roadhouse is a decent stop for a burger and a few beers; and so on. It is the atmosphere or the street itself. As I wrote more than two years ago:

Super Bar Street… ranks among the more depressing strips in Beijing, if not the planet. I’ve seen cement processing plants with as much charm as this scruffy, plant-less, concrete- and neon-lined stretch. It reminded me of a deserted and poorly refurbished fair midway. I half-expected a slightly insane, gap-toothed carnie to pop out and hawk dirty candy apples.

My opinion has not changed and I have often wondered why nothing was done to cobblestone the street, add some greenery, take advantage of that small pond, and – yes, I know this was highly unlikely – close part of it to motorized traffic, at least on weekend nights. Perhaps the location would still have been unattractive for many nightlife fans, but at least the added charm would have given it more of a fighting chance.

In any case, I headed to Super Bar Street last Friday night and will soon post notes on spots visited there as well as at Chaoyang Park West and in the Workers Stadium area.

Note: Mr Brau kind of predicted the demise in this “Beijing bar death watch” post in January. Meanwhile, on Twitter, poster Kindermusik_BJ writes that a friend who owns a restaurant on Super Bar Street says the area is set to be chai’d on June 13. Also on Twitter, Imagethief notes that this situation, in the context of the destruction of the old Sanlitun South bar street,  is hardly tragic, though I would miss Bite-a-pita if it were to go. To follow this blog on Twitter, click here.

A massive restaurant and club complex called Guigongfu opened (re-launched) in central Beijing last night with a fashion show, an “air” erhu performance, and a courtyard meal for 250 people. According to press materials, the brother of Empress Cixi once owned the 7000-square-meter site. It retains historical touches, from the layout to the weathered window frames, and offers a pricey respite in downtown Beijing. Guigongfu includes several large banquet halls and courtyards, eighteen private rooms with seating for four to sixteen people, and a 2000-square-meter members area called Phoenix House Club. It is a sprawling complex made intimate by long hallways, nooks and crannies, and small dining rooms. The culinary highpoint is the King of Kings duck restaurant, though Guigongfu will offer everything from Cantonese cuisine to a cigar lounge.

At a cost…

While the venue has areas open to the public, VIP cards will come in sums of RMB500,000, RMB300,000, and RMB100,000. For example, a RMB500,000 card allows you to spend RMB574,824.8 at Guigongfu. You’d think they’d  round that up to the nearest kuai – or even thousand kuai – wouldn’t you?

The burger story in the Sanlitun area this past year has focused on the merits and demerits of pricey places such as Let’s Burger, Blue Frog, and Union Bar & Grille, you know, spots where where a patty, bun, and fries set you back ~RMB70 or more. Less discussed is an old favorite, Kiosk (map), beside Jazz-Ya in the old Nali Studio, where a 250-gram “big bite” burger lightens your billfold by RMB28.

Good news for Kiosk fans: owner Sasha, recently described by one magazine as a “gregarious” Serb, will soon open a second establishment, with a similar menu, a bit farther west and toward the northeast corner of Workers Stadium. Hoping it won’t be called “Nearby the Kiosk.” More details soon…

- See also: The Sanlitun Burger Battle: A quesadilla twist Big Mac attack: The 24-hour McDonald’s in Sanlitun Village Monday walk about: Let’s Burger, Saddle, LPG, Burger King The Big Bite is back: Kiosk reopens The Beijing burger battle rages on: 8 songs on CJW Luga’s Villa: Bumping up burger prices Sanlitun burger battle: The Rickshaw fights back Today’s beef: Union Bar & Grill Let’s Burger: A bit too saucy Bits and bites: Burger battles et al.