Multitasking in Lido: Parkside Bar, Grill, Sauna, and DIY Stella
A pair of pieces on Parkside packed in one post. Call it two for one; buy one, get one free; whatever. They come in no particular order. If you like beer, you might want to read B first. If you like writing that sounds like it came from someone who simultaneously went off the meds and blew a few circuits in the grammar-monitoring part of the brain, I recommend A.
(A)
Parkside Bar, Grill, and DIY Stella Station: Visited mid-afternoon last Tuesday to grab grub before 6 PM wine tasting; learned new menu to start next day; able to order burger from it. Burger tasty: juicy patty topped with processed cheese – kind that comes as individual plastic-wrapped slices – that inspired slight McDonald’s double-cheeseburger flavor. Accompanying fries heavy in hiccup-inducing way. Price: RMB78; ouch; RMB48 club sandwich better value. Since learned finalized menu has burger at RMB68, patty topped with cheddar slab. Parksider gave personal touch by adding two tiny ketchup bowls with burger after noted in past post that single thimble-full not sufficient. Asked if I was happy. Said would be ecstatic if had utensils: forgotten this time like last. In lieu of aforementioned non-provision of utensils during last visit, another Parksider said might be idea to ‘forget’ them in future as running joke involving me, staff; might amusingly lead me to bring own fork, knife. Made mental note to match jocularity of suggestion and forget to pay for meals when utensils absent. Kidding. Bought World Cup Ghana pin for RMB20; World Cup T-shirts available for RMB100. Wine tasting held far side of bar where small group sipped Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir as sweat accumulated on faces, trickled down backs. Deduced gaping space between Parkside patio and interior might be cause of Brazilian mid-summer rain forest-type heat, humidity inside.* Realized mention of “savoriness” in wine tasting notes due to sweat dripping into glass. Removed pants to cool down. Snacks accompanying wine, including blue cheese dip, tasty. After handful of visits to Parkside, thumbs up for general taste of food, quality of wireless signal, comfy seating, Samuel Adams deal at happy hour; concerns about price of food, rationing of ketchup, potential for heat stroke…
(B)
Parkside Bar, Grill, and Sauna:Have no patience waiting for your draft to arrive? Fancy pouring your own? If either or both are the case, you will be interested in the DIY Stella table at Parkside. It will feature a keg below, a tap on top, and space to comfortably fit six to eight drinkers. The flow is tracked by an electronic counter and the price will likely be about 200 kuai for three liters (33.3 kuai per pint) and 600 kuai for ten liters (30 kuai per pint). And for newbies to pouring Stella, instructions will be provided. This table should soon be ready and given–at least as far as I know–that it is the only one of its kind in Beijing, it might end up being the city’s toughest to book…
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* Other recent nominees for the Free Sauna Awards:
- The Park Hyatt: During a wine tasting in a third-floor function room, people removed jackets, loosened ties, and sat bathed in sweat for hours as the staff seemed unable or unwilling to lower the temperature (I asked six different staff members to do so). Five-star hotels and one-star air conditioning are not a good pairing.
- Paddy O’Shea’s: After walking from the Capital Club to Dongzhimen last Wednesday, and getting sweatier than a monkey in a microwave, I thought I would drop by this Irish pub to cool down, but alack and alas no air conditioning off on this afternoon.
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Bar, Grill, and Sauna. Totally agree. The place is just too damn hot to enjoy. They need to figure out a way to close the huge patio door, or install one of those clever “Air Curtain” units to keep the cool in and the hot out.
Perhaps a DIY Stella table will at the very least show that the whole “pouring ritual” is mostly pomp and circumstance – part of AB-Inbev’s marketing campaign to position Stella as a “premium Belgian beer” and thus charge people more for it. In reality, it’s just a drinkable but ultimately mediocre attempt (similar to Carlsberg and Heineken) at mass-producing a German-style Pils.
Btw – if Parkside is offering the standard Stella glasses, they are usually either 330ml or 400ml. There is also the rarer 500ml size, which would be about equal to a US “pint” (473ml or 16 US oz.), but still short of the UK imperial “pint” (568ml or 20 imperial oz.)
Boyce,
you know I tend to avoid at all costs replying to threads, blogs, comments or anything else good or bad on the web but here goes….
Robbie will now and always will make sure that as a running joke to lighten the “ghost of bad service” and hopefully evict them from the venue make sure that you never get cutlery! I think that Union Bar & Grille have also a secret sect devoted to not giving you cutlery, maybe you have a look of a man who likes to eat with his fingers.
I am currently on a quick vacation in Langkawi recharging batteries and am sitting in an open four sided bar with NO AC in 40d of heat-I think its because its summer and its hot..! or is it…. sorry maybe I am delusional from the “Heatstroke” oops sorry that was a bit dramatic and over the top..!
I have just finished reading Medium Raw by Anthony Bourdain what a read! he has a real bone of contention with people who over elaborate for no other reason than to oh lets say OVER ELABORATE. if you think service is average in Beijing try Langkawi mate it is non existent.
And finally phewww the heat, summer time eh who needs it.
To Mr. Beergeek,
Who gives a rats ass what size the glass is you buy “by the liter” and Stella is more expensive because it is imported and not mass produced in good aul China with mediocre quality, standards and water! I am not defending Stella in fact I am not and never really have been a draft beer drinker but when I occasionally do venture into the realm of dangerous draft ohh the thought, I will have a stella and you know why?? It’s imported from a beer brewing staple who know WTF they are doing!! and yes I did shout that out loud and have received many a strange look from the endearing if somewhat dreary staff in the bar where I am sitting drinking an imported Corona for double the Beijing price, lukewarm, paying to use internet, in the sweltering heat and you know what? All I can think of is….(drum roll) I can’t wait to get back to the Jing and enjoy many many good if not excellently run bars in the city with free internet, great cold reasonably priced beers with nice deck areas in the beautiful summer sun!!!
So Mr. Boyce there ya go, you drew me out of my 5 year hiatus of staying stum but I felt on behalf of the other hard grafting, over worked, honest and decent group of F&B professionals and that includes the suppliers to say something, anything just to get it off my sweaty chest. so fuck it I am off to drink pints of Stella, get drunk and not even remotely worry who says what on which blog or forum! you don’t get paid for it anyway ;)
Cheers,
GP
@Glenn,
So, if I’m getting you right, because it’s hot outside, then it’s OK if it’s hot inside? Somehow I managed to overcome that issue at home by turning on the air con.
By the way, I’ve seen you not get cutlery / complain re Union (among other places), so maybe we could start an “eat with your fingers” group together. The money saved on washing utensils could be donated to The Center For Customer Relations.
Cheers, Boyce
At boarding school the food was so bad some of the students started taking the cutlery with them after lunch & dinner. Eventually there wasnt enough utensils to go round and everything came to a standstill. The headmaster was enraged and issued a terse warning at morning prayers that god was watching.
The perpetrators stayed silent and after a weeklong stalemate most of the silverware was returned annonymously one evening. The food improved a bit, I made the ill timed decision of taking a second bowl of ice cream at lunch which resulted in detention and a new nickname(see above)anyway just thought I would throw that out there fyr, not sure if there is any learnings to be had other than you need cutlery to serve food.
@ Xenon,
Re size of pints:
In hindsight, I guess it doesn’t matter how big a pint is. I could drink the beer out of an egg cup, a baijiu bottle, or my neighbor’s bellybutton, since what I pay will be determined by the meter…
Cheers, Boyce
Maybe my eyes are failing , but, i have never seen a 400ml Stella glass in BJ. Only the 50cl and the 33cl. A “Pint” in my humble opinion “In Beijing” in the “Beijing Bar Scene” in every bar I have ever been apart of is 50cl or 500ml…..So I move the new BJ approved post-olympic China pint shall hence forth shall be 50cl or 500ml….someone submit this shit to wikipedia….quick
@Glenn: “so fuck it I am off to drink pints [...] nice deck areas in the beautiful summer sun!!!”
Awesome, mate! Rock the skin cancer! Now close the fucking door so I can enjoy the beautiful summer air-conditioning, eh?
Or, alternatively, (and here’s a radical idea!) design your venue as an actual indoor-outdoor space that generates some cheap, water-cooled through-ventilation, and turn the air-con off forever (like pretty much every outdoor HK bar I frequent does).
But please, mate, whatever the fuck you do, DO NOT have the air-con on, AND the door open, AND then incoherently rant at those who point out that this turns your otherwise very nice joint into a sauna.
Because that’s just fucking stupid.
@ glenn (re: “why stella?”)
my comments really weren’t meant as a direct criticism towards parkside for offering the DIY stella table, but it appears that i didn’t choose my words tactfully enough. i understand the reasoning for choosing stella, both as individuals and as a business establishment – and particularly in beijing, where there are significant constraints on both what is available what the consumer is willing to try.
my gripe is not with parkside (FAR FROM IT!) , but more generally with the way AB-Inbev continues to push stella internationally as somehow part of the belgian beer tradition, when in fact it is quite divorced from it. (all indigenous belgian beer styles are ales, not lagers.) pale lagers like stella (and for that matter, american bud) DO require similar levels of technical expertise and quality control as the classic german and czech beers. but that effort is instead used for the opposite effect: to produce a blander product, albeit in abundance and with consistency.
please forgive my all-too-public public lament about how a mega-corporate entity such as AB-Inbev continues to push its macdonalds-of-beer (bud) and burgerking-of-beer (stella) at the expense of more flavorful, characterful brews that don’t have the multi-million-dollar advertising campaigns. my “complaint” was not intended to besmirch you or your establishment.
@ glenn and boyce (re: “pint” sizes)
bringing up the issue about the size of “pints” was merely addressing boyce’s back-of-the-envelope calculations, which i understand was his well-meaning attempt at showcasing the potential value to the consumer. i only wanted to make sure people were clear on the confusing terminology and lack of unity in the standards of measurement. it was not intended as trying to paint anyone as cheating customers out of money. as boyce said in his later comment: what matters is what the meter shows.
@ chad
you’re right about the 400ml size: i suspect that the number got stuck in my head because i remember often encountering “gift sets” of stella glasses with precisely the three sizes i mentioned. my mistake for believing the middle size was in common use – that’s what happens when you’re usually in front of the bar, and not behind it ;-)
Seems I should apologize for using the word fuck then as it enrages people. a chill room is being installed as we speak and its not just for the summer ;)
I am deeply sorry for coming across all harsh and defensive and sorry ranting? I thought it was an interesting little diatribe.
Cheer up all its SUMMER TIME!
@Glenn: a chill room is being installed as we speak and its not just for the summer ;)
That’s fantastic news! And my “fuck” was very much in the vein of your “fuck” — a good craic is always a good craic. ;-)
I have to wholehartedly disagree with beergeek: Bud is more like the Sizzler or Country Kitchen Buffet of beer NOT the’macdonalds-of-beer’.
I want to join in the “irrelevant comment” game on the Park Side blog!!!!!
I Love McDonalds.
and Burger King.
AND Stella. Its all great. ALL OF IT……………..
……………………fuck.
@ chunky
depends on whether you think those are a step above or below mcd’s… ;-)
I’ve known Glenn a good while now and his use of fuck was in no way bad, we use it all the time, with that being said i would like to say that Park Sides fucking brunch is starting this weekend, it’s going to be fucking good. We got Eggs fucking Benedict, Fucking English breakfast, American fucking breakfast, Strong as fuck coffee, and even a fucking chef’s special which is Toast, Coffee, and a fucking pack of cigarettes, for fucks sake who fucking does that! So come the fuck over and try our brand fucking new brunch. Sorry for the shameless fucking promotions but I don’t give a fuck…. fuck
Xenon,
At the risk of turning this into a 300-comment exchange…
Those “back-of-the-envelope calculations” are based on my experience as a consumer in Beijing bars, which is what this blog is about. If you order a pint of Stella in this city, you will almost always get 500 ML of beer. Not 300 ML, 400 ML, or 573 ML, but 500 ML, unless bar managers have been fibbing to me. Thus, I don’t think people who drink Stella will find my calculations “confusing”; they will know exactly what I’m talking about when I say two “pints” equal a liter.
By the way, I Googled “Beijing”, “pint”, and “Stella”. The top six results include a couple of references to this blog as well as:
- A City Weekend bar review that refers to “pints of Stella and Hoegaarden draught (¥35)” at Tun; given the price, “pints” means 500 ML.
- A Time Out bar review that states “Pints of Stella cost 35RMB” at Fubar; again, given the price, “pints” means 500 ML glasses.
That might not jibe with book knowledge, but it does suggest there is some consensus in Beijing that when people refer to a “pint of Stella”, they are talking about 500 ML of beer. Recommendation: more drinking, less thinking…
Cheers, Boyce
“More drinking, less thinking needed…”
hard to go wrong with that, no matter what’s in your glass! cheers
(on second thought – i’ll pass if it’s skunky yanjing… or cheap baijiu)
Boycey,
Whats record response to one of your blogs ??? I say “Fuck it” lets aim to beat it..! Zach Lewison has a filthy mouth BTW. ;) And why can’t we have cheesy smiley faces like Skype, facebook and MSN? I am not impressed! amateurs /-(..! ;)
Don’t know what’s bad about Park Side?? I went down there
on July 3 had some beers and a Sandwich(fresh,well stuffed),good service and decent Food.Temperature in the place was fine.
Business seemed good that nite(Saturday).The place was only open for 2 weeks I understand.
For myself a nice addition to the F&B scene in Lido.
Prefer Parkside to Frank’ Place or Eudora Station.
The Food is certainly better.
I understand they are a Gastro Pub and not aiming to get a Michelin Star.
Dont live in the Lido area,but once around will visit Parkside everytime.
Some Hiccups during the opening period?? So what
How many Bars or Bar/Restaurants did you run Boyce?
Always been perfect??
I had some shocking service experiences in 5 star Hotels in China.
Keep going Parksiders your’e on the right track.
Good Place and good value for money.I’ll be back.
@ Michael,
“Don’t know what’s bad about Park Side?? I went down there on July 3 had some beers and a Sandwich(fresh,well stuffed),good service and decent Food.Temperature in the place was fine. Business seemed good that nite(Saturday).The place was only open for 2 weeks I understand. For myself a nice addition to the F&B scene in Lido.”
My experience is it was too hot and this was confirmed by several people that day. The first person leaving a comment also found it hot. I assume these experiences, as well as yours, provide useful info for management.
“Prefer Parkside to Frank’ Place or Eudora Station. The Food is certainly better. I understand they are a Gastro Pub and not aiming to get a Michelin Star.”
At least in re food, Parkside is better than Frank’s and Eudora so far, though I find it pricey and don’t like the fries. By the way, who claimed Parkside is a Michelin-star restaurant? Please let me know as that would make a fun post.
“Dont live in the Lido area,but once around will visit Parkside everytime. Some Hiccups during the opening period?? So what”
So what? So, one way bars and restaurants know what the hiccups are is by observing and listening to customers. Places that don’t listen or, even worse, places where customers don’t tell them what they don’t like, face a disadvantage. Surely, given the experience of the team at Parkside, they want to know about cases of customer dissatisfaction.
“How many Bars or Bar/Restaurants did you run Boyce? Always been perfect??”
I have run *zero* bars and restaurant. Do you have to run an airline or a taxi fleet or a concert ticket operation to have an opinion on whether they are doing a good job or not? Not in my book, and I don’t have to have run a bar or restaurant to comment on the staff not bringing a knife and fork or putting processed cheese on my burger and charging me RMB78 or leaving the doors wide open so it is too hot inside. Seriously, that comment is like putting a “kick me” sign on your back.
By the way, have *you* run a bar and restaurant? If you haven’t, then who are you to bring up the issue? And if you have, then you obviously don’t appreciate consumer feedback.
“I had some shocking service experiences in 5 star Hotels in China.”
Really? How many five-star hotels have you run? (And yes, I’m being sarcastic.)
“Keep going Parksiders your’e on the right track. Good Place and good value for money.I’ll be back.”
Yes, I hope they keep going. I know the management, and they are pretty demanding as customers themselves, so I imagine they value consumer feedback.
Cheers, Boyce
Boyce,
good one.Seems you easily get upset.
Since you know the Management at Parkside I hope they respect you.
@ Michael,
Relax. Nobody’s upset. (Unless you are and I doubt it.)
Cheers, Boyce
I can t believe the last comment on this was July 15th come on people. Being from Ireland I would like to say that all the advice on keeping a place cool in sweltering heat was new info to me and was taken on board and implemented immediately and Irony of ironies had a couple tell me it was too cold yesterday lol.
Burger is priced at 68RMB and comes with Cheddar or Blue cheese. and this changes are all based on customer feedback. everything is appreciated unless its destructive. We run a customer service and as a result logic dictates that the service the customer desires is what we aim to achieve. I appreciate people sticking up for us. it means we are doing well and I appreciate people giving constructive feedback, as that means they like the place and want it to keep improving. As the saying goes, they day you learn nothing is the day you die.