Beijing Boyce

-

The Butcher Steakhouse burst onto the scene by offering its massive gut-busting burger for free — if you managed to down it in one sitting. Now TBS has seared its last steak / is chopped liver / has been gutted / is closed. While this place had potential, and a nice deck on which to chill out, it had an awful lot of seats to fill and struggled with the service and food. That downstairs Japanese restaurant, which opened just a few months, is also closed. This place has been a merry-go-round since longstanding tenant Cappuccino left — maybe it is time for a comeback?

More restaurants for the grinder.

Those suffering brisket withdrawal since Home Plate BBQ stopped delivery can rest assured as this operation will return as a restaurant. With a menu that includes everything from pulled pork to Buffalo wings to chili cheese fries, Home Plate might open as early as mid-May in the Sanyuan Bridge area, says Seth Grossman. He says he plans to serve up “the finest real pit Southern BBQ with great drinks, rocking music and classic films.”

Cheese and Wine, already home to more than three dozen cheeses, continues to push the fromage frontier in Beijing. It recently added six more cheeses, including blocks from Alsace and Sardinia.

Formerly the face of The Butcher Steakhouse in Sanlitun North, Kenneth Arrild says he has sold his shares in the business. The Butcher Steakhouse jumped on the scene with its three-kilogram burger last fall but has struggled with service and establishing a steady customer base.

And beer lovers will find that RMB25 bottled Australian beer is back at The Den, though this Workers Stadium East spot has changed distributors and brands. The options include Toohey’s New, Hahn, and XXXX.

It is easier than ever to go bottomless in Swire Sanlitun Village. Although 3F restaurant Union Bar & Grille has long offered unlimited drip coffee refills (RMB22; RMB20 with a meal), now kitty-corner steakhouse Flamme is doing the same (RMB20).

The three-kilo burger at Butcher Steakhouse is free if you finish it within three hours and RMB138 if you don’t. But what if you are really hungry? Now the place has a four-kilo monster for RMB238 and will give RMB1000 to anyone who can eat it.  You’ll need that money, too, to replace the pants you just stretched beyond repair (which is why you  should always wear a toga for these things).

The first floor of Tongli Studio bar Kokomo is blocked by a plastic tarp due to ongoing renovations but patrons can still skirt by and head upstairs to enjoy a Maitai and the last few weeks of rooftop weather. The lower level is slated to reopen in November.

While Acupuncture saw its B1 club Lantern close in Sanlitun, the electronic music outfit will soon be back in action as it is teaming up with The House at Workers Stadium North. Look for project to be unveiled in the first half of October.

-

Remember this post from early July? That promise to give us Beijing’s biggest burger has been fulfilled with last Sunday’s opening of The Butcher Steakhouse at the north end of Sanlitun bar street (former Cappuccino space). This burger is a meaty beast with a kilo of Australian beef and two more of bun and toppings. I mean, look at the size of that thing! That’s a virtual planetoid! Has its own weather system! If you finish it by yourself, it is free. If you can’t, or you decide to share it with friends, it will cost RMB138.

The Butcher Steakhouse is run by three Danish butchers: the manager, Kenneth Arrild, has done everything from owning butcher shops in Copenhagen to running a steakhouse in Shanghai. It includes a restaurant that seats about 100, a bar with three beers on a tap and plenty of wine choices, and a patio with space for 50 that provides views of the street and leafy embassy area. The Butcher Steakhouse is also a deli, with sausages and steaks and sauces and salads all done on premise using about a dozen pieces of machinery that ranges from sausage makers to vacuum packers.

Some items from the menu:

• All-day Butcher’s breakfast, with sausages, smoked ham and pate, eggs, bread, and coffee, tea, or juice (RMB88)
• Brazilian rib-eye steak with mixed vegetables (200 grams for RMB98; 400 grams for RMB198)
• Australian Angus beef “New York strip” (500 grams for RMB348)
• Sausage selection with roasted onions, mustard, and bread (RMB98)

The menu also lists five-desserts, including grilled bananas, from RMB58;  five kids menu items, including burgers and wings, from RMB38; and eight lunch sandwich options (pork loin, meat ball, etc), with fries, soda or juice, and ice cream with caramel sauce, at RMB58. (If you like your sandwiches a bit sloppy, you’ll like the meat ball.)

I’ll post a review when I get some friends together and give that burger a try…

It's like a planetoid (photo: AC)

Update II: I held the draw with Butcher Steakhouse GM Kenneth Arrild yesterday and the winner is maotai. I’ll be in contact with maotai and charlie, who won the merit award for his suggestion (see below). Also of note, the staff told me yesterday that someone ate more than 90 percent of one of these massive burgers. So close and yet half a pound so far…

Update: I sent a list of the entries to Butcher Steakhouse GM Kenneth Arrild and his pick as the best: The Butcher’s Bastard Burger as suggested by Charlie, who gets one of these two-patty monsters as well as fries and four Cokes as his prize. I’ll drop by Butcher Steakhouse in the next few days to meet Kenneth and hold the draw for the second burger.

-

With a kilo of Australian beef and two kilos of bun and toppings, the massive Butcher’s Burger adds up to nearly six pounds of food  fun.*

But what if it had two patties?

So far, that is a beefy beast with no name, so The Butcher’s Steakhouse (see writeup here) has agreed to team up for a contest to give it one. Go to the comments section and suggest a name for this super sandwich–I’m going with “The Calf-o-Lanche“–and you could win one (with fries and four Cokes).

In fact, The Butcher Steakhouse has agreed to give away two of these burgers. One will be decided by a draw that will include the name of everyone who submits a legitimate suggestion. The other will be decided on merit, probably by three men in bloodstained aprons (don’t even think of disputing their decision).

Your name will only be entered in the draw once, though you are welcome to make as many suggestions as you like. The deadline is Tuesday at 2 PM.

* Notice how I’m mixing metric and imperial measures. Just trying to maintain peace in this crazy, crazy world.

.”

GM Kenneth Arrild with the [insert burger name here