Beijing Boyce

Following a sparkling wine tasting at Sequoia Café last Friday, p3wong and I went to nearby Marguerite for a bite to eat. To be honest, the building’s façade attracted us like moths to a flame, and we did indeed feel a bit burned by the time we left.

First, music throbbed from the downstairs club, Mingle (same owner). It might be fun to butter your bread to a good beat, but constant bass accompaniment in a restaurant that aims for a fine dining atmosphere is annoying.

Second, I’ve never been in a place with such hard bread. You could substitute this stuff for a judge’s gavel; hammer in nails with it; launch it as skeet. p3wong could barely snap a piece in two.

Third, some of our dishware had fingerprint smudges and those smudges were not our own. That’s a no-no.

I will give the staff at Marguerite points for friendliness and flexibility. We wanted Bloody Marys and some quick negotiation brought permission to zip downstairs and get them at Mingle (they make an okay version, though it would be better without ice). The GM recently quit the place and I couldn’t spot the regular bartenders. I futiley tried to explain to the new bartenders my desire for a Bloody Mary but realizing that their mixology skills might be on par with their ability to recognize the name of one of the world’s most popular drinks, I returned upstairs.*

We ordered Diet Coke.

As for the food, the shrimp rolls and the spring rolls (40-50 kuai range for four of each) were so-so; the soup lacked zing. Among our dishes, the chicken in pesto sauce tasted best. And as mentioned, the wait staff was friendly, if a bit disorganized.

* The door to Mingle has shifted to the building’s northeast corner. The crowd appears to have shifted from the “see and be seen” crowd to a much earthier one. The place was fairly full on Friday night.

Joop Shen, who’s worked at China Doll, The Bank* and (most recently) Mingle over the past year, is moving to Project H, a large restaurant, lounge and deck development in Sanlitun’s Nali Studio that management says will open by the end of January. Shen will serve as general manager.

Billy Kawaja, executive chef at the Canadian Embassy, is also on board at Project H and will head up the French-Chinese restaurant, the Asian tapas menu in the lounge and the grill menu on the deck. Kawaja is known best for his brunch menu at Café St. Laurent.

Meanwhile, the management behind Project H, which runs establishments such as Alfa and Le Hugo, plans to open a second Muse in Nali as well as a strip of five bars nearby. More details on the latter to come soon.

* A series of SMS messages from The Bank announces that pole dancing will be featured every Friday night.

Halloween in the Beijing Boyce household brings out the swinger in some. Specifically, it is the only time each year that Zimbu - the plush monkey left behind in South Korea ten years ago by my friend Jen who left for Hamburg to get married and asked me to hang on to her collectible Beanie Baby as it is apparently climbing in value by 20 percent annually - gets out on the town. (Jen better figure in some depreciation on this little critter given the amount of beer, lipstick and sweat with which he’s been anointed over the past decade).

Anyhow, safely affixed to my shoulder, Zimbu made his first stop last Friday at the Altruistic Alcoholics bash at The Rickshaw, held to raise funds for migrant children. Manager Chad Lager and owner Kris Ryan dressed as Homer and Marge Simpson - Kris seems surprisingly comfortable in a strapless. The spot overflowed with party-goers who drank enough Halloween spirits that the charity took home over 4,000 kuai.

Kris and Chad: A scary couple…

The next stop for the monkey on the move was Mingle - a scary place given the wait staff / models dressed as sexy nurses, maids and, in one case, Pipi Longstocking (with the emphasis on stockings). By scary, I mean that having a randy monkey, even a plush one, among models brings a certain risk that only a half dozen double banana daiquiris can mitigate. Meanwhile, yours truly indulged in the Halloween cocktail, which sported two red hot peppers attached to the glass as horns. The devil is in the details, as they say. Most of the patrons dressed as Block 8 regulars - oh wait, those weren’t costumes.

Saturday night saw Zimbu riding shotgun on the shoulder again as we headed to Alfa to hang with Special K, whose costume was either that of a prep boy or the best-dressed man in Newfoundland. As rain pounded the roof of the enclosed deck, Zimbu engaged in small talk with various devils, angels, French maids, and whatnot. All in all, quite a tame weekend in comparison to the near-fight that ensued last Halloween at Rui Fu.

“Due to reasons beyond our control we will be closed tonight. We hope to be open again tomorrow. Sorry for any inconvenience.”

This is becoming a mantra for Bar Blu, which saw its windows darkened yet again last night.

Two floors down, Tanewha appears to be have bitten the dust after an identity crisis - there was a brief stint as Wonder Bar - and will become Golden something or other.

Meanwhile, on the other stairwell, China Doll is locked. “Sorry that China Doll will be closed for renovations these days. We will be open soon. Thanks for your cooperation.”

According to two industry insiders, China Doll’s problem is another kind of layout - one involving unpaid bills. Peeking through the windows, I spotted stickers on the wall that seem suspiciously like those on Browns‘ doors when that spot shut up shop. I could be wrong - does anyone have the inside scoop on this?

Cheers (with about a dozen people) and Kokomo (about half of that) remained open.

The Cellar Rat and I gave up on Tongli and headed around the corner to Mingle. This spot, run by ex-China Doll, ex-Bank guy Joop Shen, is tightly designed and held this night four small groups of people. A quick Bloody Mary and we called it a night…

Mingle opened in the basement of Margherita, around the corner from Tongli Studio in the building formerly housing The Bund.

Joop Shen, who’s bouncing about the Beijing bar and club scene faster than a Xiali cab changes lanes - note: he’s held positions at China Doll and The Bank in the last six months - is involved, though this is a cozier fit and it will be a challenge to keep a lounge feel given the temptation to take advantage of the sound equipment no hand — we’ll see if Joop can work his magic with the staff, theme and layout.

Another bar nomad, Glenn Phelan - The Pavillion, Browns, and TRIO (Frank’s Place) - will soon be running his own gig as Irish bar Paddy O’Shea’s is projected to open next month near A-Che and Dine and Wine. Look for an interview here with Glenn later this week.

Sir Campbell T informs that a new bar called White Rabbit opened in Nurenjie on Friday night. Time enough to visit this weekend there was not, so I’ll aim to check this one out in the near future.