Beijing Boyce

From the former Golden Elephant to Shut Up, Just Drink, bar man about town Jackson Bai has worked in about a dozen places since arriving in Beijing just over nine years ago. Now, after a stint at Salud in Sanlitun, he has moved on to a much bigger venue — and challenge — by joining the team at Tun. FYI, Tun still has good beer deals on Tuesdays and Thursdays — a pair of Tiger bottles is RMB20, while a pair of Stella drafts is RMB35.

Every night is ladies night – well, almost – for bar explorer Samantha Ma. Here are her five favorite spots to go in Beijing. (See more top fives here.)

Tun (map): The best ladies night in town! Big drinks to lighten things up, and crazy dancing. A great way to release your stress after a hard week’s work – and free to boot.

Red Moon (map) (the one at the Grand Hyatt, not the one in Sanlitun): Great lounge band that performs Western and Chinese classics, making use of traditional instruments like the erhu and guzheng. And great cocktails!

Salud (map) (Sanlitun): I liked their spiced rums. Sitting outside on a weekend night watching Sanlitun go by is fantastic fun.

Danger Doyles (map): A great bar  and the rooftop is perfect on a nice summer night. The pool table is a little beat up, but there is hardly ever a wait, and they have free pizza on Wednesdays.

Xiu (map): Bejing’s new “it” bar really is nice. An elegant atmosphere, good drinks (although pretty expensive), and great live bands when I’ve been.

Just before last year’s Olympics, when an air of uncertainty hovered over the city, a guy approached as I passed The Bookworm and handed me a flyer that said, “One World, One Drink“, a take on the Beijing Games motto. It made me smile. And it referred to Tun (map), a bar I soon came to like – and still do like – especially for its airiness and design (turns out that hutong frame inside the door was purchased by co-owner Huxley from a nearby Dongsishitiao residence being demolished and dates back to the Qing dynasty).

Huxley is at it again for the October 1 holiday. On September 30, RMB100 gets all-you-can-drink shooters, mixed drinks, and Tsingtao, from 8 PM to 1:30 AM.

And on October 1, Tun will open at 8 AM, with RMB100 getting you the same all-you-can-drink deal, a breakfast of bacon and egg sandwiches, sausages, and coffee, and the parade coverage projected on that massive wall from 9 AM.

I popped into Tun last night. Hard to beat that Thursday two-for-one Stella draft deal from RMB35, or two Tiger beers for RMB20. And Mama Funker played a couple of good sets to boot.

Do not challenge me! (And please pass the puppies)

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DJ Chunky and I made a last-minute decision to join the mother of all pub quizzes, organized by The Beijinger at Tun on Sunday night. We found the place packed downstairs but secured a spot in the loft and begged our way onto a team of four east coast Canadians. Here are a few observations and a few notes I kept when not busy convincing my teammates to change their correct answers to my wrong ones…

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Josh Lally of Lush is up. He says he will kill cheaters with his “bare fists“.

Interesting Josh Lally facts: He is so tough that when you open a can of whoop-ass, he jumps out. So tough that when he is late, time slows down. So tough that when he falls into water, he doesn’t get wet… water gets Josh Lally. His chief export is pain and if he makes a typo the Oxford dictionary changes the spelling of the word out of a sheer fear of reprisals. Oh wait, I think I’m confusing him with Chuck Norris.

Anyway, Lally is putting up a strong effort to be the answer to this question: Which quiz master will drop the most F-bombs tonight?

We get a perfect score in the first round, where all of the answers are band names, whether the questions regard The Bible (Genesis), art (Rembrandts), or global organizations (Interpol). Unfortunately, we lose a six-way tiebreaker for that round’s booze prize when we incorrectly guess when Buddy Holly died in a plane crash (note: “on impact” doesn’t cut it).

Graham Forbes of Frank’s Place is up. He draws boos for promoting his bar and telling everyone it accepts discount cards from The Den and Paddy O’Shea’s. Wait, The Den and Paddy O’Shea’s have discount cards? Good to know.

Forbes asks about the number of nuclear stations in use in China (12), about the tallest mountain in China (numerous people disagree with his answer of K2 and argue for Mount Everest), and where in China is 35 degrees East by 105 degrees North (His answer: Beijing. When I look it up later, it turns out to be northwest of Xian and arguably the geographic center of China, the answer we gave). Let’s just move on…

We drop out of a tie for first place and start our long slow sink to the middle of the pack.

Julian Fisher of Tim’s is up and gives us brainteasers such as how many countries are in Africa (53) and how many eyelids a camel has (six: three for each eye). He also asks how many whiskers Hello Kitty has (six: three for each cheek). Frankly, a better question is: question: Who would win in a fight between Hello Kitty and Godzilla?

Paul “Pretty Boy” Eldon of The Bookworm takes his turn and warns the audience, “Do not challenge me. You will lose. I will win.” He then eats a puppy to demonstrate what will happen to teams that defy his orders. On a serious note, Eldon will soon leave China for Australia, though unfortunately not to do The Best Job in the World.

One of his questions: Which country’s name is the rudest word according to the Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. His answer: Belgium. Our answer: Australia. (But if the rudest word were a baseball player’s name, we would have gone with Albert Pujols <- the “j” is pronounced like an “h”.)

Karl Long of Paddy O’Shea’s is up for the “wipe-out round“. That means if you have one wrong answer on your sheet, you get a big fat zero for the round. Anyway, Long thanks Forbes for “the free publicity”, compliments him on his sideburns, and displays some, uh, wit after asking “What follows the horse in the Chinese zodiac?” by adding “Clue: It’s an animal.”

He also overtakes Lally as the F-bomb and the MF-bomb leader.

Glenn Phelan of Danger Doyle’s wraps things up with the music round. I pray we will have the opportunity to bet all of our points, double or nothing, that he will ask a question related to the Scissors Sisters. We don’t.

Call me Kreskin: Phelan’s first question is about the Scissors Sisters.

Unfortunately, TUN has some technical difficulties with the sound and that, I firmly hold, causes us to get 2, rather than 10, out of 10. And thus we limped to the finish (and then, at least in my case, to Paddy O’Shea’s for some post-quiz brain cell-destroying drinks).

Kudos to The Beijinger for organizing this event. Given this is its first go and there were something like three dozen teams, it went well. I’m looking forward to the next one and in the meantime will be doing in-depth research on Scissors Sisters history…

Plenty of end-of-week drink deals about town, from the two-for-one drinks special on Thursday at Mesh (map) to ladies night on Friday at TUN (map). Here are a few newcomers:

Club Juicy Spot (map) replays last Friday’s opening night special with free Sangria from 9 PM to 2 AM tonight.

The Saddle Cantina (map) holds Boozecham tonight, with an Aussie BBQ (what does that mean? Shrimp Prawns on the barbie?) from 5 PM to 10 PM. Aussie beers Crown Lager, James Boags, VB, and XXXX, American micro brew, and vodka cruisers for RMB20.

Danger Doyle’s (map) is holding “Femme Fatele” on Friday night, with free cocktails for the ladies from 8 PM to 11:30 PM.

Already known for handing out free booze to the fairer sex on Fridays, TUN (map) now has a new happy hour and another gratis drinks deal. I’m going on memory, but a sign titled “Knowing Me, Knowing You” and posted in the toilets states that if you know the name of your bartender or waittress, or if you give the bar one of your business cards, you get a free drink. (Not sure if you can get more than one drink if, say, you know the name of everyone who works there – guess we will find out soon.) And from 6 PM to 9 PM, it is half-price on select beers and those 600 ML cocktails. By the way, if last night is any indication, the Tuesday open mic continues to draw a substantial crowd (those 10-kuai Tiger beers surely help).

I asked Pete Demola, best known as a weliveinbeijing.com dude and a dedicated follower of the live music scene, for his top five watering holes in our fair city. Says Pete: “For the most part, I’m a minimalist when it comes to drinking—usually only whiskey or beer—so I tend to drink in locales based on the venue’s cost, character, and crowd.” Here is his top five.

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D-22: I like my whiskey with heaping sides of The Stooges and 1970s-era punk. This Wudaokou venue is the epicenter of the city’s independent music scene, so it’s the premier spot for me to drop in to glean info about what’s going on in the community. The crowd ranges from local musicians tossing back drinks from the no-frills menu on weekdays, to larger, mixed groups when bigger acts pack the house on the weekends.

Er: A relaxing and womb-like Japanese whiskey bar with tasty eats (recommendation: 8-inch sausage and herb pizza), a laid-back feel, detail-oriented mixologists (they’ll whip up a tailored concoction based on what flavors you’re in the mood for) and a pleasant crowd (primarily beaming groups of Japanese white-collar workers). I’m sold on their cucumber gin and tonics and ginger-infused vodka—and hot grog in the wintertime.

Red House: My office is located in Wudaokou, so this relatively new pub offers a welcome alternative to the more established smarmy student locales. A carbon copy of The Tree with its brick walls, wood-fired pizza oven and Belgian brews (thank God for the first Wudaokou venue where one can enjoy a Duvel or Chimay), it’s a comfortable place to have a quick drink before I catch the subway home. Beyond that, it’s hard to ignore the 5 RMB Tsingdao drafts and soundtrack, which ranges from 1980s thrash metal to downtempo. And the douchebag factor is surprisingly-low for the area, with a nice blend of cheerful Korean students and the occasional well-mannered older gent coexisting amicably.

Stone Age: Unassuming Shuangjing restaurant with a prehistoric motif, replete with tacky murals of cavemen, swinging wicker chairs and a menu selection with a heavy emphasis on eating meat from sticks. I go for the 10 RMB homebrew drafts (both black and yellow), fried jiaozi with tangy hot sauce, and impressive selection of skewered snacks, which range from hot wax peppers to silkworms. Crowd consists of a blend of native hipsters and working-class folks.

Tun: There’s not much to say much about Tun that hasn’t already been said. You can’t beat the fantastic value, and I always run into a friendly face—or a dozen—whenever I drop by for one of their massive 40 RMB cocktails. Forget about finding your pals on a Friday night—you’ll have better odds finding Chinese Waldo on Tiananmen Square during Golden Week.

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Top fives:

• Andrew Schorr & Ellis Rahhal
• Pete Demola
• Shane Crombie
• Ben Shaw
• Kaiser Kuo
• Bjorn Stabell
• Phoebe Wong
• Diane Fermin
• Badr Benjelloun
• Elisabeth Tchoudjinoff & Katrina Arndt
• Paul Adkins
• Chandler Jurinka
• Kevin Shen
• Steven Schwankert

Shane Crombie is a digital brand strategist, organizer of the ‘First Thursday‘ monthly ad industry event, and regular contributor to localnoodles.com. Here are his top five watering holes and his five suggestions for restaurant and bar owners on how to improve their offerings in a weakened economy. First, his five suggestions.

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1) Distill down and define in one short sentence what your brand stands for and then ask , ‘So, what makes us so special?” If you draw a blank, ask your customers.

2) Price promotions are popular right now. Create an offer that sounds almost too good to be true for maximum impact. Remember the formula: Quality ~ Price = Value

3) Invest in proper staff training and management and treat them like family. Bad service always ruins a good meal and good staff are made not born

4) Pay attention to what your patrons say about you online. Look for trends and gaps and act on them.

5) Those small magazine ads are not cost effective. Connect with your audience online when they’re really paying attention.

The bottom line is get online, keep it simple, and execute flawlessly, and you will prosper.

My top five places:

Ichikura: You cant just go to Ichikura the first time, a friend must take you there. Why? Because watching a master craftsman at work is a sight to behold in good company. Learn about the copper cup, ponder how they make those perfectly formed ice balls, and enjoy the best Moscow Mule in Beijing.

Tun & Nanjie: An oft-asked question around town is, ‘Why is Tun so popular’? Its simple. They give the people what they want: fun music, a very well-run bar and low prices. Its where east meets west in the city. And when I’m about done with the hot hits of the eighties, I head across the car park to Nanjie and some groovin house tunes.

Face: For important occasions, Face is bulletproof. It’s a magnificently designed environment with multiple Asian menus and a generous lounge area to while away the after hours. You’ll never get fired for making a reservation here.

Bed: After a dimly lit dinner at Sambal, Bed is the perfect place to enjoy the city’s best caprioska. It’s an ambient, subtly restored space hidden down an alleyway offering an original interpretation of a classic theme. That’s Beijing.

Element Fresh: They play the best down-tempo music in town, the brewed coffee is rocket fuel, the fruit plate tastes like real fruit, and the pancakes are done just right. What am I getting at? Beijings best weekend recovery session. Just be sure to get there early when its peaceful.

In part eleven of this series, Ben Shaw, who manages a start-up in Beijing and runs the Beijing Gourmand blog, lists his top five places to drink in the city. His blog’s Chinese name translates as “Taotie in Beijing“, with taotie being a mythical Chinese demon that devoured its own body.

Entero
I always look forward to the 29th of every month. That’s when Entero invites a Japanese butcher to serve Beijing’s tenderest steaks. The steak set comes with a side of bean sprouts, miso soup and rice, and at only 50 RMB is a great deal. The best part about the steak is that the second and third helpings get progressively tastier.

Entero has a decent, if not expansive, selection of single malts, both Scottish and Japanese, as well as bourbon and cocktails. The atmosphere is laid-back and it is one of the few places where it is comfortable to sit at the bar for long stretches of time. Entero will score well with music lovers with the option of watching videos of blues and jazz legends in the main bar, or heading into the private karaoke room to make some music of your own.

Ichikura
One of the classiest places in Beijing; going to Ichikura always makes me feel sexy. Others have already covered Ichikura pretty well, so I’ll just say that they have a great single malt selection and know the meaning of service.

G-zou
There are now several whisky bars in Beijing, but I think G-zou is the only place focusing exclusively on shochu, a Japanese spirit. The fun thing about shochu is that it can be made from nearly anything, barley, potatoes, sweet potatoes, sourgham, rice, or a combination of any of these. The flavors range from those similar to vodka, baijiu, or even tequila.

I think of G-zou as the yang to Ichikura’s yin; its also a small bar, but it’s very light and airy. The bartenders are friendly, and always remember your preferences, or remember which shochu you’ve already tried so they can recommend something new.

Lugar
Lugar is an excellent choice for a romantic night out. It has a unique single malt selection, great cocktails, awesome tapas, and the pool table is always free. It distinguishes itself from the rest of the Gulou/Nanluoguxiang joints by avoiding the whole bohemian thing. In the summer you can sit on the roof under their giant umbrellas and sip cocktails.

Tun
I don’t often go to places that get really crowded, but if I’m in the mood for a lively atmosphere then I’ll head to Tun, particularly for the Friday ladies night. Tun has a good selection of American microbrews, and it is nice to drink beer that you can actually taste.

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Top fives:

• Andrew Schorr & Ellis Rahhal
• Pete Demola
• Shane Crombie
• Ben Shaw
• Kaiser Kuo
• Bjorn Stabell
• Phoebe Wong
• Diane Fermin
• Badr Benjelloun
• Elisabeth Tchoudjinoff & Katrina Arndt
• Paul Adkins
• Chandler Jurinka
• Kevin Shen
• Steven Schwankert

Jet lag meant I tumbled out of bed at 9:30 PM on New Year’s Eve and got a late start on the festivities. But better late than never, as they say, and it turned out to be a most excellent night that involved my favorite new bar, my all-time favorite bar, and some of my favorite people.

I made it to TUN just after 11 PM. This is my favorite new bar because it has value-for-money drinks, friendly management, a relatively efficient bar staff, a large space that somehow manages to offer a degree of coziness, and a diverse and unpretentious crowd. Plus, it is within walking distance of my apartment.

Wednesday night found it crowded, but not uncomfortably so, and within minutes I ran into a fellow blogger, a former intern, a handful of regulars, and numerous bar and restaurant acquaintances, including former Pavillion / Browns / Frank’s Place / Paddy O’Shea’s manager Glenn Phelan, who provided the musical touch for the night. Good times! A countdown clock took us into 2009 accompanied by a blast of confetti and – true to the spirit of this bar – cans of sparkling wine (I tried the rose and Chardonnay, and recommend neither).

I then hustled down the street to Q Bar. I have known bartenders / owners George Zhou and Echo Sun since when they worked at First Café, which ranks as my all-time favorite Beijing bar (see video below). A solid crowd here, too, though one that allowed enough space to squeeze in at the bar and order drinks, including a New Year’s Eve tradition – The Alfonso Special. I ran into fellow First Cafe drinking buddies Agent Red Wolf and O-Zone, regular blog contributor p3wong, and numerous other acquaintances. Good times, again!

I next hustled back to TUN, passing Glen and Beer Mania, in front of which was parked the longest limousine I have seen in Beijing (New Year’s resolution number one: buy one of these to save on taxi fares). The crowd at TUN remained undiminished and the party continued until near sunrise, with the owners and employees of other bars and restaurants showing up during the wee hours of the morning. I spent a chunk of my time pleading with blues outfit Black Cat Bone to do a show at this place. Yep, more good times.

And with the breakfast hour nearing, I joined a flow of TUN attendees who headed to The Den for food. This place serves my favorite late night / early morning pub grub, whether it is bangers and mash, four-cheese pizzas, or deep-fried combos. Those seeking a final fill-up before starting a New Year’s diet would have done well here. All in all, a good end to what has been a tumultuous year for Beijing and its bar scene.

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Unexpected hygiene-related event of the night: When the spouse of a certain bar manager parked outside the men’s room at TUN for 30 minutes or so and suggested that those exiting without washing their hands go back and become acquainted with soap and water, thus suggesting a possible New Year’s resolution for said offenders. As noted before, my general observation is that about half of male patrons do not wash their hands after using the toilet, which means you want to be careful with whom you share those complimentary peanuts.

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A “video” I made a few years ago about First Cafe…

A Tuesday night pub crawl is usually a bad idea, but sometimes – as with meteor strikes, power outages, and wedgies – it just happens. Such forays are increasingly rare for me, with last night being an exception. Here are the places visited, with a two-sentence write-up for each.

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Duck de Chine (1949: The Hidden City): I met a group of foodies and we sampled wines from Yunnan, Ningxia, and Hebei provinces and ate a tasty duck dinner (thanks to Justin Quek of Le Platane). Ducky does not describe the service, however, as the staff struggled to handle our pre-dinner drinks and understand requests (we asked for spittoons several times and kept receiving ice buckets full of cubes; we asked for another bottle of wine and received our bill; etc).

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1/5 (1949: The Hidden City): We dropped in for Guinness and were (mis?) treated to some music that would make my “worst eighties” list. This place has the kind of decor and vibe that would make it appropriate for corporate types cutting loose.

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TUN: Open Mic nights are a lot like golf – even if you have a horrible round, a birdie or two will inspire you to at least save one club from the lake and come back and play. Given that, there were a few triple bogeys last night that saw things proceed slower than usual, though two Tsingtao for RMB15 goes a long way in terms of compensation.

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Maggie’s: A return visit to make sure the opening wasn’t a fluke. Nope, aside from the airier layout, things were pretty much same old, same old, with a decent crowd for a Tuesday, though it seemed ladies outnumbered gents (by the way, were the wine markups always upwards of 400 to 500 percent?).

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Goose n’ Duck: Pretty much empty after midnight, which means we had the table top hockey and pitching cage all to ourselves! I like this place – the food is decent, there are plenty of seating options, a good smattering of TVs, etc – but I miss the convenience of the old spot near Chaoyang Park.

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The Den: About 25 to 30 people were settled in and throwing down drinks, which the reliable staff ensured were available in ample supplies along with decent pub grub (deep-fried combo: yum). I noticed people who had been at Maggie’s earlier in the night trickling in as we headed out…

It might be game finito for Italian joint Frantoi Celliti after only a few months on the scene. An email by the owner to customers cited problems ranging from personal threats to inconsistent power and water supplies, and said matters are being taken up in court. Added to this, the place faced the combined challenges of scale (a seating capacity of about 150), location (a hard-to-find warehouse area on Sanlitun South), and marketing (promo emails sent with the subject lines in Italian only).

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Klubb Rouge has figured out what the rest of us have known for six months: the drinks cost too much. Though I’m not sure the right move is to go from RMB70-80 signature cocktails to all-you-can-drink for RMB158 (9 PM-2 AM, Sunday to Thursday) or RMB198 (9 PM-3AM, Friday and Saturday).

By the way, does anyone find the woman featured in the Klubb Rouge poster sexy? Frankly, that undernourished opium addict / vampire look is like so over for me. Plus, clothing that provides the coverage of dental floss doesn’t do it when the temperature dips below zero. At least add a scarf. And a toque.

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Friday ladies night is drawing large crowds at TUN though the last one saw some non-lady like behavior as a cat fight broke out near the bar. With gratis booze for the fairer sex from PM to midnight, methinks the attitude has steadily and weekly gone from excitement to entitlement. Still, if I were under 30 and single, it’s hard to imagine a better Friday night stop these days…

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File this one under I Did Not Know That: 1/5 bar, part of the 1949: The Hidden City complex, is closed on Sundays, though the other venues, including Sugar, Noodle Bar, 1/5 Taverna, and Duck de Chine are open.

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Last but not least, St. Regis Hotel held its official reopening party last Friday night with a full-on dinner in the ballroom. The best course? The cocktail reception featuring some of the St. Regis’ Bloody Mary range. Each hotel has a signature drink: For Beijing, it is the “Great Wall”, a blend of Tsingtao, Bloody Mary mix, and lime, while for Shanghai, it is vodka, Bloody Mary mix, soy sauce and Szechuan ground pepper (with a foam of vodka, white rice liquor, sugar syrup, and pear and cucumber chunks). Frankly, this is one world tour I would like to take…

Rome: Vodka, Bloody Mary mix, hot pepper powder, basil leaves, oregano, and extra virgin olive oil…

Washington: Gin, Bloody Mary mix, horseradish, clam juice, lemon juice, and seasoning, with a shrimp garnish…

Singapore… Actually, I’ll stop now: It’s not healthy to have such thoughts on a Monday.

By the way, accredited journalist get a 50-percent discount on drinks at the St. Regis’ Press Club Bar.

Last Friday ranks among those days that start with a wine tasting at 11 AM, when our taste buds are supposedly at their best, and end the next morning at 3 AM, when my wallet is definitely at its worst. Thank Buddha the list of such days is short. The itinerary, for no particular reason, in reverse order…

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Q Bar I met my buddy O-Zone four years ago in First Cafe, where two of Q Bar’s three owners – George and Echo – then worked. Thus, it is often the finishing point for our nights out. This time around it meant my first drink there since the price increases just before the Olympics: RMB60 for a martini straddles, if not crosses, the value line. O-Zone ordered a Gin Tonic, I has a Planter’s Punch, and the third co-owner, Ralph, gave us a try of his new dish – sausages and fries. Nice for Oktoberfest… -

Ichikura With the bar about half full – that would be six of the dozen or so seats – we got comfortably numb. I asked the bartender for an Alfonso Special. Never heard of it. I wrote down the recipe. He scrutinized it, then headed to the far end of the bar and alternated between scratching his head in thought and mixing the drink. The result: pretty tasty. As usual, he turned on the “beam to heaven” – the coaster-size light that shines up from beneath the bar’s transparent top and on which he places the cocktail glass for the pour. -

Aperitivo We snagged the last table on the deck and watched the crowd pass – pedestrian traffic continues to be heavy at night since the police started to bar vehicles from this street. By the way, while Aperitivo is known for wine, my buddy The Fish swears by the Margarita. -

Tun O-Zone and I decided to meet here. Free drinks for ladies from 9 PM to midnight – I wonder how other bars feel about that deal!? – brings in a good crowd though the music seemed a bit heavy for this sort of event. Anyway, I’m sticking with Tun as my “sleeper” pick. -

Sequoia Café The return of these Friday night wine tastings drew many regulars and quite a few newcomers. The theme: the Margaret River area in southwestern Australia. I wasn’t too keen on any of the five selections, but perhaps my taste buds were exhausted by two earlier tastings. In any case, it is good to have Fridays with Frank back, since I know of no other wine events that create this sense of community. -

Frantoi Celliti Drei Kronen 1308 I met fellow beverage researchers AU and GA to drink wine at 1949: The Hidden City and we decided to chase it down with food. We walked to Frantoi Celliti, the massive new and sparsely patronized Italian joint near Tun, and found it darkened at 5:15. Someone spotted our faces pressed against the glass, popped the door, and said 5:30 is the official opening, with 6:30 or 7 PM better for dinner. Hmmm…

We decided to eat at Drei Kronen 1308 instead. The deal: AU and GA would go first and I would catch up after heading home to drop off my laptop and pick up three “free beer” coupons I received at a Klubb Rouge event (same owner). Everything went to plan: I arrived, they already had mugs of beer and plates of sausages, and I gave the coupons to the waitress.

The bill seemed a bit heavy when it arrived. We soon discovered why: it was carrying the weight of those three beers. The explanation: we did not present the coupons upon arrival.

Did anyone mention that when I handed over the coupons? No. Does any such rule appear on the coupons? No. Does it make sense to create coupons to encourage people to come and then create a bad impression by not honoring them? No. After our firm suggestion that they reconsider the policy, a scrum of wait staff and management ensued and we found our bill reduced.

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1/5 Taverna About 70 wineries from the Golden State were on hand as the California Wine Institute organized a mid-afternoon tasting at 1949: The Hidden City. This one saw a mixed crowd of distributors, journalists, restaurateurs, and consumers spend two hours trying to visit all of those tables. Talk about California dreaming (the details).

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Green T. House I headed to this arty and austere downtown restaurant around 10 AM for a Wine Australia event. Before we sampled 13 wines from Down Under, including top-end selections from Penfolds and Henschke, we had a lesson about… tea. The reason? To link China and Australia by arguing the much-loved beverages of the two nations share everything from physical properties to traditions for enjoyment. In terms of marketing, call it sophistication meets warmth and fuzziness, and deserving of its own post. Coming Monday…

I’m mining my in-box and found a few events slated for this weekend (I’ll omit the many music festivals as they have been heavily covered by the English-language lifestyle magazines).

To celebrate its third anniversary, The Pomegranate will open a free self-serve keg of beer every Friday at 5 PM this month.

DJ BB and DJ Carlo will be at Obiwan from 10 PM tonight spinning rock tunes. “Anything rock from the last five decades is fair game,” states the invite.

Room 101 bids farewell this Saturday with a closing party that includes 101 free Beijing drafts. The place will reopen in November as… well, we’ll have to wait and see (more details).

The Saddle Cantina will hold its monthly Cinco de Drinko on Sunday, which means half-price beverages all day and evening until midnight, at which point sibling bar The Rickshaw starts its Hair of the Dog event with the same deal.

Tun, in honor of the late Paul Newman, will screen his hockey classic Slapshot at 6 PM on Sunday – look out for those Hanson brothers!

After checking out the China Open on Thursday, p3wong and I headed to Sanlitun for some post-match libations. A quick summary:

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1/5 bar (1949: The Hidden City)

If spots like 1949 and Union Bar & Grill are determined to provide overly keen and aggressive service, then patrons should receive, free of charge, the same drugs taken by the seemingly hopped-up employees. Seriously, there is a fine line between being helpful and annoying, and a growing number of places in this town are leaping across it and into the latter territory.

Take 1/5: As we looked for a seat, the waitress practically ploughed into us while energetically making hand gestures at this or that spot to indicate the obvious – they were empty.* Several requests for her to relax brought temporary relief – until we sat down, at which point she returned and stood about a foot behind us as we perused the menu. Several additional requests for space and to “please give us a few minutes” finally encouraged her to stand about two meters away.

I don’t doubt the staff friendliness, but who is doing training here: Richard Simmons? Are employees timed on how fast they take orders, with severe penalties for those who can’t secure one in under 10 seconds?

This is not to say 1/5 lacks positives. The design, décor, and “check him/her out” vibe (at least on this night) make it a decent place to entertain business clients and/or for the expense account crowd to relax after eating at the associated Duck de Chine or 1/5 Taverna. Actually, the place reminds me of a smaller classier Browns.

The bar includes a small but sedate patio (though it faces that huge KTV across the street). If you like eighties music – The Bangles, Yes, Human League – this was your night. And we received plenty of free popcorn. p3wong also liked the coasters, which include space for name, phone number, and message, and presumably can be sent between tables.

The downsides include the limited menu. The beer choices are Sol, Chill, Carlsberg, and Guinness, while only five wines are listed (the one I requested was unavailable). I imagine persistence might get access to the superior wine menu at Duck de Chine.

As for the cocktails, they didn’t live up to their prices. My Martini (RMB49) tasted like vodka cut with chilled water, while P3wong said her Bloody Mary (RMB59) lacked celery salt and needed more Worchester sauce, Tabasco, vodka, and… tomato juice. The drink simply had too much ice and, ultimately, water.

* Something similar happened when I recently entered Union and the host, finding himself behind me and unable to point out a hundred places I might sit, nearly tripped me as he pushed by to get in front.

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Mesh (The Opposite House)

We started the night at Mesh, where Thursday features a buy one get one free deal on a limited range of cocktails and beers from 7 to 11 PM. Drinks start from RMB60 plus RMB15 percent service charge, which converts to RMB69 and up. The chic decor continues to impress; the dim lighting continues to mean flashlights are needed to see the menu.

I found the cocktails weaker than on previous visits. p3wong called her Cosmopolitan (RMB69) “average” and said she preferred the Mojito (RMB69). I found the Aperol & Mandarin Sour (RMB80.5) and Passion Fruit & Lychee Martini (RMB80.5) OK, though light.

While some confusion occurred as to whether single malts are covered by the special (they aren’t), the staff was friendly, especially the bartender who explained some of the more unusual cocktails on the menu.

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Tun (Sanlitun South)

We ended the night at Tun, as I wanted to check out the band and to see if the snappy Italian joint next door was ready to open. As mentioned earlier, I love the layout of this place, though the men’s bathroom is a bit dodgy and the food could use work. Anyway, it’s a nice spot to see a band and have a couple of Tiger beers (RMB15), especially when the guitarist’s hands are so quick and deft that they almost look like they are smoking as he plays Let Me Stand Next to Your Fire.

Birthday bashes, going-away parties, returning friends, and visits to places both new and old made last weekend a busy one. Here are some quick notes. But first, fond farewells to two people who have helped this blog – Ali Robinton and Mark Rybchuk.

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Rumi
Not much to say about this Middle Eastern restaurant across from Pacific Century other than that given the laid-back vibe, clean and comfortable surroundings (especially the deck), and platters of meat, it’s no surprise it’s a hot spot for parties.

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Klubb Rouge
Not counting the packed-to-the-rafters launch party, my half-dozen visits to this Workers Stadium East club have found it pretty much empty. A pleasant surprise to see a decent crowd amassed around that “stretch limousine of bars” as well as a few dozen people busting moves on the dance floor, though it might be an idea to turn down the smoke machines.

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Q Bar
During the Olympics, I made a single short visit to this regular haunt, both because the fun and games were farther north and because I was a tad annoyed that the place increased drink prices. A weekend visit reaffirmed why I like Q: the Raspberry Martini, Side Car, and Tom Collins all were a cut (or two) above the vast majority of drink joints in Beijing.

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Northern Tribute
This restaurant is in a new serviced apartment complex near Sichuan hotspot Chuan Ban, but don’t expect a hot and noisy time. The focus is northern Californian cuisine and the 70-seat restaurant faces a serene lawn dotted with sculptures, trees, and… a swing. Lounge areas along the sides can accommodate up to 48 imbibers. I’ll have more on this place soon.

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Tun
About a hundred people downed reasonably priced drinks, which is far less than capacity but far more than usual. This place is my sleeper in the bar scene. The spacious but warm surroundings, ample nooks and crannies, and cheap drinks make me think business will pick up as temperatures go down, especially if Tun can feature some live music and become a kind of Yugong Yishan of Sanlitun.

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Luga’s Villa
In the former space of ex-Vietnamese restaurant Marguerite, this place evokes The Rickshaw, which is no surprise to those who know proprietor Luga used to work there. Expect a mix of the former restaurant’s decor and orange booths, as well as RMB15 Coronas, RMB35 burgers, friendly service, and a relaxed vibe.

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Mesh
Mesh provides comfortable seating, a stylish decor, a polite staff, and big pours (this time Gin Tonic). But lighting issues remain. On one hand, it’s annoying to have a waiter hold a flashlight over the menu. On the other, the headlights of cars pulling up to the hotel regularly pierce through the bar and temporarily blind patrons facing that way. Both problems should be easy enough to fix and make Mesh a player in the lounge scene.