2010 Sep 07 Peerless Beer Selection, Spartan Details: El Nido bar in Fangjia Hutong
El Nido is Spartan in most details. There’s no bar, no indoor seating, and only a few vintage beer posters coloring the drab interior. They did, however, remember to install shelves and fridges positively brimming with wine and bottled beers. At the height of the Cold War, some paranoid beer connoisseur probably constructed a personal fallout shelter like this.
There’s no drinks list, forcing you to browse powerful Belgian Trappist brews (RMB 30-35) and imports from the English-speaking world. Dig further and uncover Czech beers like Cerna Hora (RMB 35).
By Beijing standards of choice, quality and value, El Nido’s is a fairly peerless beer selection. Harbin (RMB 10), on the rise in Beijing, pops up as El Nido’s sole domestic brew. There’s also pastis (RMB 10), house-infused brandy and vodka (RMB 10-25) and an impressive collection of absinthe.
With its make-do approach, El Nido reworks one of the great rituals of Beijing summers – Yanjing and chuan’r on the street – with better drinks and Cuban tunes. The looming challenge is to find a way of bringing the fun inside for the winter.
Also try: Amilal, Beer Mania
El Nido/Bar No. 59
Daily 4pm-late. 59 Fangjia Hutong (enter from Andingmennei Dajie), Dongcheng District (8402 9495)
东城区方家胡同59号（从安定门内大街往东走20米）
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