Talking Pints: Chad Moves To Brussels, Cheap Drinks At Red House
It's that time again: With the weekend fast approaching, here's your weekly check-in on what's happening in Beijing's bar scene. This week, Chad Lager tells us what's next for him, there's almost-free drinking to be done at Red House in Sanlitun, and a new bar for Shunyi suburbanites to enjoy a pint and a football game on the weekend. Raise your glasses.
Following his split with his former partners at Fubar, Chad Lager tells me he's straight back at it, consulting on three new projects. The first is set to open sometime over the next week, Lager says, and will be called Brussels Bar and Restaurant. The new venue is located in the same yard as The Bookworm, d lounge and Kro's Nest, on the strip that is directly opposite the west entrance to 1949-The Hidden City. More information over the next few days or so, but it goes without saying that almost anything Lager does is worth watching. Almost anything.
The Ellingen Brauhaus has opened over on Financial Street. It's run by Westin Financial Street but is actually just around the corner from the hotel itself. They're offering German-slanted food and beer, but I don't have any more details just yet.
Newly opened Red House, just off Chunxiu Lu on the south side of the Holiday Inn, is not a bad place to spend an hour or two. They do rather shamefully use Guinness Surger, as opposed to proper Guinness on draft, but they make up for that with a few Belgian beers and draft Carlsberg and Tsingtao for RMB 10 and RMB 5, respectively (for a small glass). Their very thin-crust pizza (RMB 50-70) is nothing particularly special, but it's decent bar food. They also have a contender for best deal in Beijing at the moment: Go there on Friday (9-11pm) and Saturday (10pm-midnight), pay RMB 20 for your first Tsingtao, and you'll get free refills until the clock runs down on you.
Interesting to note is that the look of Red House is very much in keeping with The Tree/First Floor/James Joyce vibe. That style seems to be increasingly prevalent among new bars opening around Sanlitun, which can't be a bad thing. How long before all the "ladybars" on Sanlitun Bar Street are replaced by decent, simple places like this? I give it at least five years, by which time the whole strip will probably be ready for being destroyed.
Despite the best efforts of venues like East Shore, CJW and some of the hotel bars, jazz fans in Beijing remain relatively deprived compared to fans of other genres of music. The Fairmont Beijing is aiming to set the record straight with its "Sounds of Fairmont" series, which kicks off this Saturday (Feb 25) with a performance by acclaimed jazz singer and pianist Diana Schuur. Food and drinks will be available throughout the show, but the hotel is also accepting reservations for pre-show dinners at The Cut or Lunar 8, which include VIP seating for Ms. Schuur's set. The event starts at 8pm. Email beijing.sounds@fairmont.com or call 8507 3635 for ticketing information and reservations.
Beijing Homebrewers' Society is now well up and running, with their next meeting taking place from 7-9pm on March 13 at Drei Kronen. That will involve a tour of the bar’s brewing facilities. New members are welcome, so get yourself along. They're currently looking for speakers on a number of topics including: beer tasting, brewing jargon, mashing, yeast, carbonation - bottling vs. kegging, brewing gadgets and beginner and intermediate brewing. If you're interested or have any questions, email njohnston@greatleapbrewing.com.
If you want to start brewing this very weekend, Carl Setzer's homebrewing class at The Hutong takes place this Sunday (Feb 26). The class is already fully booked, according to The Hutong's website, but you can still email Morgan at morgan@thehutong.com or Nathalie at njohnston@greatleapbrewing.com to get on a waiting list or check if more spots have become available.
Great Leap are doing not one, but two of their Pop-up Bar events on February 29. One is at The Green Cap in Shunyi, the other at 4corners on Dahsibei Hutong.
Finally, I spent some of last Saturday in Shunyi, checking out The Swan With Two Necks and later The Green Cap. The Green Cap was as solid as ever - and warmer than on my last visit - but the newly opened Swan With Two Necks (or "The Swan" as the regulars call it) had already set a decent standard for the day's imbibing. It's a spacious bar, long with high ceilings and two floors. There's a pool table upstairs, while down at the bar there are plenty of large screens for watching the match. The food is decent, and the drinks selection sterling, though the Guinness wasn't great. If you're in Shunyi, go and check it out. You probably already have.
