Yoolee Plaza's Neverland Cocktail Bar is Ripe to Serve as a Rich Kids Playground but First Has Some Growing up to Do

Opened last month, Neverland is the newest kid on the block in Sanlitun’s ever-so-busy cocktail scene and it can't be knocked for trying to stand out. Located on the first floor of Yoolee Plaza, just between a Dongbei dumpling restaurant and a Sichuan chuan’r place, the eyesore of massive golden doors, pink flamingos, and the bar's name inlaid into a huge board of fake green plants makes the place hard to miss. It's also the reason we mistook it for a florist the first few times we passed by.

It was only later that we learned from friends that Neverland is in fact a cocktail bar, and, following some research on Dianping, it turns out they also dabble in afternoon tea.

I decided to make the visit extra special by surprising my best friend on her birthday – because who really wants to grow up – which may or may not have been the best idea although it certainly made for a memorable evening.

First impressions were that the bar is massive, and you can tell that the owner has put a lot of effort into it – ubiquitous pink flamingos, velvety sofas, walls painted with more golden metal boards, a whole wall decorated with shelves of books and little ornaments, and the opposite wall covered in china plates … oh, did I mention they have a second floor?

Once our eyes had adjusted to the decorative hodgepodge, our livers were ready to move onto the drinks. Neverland serves around a dozen seasonal cocktails (all RMB 90) that have names to match the vibe – Peter Pan, Happy Together, Rush, Lala Land, Dirty Mind, Beaty and the Beast, YSL 109, Flamingo – as well as several classic varieties. You can also order bottles of whiskey or wine. 

When our Peter Pans arrived, we were surprised to find a large leaf swimming in the middle of them, the edges of said leaf a concerning black hue and curled up apparently due to the lack of water and having been sans tree for quite a while. It turned out to be a perilla leaf, usually consumed alongside sushi. However, we must confess that we were too quick to judge and the flavor of the green concoction lay our doubts to rest, with the sweetness of honeydew melon, citrussy scent, and the strong, herbal flavor of the leaf coming together for a certified sugary tipple with a nice aromatic backbone.

The Sanshi, wasn’t such a winning combination. Based on whiskey and rose wine foundation, this one proved the wrong side of sickly sweet and was also overly fruity because of a hefty dose of syrup and cranberry juice, all served in a sake bottle. We could hardly taste the alcohol, making us ponder that it may be more suitable for the lost boys of Neverland instead.

There's one thing to be said for Neverland though, and that's that the service is superb. A number of different waiters were always on hand to keep filling our water up, all done with a smile.

Sadly, we were not overly impressed with the offerings at Neverland but we do wish good luck to them, especially for having the guts to open a massive bar in Yoolee Plaza, with the glut of bars just a stone's throw away. Just like Peter Pan before them, this one may need to do some maturing before it can find its way back home.

Neverland
101, 1/F Yoolee Plaza, buld 21, Gongti Beilu, Chaoyang District
朝阳区工人体育场北路21号楼永利国际一层101

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Email: tracywang@thebeijinger.com
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Photos: Tracy Wang