The Nanjinger

Author: Matt Ford

  • Fixing it in the Mix; Fine Beer & Meals in Nanjing’s New Mall

    Fixing it in the Mix; Fine Beer & Meals in Nanjing’s New Mall

    My first experience of a No. 18 Brew Pub was in Wuhan. It was one of several craft beer places there that opened all day, leaving me wondering, as usual, why this seldom seems possible in Nanjing. Located opposite a Starbucks Bar Mixato (another thing sadly lacking in Nanjing) that served the best Cold Brew Lemon Sour I have ever had, there seemed much to recommend it. The interior was attractive, the beer menu extensive and the food comforting on a rather bleak and wet day.

    Much to recommend it until I tried the beer, that is. Each one was a gassy, sad exhibition of lacklustre “craft” brewing, ironically little better than the likes of Watney’s Red Barrel before the great resurgence of Real Ale in England.

    You might well imagine my mixed emotions on learning that the new MixC mall boasted a large craft beer bar open all day but was, of course, a No. 18. I approached with some trepidation. It certainly looked the part, with 24 taps, an open kitchen, plenty of seating (inside and out) and little features such as the intriguing mechanical window opening wheel (I can’t think of an elegant way to describe it) and “gas station” pumps within the ubiquitous industrial brutalist interior typical of such establishments.

    To my surprise the first beer was rather good, and the second, and the third. Alongside regular beers, there are guests and a fridge with a decent range of cans and bottles. I have been back many times since and have no complaints about the beer. That, as regular readers will know, is unusual. As I write this, I am enjoying Left Hand Brewing’s Peanut Butter Milk Stout. The food menu has all the usual trimmings of Western/American bar food and snacks. The double-based pizza is a good option if you are hungry. It is stuffed, but the two bases are cooked separately and are surprisingly crisp. The very runny egg on top would I am sure have caused Edwina Currie considerable alarm, but not this writer.

    Service is eager. Seemingly within a nanosecond of making a selection (tedious QR code app, I’m afraid), one of the waiters will appear with your order receipt, and the food or drink follows soon after. They are very accommodating, offering me a blanket just now, sitting as I am near the window (inside). I politely declined as I do not yet feel in my dotage and tried to look a little less chilly than I actually felt on account of my foolish seat selection. The staff looked upon me benevolently, but with the same doubt as when they bring me ice for my water. They are eager to please and I always feel welcome. The one considerable irritation is the very loud muzak. Alas this seems a feature everywhere in The MixC. Noise-cancelling earphones reduce it to a mild inconvenience, which is reduced further with each beer imbibed.

    No. 18 enjoys a good footfall with its excellent location in The MixC and looks like it will be a great success. That said, it is quiet today, but then so is the whole mall. COVID seems back on many Nanjingers’ minds.

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    It is a short walk to Diaoyutai Alley about which I wrote last month. On that note, I have a few updates. Walden now opens from 15:00, but Natie Coffee and Beer is open from 10:00 and continues to serve some excellent imported beers. On my last visit, just days before winter hit us, I sat outside enjoying one of the only sours in Nanjing truly worthy of the name. What a beer it was! It was good; very, very good indeed. Moments such as that make hunting good beer worthwhile.

    Meanwhile, further into Laomendong, Table Space is under renovation of the type that looks like it has been struck by a large meteor. However, it is due to re-open eventually under the same owner with the new name, “Lapin”. It remains to be seen if craft beers will be served alongside the rabbit. However, directly behind it is the new “Dogwatch” craft beer bar that opens all day and serves pork and “dogs” (not the canine variety, I think).

    Whilst I am doing updates, Boxing Cat near the Epark Mall, which was Nanjing’s first Shanghai-style craft beer bar and restaurant to open all day is on the move. By the time you read these words, they may well be back up and running in D9.

    That muzak seems loud again, so it’s time for a Chococonut (I checked that twice) Imperial Dessert Stout. Cheers!

    No. 18 Brew Pub is located on 1F of The MixC at 666 Zhongshan Nan Lu (near Entrance #5) 中山南路666号南京万象天地 L1层L159. Tel 18120133581. Exit 1 of Sanshan Jie Metro Station is closest. Another location in IST B.

  • Fishing for Afternoon Aperitifs along a Nanjing Backstreet

    Fishing for Afternoon Aperitifs along a Nanjing Backstreet

    Just as along many other backstreets in China, Diaoyutai (钓鱼台; fishing stage) plays host to an uneasy truce between pedestrians, cyclists and the occasional motorist wishing they had not been tempted by an apparent shortcut. 

    Under ordinary circumstances I would likely not have bothered to participate in the street’s delicate dance between yielding, standing my ground, pretending not to notice and genuinely not noticing the frustrated motorists attempting to force their way past one group of disinterested pedestrians or another. 

    However, whilst Diaoyutai was once a backstreet that would be of little interest to anyone except its residents, things have more-recently changed.

    Within several metres, yards or for those who prefer sporting analogies over units of distance, the toss of any sort of ball, there are four establishments which are worthy of your patronage. 

    First to arrive on the scene was Walden, which is a rather smart bar which instantly won my approval on account of the fact it is open for much of the afternoon and Le Bonheur, which has rapidly become a vogue coffee shop. Following in their wake are two craft beer bars, one which specialises in imported draft craft beer, “Latte Coffee and Craft Beer” and another, “Oasis Space” offering more modestly priced local beer.

    There is also a rather smart gentlemen’s hairdresser amidst this cornucopia of delight, but I am not sure why I have mentioned it, and the editor may well take his pen to this unnecessary embellishment.

    The trick is to start at Walden which opens at 15:00 and, confusingly, has different cocktail menus for the afternoon and the evening. There are plenty of unique creations, some on an afternoon “happy hour” deal, making the consumption of at least two essential. The owner will also rustle up any classic cocktail you fancy. You could do worse than to ask him for a “Li Mat Yu”. You may need to remind him that this is a 1:1 mix of Fernet Branca and Campari, with a little syrup to taste, a few drops of vanilla essence, served straight up in a glass rinsed with Absinthe and garnished with orange zest. This is one of the unsung greats (unless you are neither a fan of Fernet nor Campari).

    After this, Le Bonheur will fill the classic Nanjing time-warp beer void whilst the bars get their act together and consider opening. 

    The actual opening hour for Latte seems to vary between 17:00 and 18:00. The crafty gambit at Le Bonheur is to grab a window seat and sup your dark roast Dirty Coffee whilst keenly watching the door opposite. At just the right moment, you can descend upon Latte, looking at your watch with studied confusion, suggesting that the hour at which they deign to open is not without consequence (despite the fact that for them, it clearly is). 

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    You will find a dozen imported draft beers in this tiny bar, which also dabbles in coffee and chocolate cake, which is bold considering their neighbour opposite. The place is hopelessly small, but the windows pull back to create a lovely open street-bar so this is the ideal time of year to visit. (Now I remember why I had mentioned the hairdresser next door. It is a potential distraction should Latte still not be open once you have had your fill of coffee at Le Bonheur).

    Once any combination of your wallet, liver and tastebuds have taken a suitable hit it is time to move on to Oasis, which is diagonally opposite. In common with a number of Nanjing venues, the theme here is camping, with interior gravel, fold-up chairs from which you think you may never rise and a large number of potted plants: garden centre meets beer meets indoor camping, but it doesn’t really matter. After your Walden cocktails and strong imports at Latte you will likely look benevolently upon this curious folly.

    Unlike Latte, the staff here have little English and, save for the sight of “IPA” on the menu you will have no idea what to choose. This is part of the fun of course, and my advice is to have a random beer or two before heading back out into Diaoyutai. Now you can safely (or more likely not) fall into the category of “genuinely not noticing the frustrated motorists” as you wend your way through the street without a care in the world along with your fellow Nanjingers, pondering where you might head for a bite to eat. 

    Talking of food, Walden is due to open a kitchen any time now. I don’t know what they will serve, but I did my best to convince the owner that what Nanjing needs is a civilised place like his serving decent bread, plenty of imported cheese and a good selection of Italian ham (or Spanish, I am not fussy). There is a restaurant directly above Walden and, of course, plenty on offer nearby in the heart of Laomendong, which has the added bonus of more craft beer on draft at Table Space. Cheers!

    Diaoyutai 钓鱼台 is located off Zhongshan Nan Lu 中山南路 and Jiqing Lu 集庆路, intersecting the two in a northwest-southeast direction.

  • Apartheid is Ticking in Nanjing, on Coffee and Beer

    Apartheid is Ticking in Nanjing, on Coffee and Beer

    It’s no secret that Nanjing is awash with venues that are coffee shops by day and cocktail bars by night. Indeed, it would be difficult to avoid them. Many are rather smart and reflect a global trend which I very much welcome. 

    That said, many segregate their operations by the clock. I have no idea why. So if you want an Amber Moon in the afternoon or a Singapore Sling in the morning (well you never know, you might), you would have better luck asking for a hacksaw in a florist. 

    You will sit with your espresso, looking longingly at the inviting bottles, shakers and muddlers, wondering why the barista/barman cannot achieve at 17:30 what mysteriously becomes possible at 18:00.

    To be fair, there are a few places that do offer both coffee and cocktails throughout the day, even if their cocktail menus may vary at different times for no apparent reason. The Sauce is a very good example of this, and I often enjoy a coffee there, or a cocktail, or the best of both worlds, a coffee cocktail (and a coffee and another cocktail). 

    So all bases are covered then? Time to rejoice? Can we can reward such enlightenment with our custom and eschew those establishments that operate a curious clock-dependent-beverage apartheid?

    Well, sadly this is not quite the case, because although I enjoy cocktails, coffee, wine and much else besides, my primary interest is beer. As regular readers will know, the lack of availability of good beer during the day will soon spoil the plans of any Nanjing-based foreigner or local looking to enjoy a well-earned pint on a lazy Sunday afternoon. 

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    Can these coffee-shop-cum-bars come to the rescue? To a limited extent they can. There are a few coffee shops that also specialise in draft craft beer, but not many. There are even fewer that can open a tap at 16:15 as opposed to 18:00 (the hour when mysteriously all sorts of things become possible in Nanjing which, in many other cities, are possible for most of the day).

    Southern Trip will be happy to serve you from a small but enjoyable range of TripSmith beers at any time of day. They are canned (come on, you have by now not learned to expect too much, I hope…) but they are very drinkable. In fact, they are very drinkable indeed. Beware of possibly having to cancel your plans for the evening after a Double IPA and a couple of Imperial Stouts at 14:00 suddenly seemed a grand idea.

    Meanwhile Ego, Mountains H2O and XSpace (and I am sure there are others) all serve a fine range of decent draft craft beer as well as coffee, but suffer from the strange Nanjing time-warp thing that seems to occur around 18:00, when baristas are magically transformed into people who are able to hold a glass under a tap and turn it on. Ego is a splendidly bijou little place that I enjoy very much, and the others are also worth a visit, but do remember it has to be in the evening. 

    However, full marks go to Next. I think some sort of little-understood quantum distortion of time and gravity around Longjiang means they are really aligned to the Shanghai dimension. Next is able and willing to serve both coffee and beer all day, every day, and it’s a pleasant place too. 

    So it can be done! A coffee, a pint (the beer is good, but don’t expect the very best) and a little brunch at 11:00? Well, if you want to, why not? You’ve crossed into another dimension and not even needed a high-speed train to help, so you’ve earned it. Cheers!

    Next is located on Longyuan Xi Lu opposite Longjiang Gymnasium 龙园西路龙江体育馆正对面. Tel: 15951883170.

  • New Foreign Fave Dares Us with Nanjing’s Spiciest Wings

    New Foreign Fave Dares Us with Nanjing’s Spiciest Wings

    Wing Station is a fairly new kid on the block but has already become something of an foreign institution. Stephen, the owner, is an affable American. He says that around 80 percent of his customer base is from Nanjing’s foreign community. His WeChat group (Wing Station Friends) has more than 200 members. Stephen stresses that he very much welcomes the local Chinese community too and hopes to see that customer base grow.

    Located on the third floor of Jianye Wuyue Square’s dining complex, Wing Station is one of those labyrinthine “inside/outside” places, but the trick to quickly locating it is to take the escalator just to the right of the Cadillac Showroom (as you face it on Jiangdong Men Bei Jie) up to 3F.

    It is easy to see why it has become such a hit with the foreign crowd; a small American bar with a range of seating options (including an outdoor terrace), two sports screens, a darts board and a large selection of board games. There are several craft beers, cocktails and of course, buffalo wings.  

    There are two draft craft beers which change every month or so, sourced from Bitter Brew, so that box is ticked. For those who prefer a more mainstream offering, Heineken features permanently on the third tap. It will be a cold day in Hell before I drink that when craft beer is available, but each to his or her own.

    Around 25 cocktails feature on the menu, from classics such as Negroni, Manhattan, Old Fashioned and Whisky Sour, to Vodka Strawberry Lemonade, New Orleans Hand Grenade and AMF, which is best left as initials only. There are shots, whiskies and even a soft drink or two.

    Of course the draw for many is the buffalo wings. There are around ten flavours (some regular, and some specials) and the hot wings are hot. Let me repeat that. They are properly hot! Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Alongside the wings, you can order fries, rings and wedges.

    Talking of hot, be aware that despite Stephen’s considerable efforts, it’s a difficult space to air condition with its large windows, so on Nanjing’s hottest summer days, it’s best to dress cool.

    One if the reasons it is so popular is there are many excellent deals. From 17:00 to 20:00 every day, all draft beers and cocktails are buy one, get one free. With the craft beer at ¥60 for a decent sized glass (Heineken ¥40), and cocktails averaging a similar price, 2-for-1 is seriously good value. Wednesday is bargain day for Wings, with 25 percent off or the option of unlimited wings from 17:00 to 20:00 for ¥120. On Thirsty Thursday, the Happy Hour arrangements are for the entire night; and on Fridays, there is a Trivia Night. On Tuesdays, it’s 2-for-1 on chicken burgers. Random specials pop up periodically, such as 12 wings, fries and a Heineken for ¥88.

    Alongside the deals, their WeChat mini program (which includes a perfect English version) enables the collection of loyalty points and virtual stamps to collect for a free beer after buying five. The staff are particularly pleasant, helpful and have excellent English. Deliveries are available for those who live nearby. If you like wings, beer and cocktails then you aren’t going to do better in Nanjing. Many bars that spend half the evening empty, with overpriced offerings, could learn much from Stephen’s promotions and pricing policy. In all, this is a very welcome addition to Nanjing’s food and drink scene.

    Wing Station is located  at 318, Building 1/2, Jianye Wuyue Square, 68 Jiangdong Lu 江东中路 68号吾悦广场1、2幢318室. Tel: 18851051268.

  • Wine, Beer, Monty Python, Dali & Vintage Arcade Games (eh?!)

    Wine, Beer, Monty Python, Dali & Vintage Arcade Games (eh?!)

    Having been open for around 3 months, Spring Mountain Taproom is one of Nanjing’s newest craft beer venues and perhaps its most unusual. It occupies part of a 16,000-square-metre cellar beneath an old factory in a newly developed chic area just west of Chaotian Palace.

    During the Mao Era, the cellar was an air-raid shelter and then became a social area for the factory workers. Many of the original features remain, including heavy steel doors, floral motifs in the plasterwork, original paintwork, vaulted brick ceilings and glass-paneled doors.

    The extraordinary venue includes a wine cellar of some 50,000 bottles (ranging from less than ¥100 to more than ¥100,000), tasting rooms, a dance hall, a coffee and cocktail bar, and art exhibition spaces. The owner’s main business is wine, and he has a winery in northwest China (Chateau Witch). In addition to selling wine (from all over the world), he runs accredited training courses for wine sommeliers and bar staff. The craft beer venue was opened as a bit of a hobby on the side and it fits in very well with this eclectic, multi-purpose venue.

    The beer bar features some retro arcade games (they will give you tokens if you fancy a go), vintage computers, neon lighting, a live performance stage and a couple of private rooms. The eight taps feature domestic beers and there are some excellent imported canned and bottled beers, such as Nøgne (Norway) and Põhjala (Estonia). Snacks are basic and include chickens’ feet (none of their beer is strong enough or available in sufficient quantity for this to tempt me), onion rings, noodles, fries and dumplings, all at modest prices.

    I am told the changing art exhibitions aim to ape those found in Shanghai’s trendier locations. The venue’s art director trained in London, which certainly has no shortage of avant-garde galleries and bars. One of the current displays has dark green walls covered with spoons, an ancient computer (you can program it if you know BASIC) alongside a typewriter, old telephones on plinths and in booths (they can call each other), unusual chairs and a plethora of curiosities too strange to mention. Talking of strange, there is currently a “Stranger Things” theme, with a grandfather clock and cinema room playing it on a loop. Strange indeed…

    I like it for its uniqueness, even if I am not their target market. It’s a place you have to see for yourself really. It’s like a curious dream. Yes, there is beer, so it is fundamentally a happy dream, but the rest is like a nostalgic 80s flashback, interrupted by slightly disquieting dashes of Monty Python’s Flying Circus and Salvador Dali. 

    The venue opens from 09:00, principally for their wine business and training courses. The beer bar opens officially from 18:00 to midnight but, critically, they are happy to pour a beer at any time of day if thirsty customers turn up and request it. A private tasting room is available for hire and is the only part of the venue that allows smoking. There are regular swing dancing sessions at the weekend and other random events. If you are interested, give them a call.

    Spring Mountain Taproom is located  at 329 Mochou Lu 莫愁路  329号. Tel:  17384464996.

  • Beer Festival Celebrates the “Craft” from Nanjing and Beyond

    Beer Festival Celebrates the “Craft” from Nanjing and Beyond

    Many thousands recently gathered to celebrate the burgeoning craft-beer scene in China at the 8th Nanjing Beer Festival, bringing producers and vendors together in a party for the great and the good from the best beer bars and breweries.

    The Festival was held over the weekend of 24-26 June, at the Nanjing International Expo Centre, in a change of venue to accommodate demand to be present at one of China’s premier craft beer events. 

    该啤酒节于 6 月 24 日至 26 日周末在南京国际博览中心举行，为满足参加中国首屈一指的精酿啤酒活动之一的需求，改变了场地。

    All in were featured some 70 breweries, up from around 50 last year, alongside a variety of food and even coffee vendors. 

    总共有大约 70 家啤酒厂，比去年的大约 50 家有所增加，还有各种食品甚至咖啡摊贩。

    COVID again stymied attempts to bring in beer from some breweries in Shanghai and Beijing, but few could complain about the variety and quality available. Each brewery featured an average of four or five beers (on draft and well chilled), alongside cans, bottles and brewery memorabilia.

    新冠疫情再次阻碍了上海和北京一些啤酒厂进口啤酒的尝试，但很少有人会抱怨现有的品种和质量。每个啤酒厂平均提供四到五种啤酒（生啤酒和冰镇啤酒），还有罐装啤酒、瓶装啤酒和啤酒厂纪念品。

    Friday night was bargain night for those who had acquired advance tickets. Just ¥180 was all that was required for limitless beer, and from what this correspondent saw, those present put a significant dent in the total of 40,000 beers that were estimated to have been consumed over the weekend. 

    对于那些已经购买了预售票的人来说，周五晚上是一个便宜的夜晚。只需要180日元就可以无限畅饮啤酒，据记者观察，在场的人估计周末喝掉的4万瓶啤酒已经大幅减少。

    As with almost everything in China these days, the “free” beers were obtained by scanning a QR code at each brewery stand. Setting this up at the start was frustrating and tedious, to put it mildly, but once up and running, it was simplicity itself for even the most inebriated consumers.

    与当今中国几乎所有的事情一样，“免费”啤酒是通过在每个啤酒厂扫描二维码获得的。温和地说，一开始的设置是令人沮丧和乏味的，但一旦启动并运行，即使对于最醉的消费者来说，它本身也很简单。

    There was also entertainment in the form of live music. Some was professional and some most decidedly not. The less said about that the better.

    还有现场音乐形式的娱乐活动。有些是专业的，有些则绝对不是。这件事说得越少越好。

    Affable host, Master Gao, seemed to have a word or two for everyone. This Nanjing local is the man credited with launching the modern-day craft beer scene in China, and this event is just one example of the ways he continues to promote it. Our thanks to him and the hard work of all who made it possible.

    和蔼可亲的主人高师傅似乎对大家说了两句话。这位南京人被誉为在中国开创了现代精酿啤酒界的人，此次活动只是他继续推广精酿啤酒的方式之一。我们感谢他以及所有使这一切成为可能的人的辛勤工作。

    If you have not been to this event before, make a mental note to attend next year. Details will be published well in advance and this publication will put out a reminder. Those who have been before are sure to be back. 

    如果您以前没有参加过此活动，请记下明年参加。详细信息将提前发布，本出版物将发出提醒。那些曾经来过的人肯定会回来。

    Two tips with which to conclude; take a small backpack to stash the goodies you buy and do take some water. If drinking water was available on this hot evening, this correspondent never found it. That said, with most beer being around 95 percent water, who needs it?

    最后用两个技巧来结束；带一个小背包来存放你买的东西，并带一些水。在这个炎热的夜晚，即使有饮用水，记者也没有找到。也就是说，大多数啤酒的 95% 左右都是水，谁需要它？

    China is no exception to the rule that, as in most countries (and cities) craft brewing is an industry of collaboration as much as competition, and this was evident all night at the 8th Nanjing Beer Festival, as something of a reunion which contributed in no small part to the evident excitement and warmth of the atmosphere. 

    中国也不例外，与大多数国家（和城市）一样，精酿啤酒既是一个合作的行业，也是一个竞争的行业，这一点在第八届南京啤酒节的整个晚上都表现得很明显，作为一种重聚，在很大程度上促成了明显的兴奋和热烈的气氛。

  • From Bordeaux to Nanjing; Dream along in Laomendong

    From Bordeaux to Nanjing; Dream along in Laomendong

    I had a rather curious dream. A restaurant had opened in Nanjing that had decent craft beer, and it was open all day, every day (I know, I know…). The head chef was an eccentrically bearded Chinese man whose English was spoken with a French accent as authentic as it was incongruous. I dreamt of food, a lot of food, from thin little pizzas called “flammekeuche” to poke bowls, but these were served in what appeared to be cones of giftwrap and ribbon amidst wispy clouds of white vapour.

    It was a simply glorious afternoon and many ladies who walked past my outdoor table wore the colourful traditional dresses of the Han people. Beer flowed freely (from a row of 8 taps) and nobody said I had to wait until six o’clock. One flammekeuche followed another, and another. I dreamt they were so thin they were calorie free. I asked the chef to make them hotter and he was happy to oblige. With my IPA’s mouth-cooling hops and alcohol-induced bravado I felt invincible. No chilli could be too hot nor any sausage too spicy for this beery dreamer. 

    We like our city, but we know its limitations. So perhaps these words are a prelude to a review from a pre-lockdown visit to Shanghai? That thought would not be far from the truth, because “8 Pints Brewery” has many outlets in Shanghai that serve flammekeuche alongside some damned fine beer.

    However, this was neither a dream nor a description of a venue in Shanghai. 8 Pints has come here, to Nanjing, and ours is arguably better than any of its Shanghai cousins. Why? Location, location, location… 

    Table Space occupies a fine building nestled in the Laomendong pedestrian area right at the foot of the city wall. I can think of few better places in Nanjing to watch the world go by with something cold and hoppy on a balmy afternoon.

    The chefs can be seen hard at work in a central island bar and seating options range from well-shaded outdoor tables to bar stools, alcove benches and more formal dining tables. This civilised place has been imaginably designed and everyone will find their ideal nook. I do have one criticism though… The various bizarre accents of gaudy green plastic have absolutely no place here, nor anywhere. 

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    The chef has worked in Bordeaux and runs a tidy kitchen. Whilst I prefer my poke in a bowl, and confit de canard in a cassoulet as opposed to a mashed potato crust (one of the more unusual signature dishes based, bizarrely, on Beef Wellington we were told), the chef and his team are certainly not without skill and many will enjoy dining here. The quartet of snails was good, the best being with traditional garlic butter, perhaps serving as a reminder that classic dishes do not need meddling with.

    Minor niggles aside, this place is super! There is something for everyone, and there is no better place to drink beer in the afternoon in Nanjing. Bring me beer, bring me flammekeuche (and ideally my poke in a bowl without paper cones and dry ice) and this place really is the stuff of dreams for the discerning all-day imbiber. Talking of dreams, are those flammekeuche really calorie free? Well yes, they are… no, really! Don’t call me out on this one, just believe it. If we all believe it, it’s as good as true isn’t it?

    A second branch at Hexi Wanda has opened recently. Edward warned us last month about the potential sting of a sequel. The Hexi Wanda branch stings like a very, very angry hornet. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

    Table Space is located 16-2 Laomendong, Qinhuai District 秦淮区老门东边营 16—2. Tel: 17116382960 / 17614252529.

  • Can Bitter Brews in Xinjiekou become Better Brews?

    Can Bitter Brews in Xinjiekou become Better Brews?

    Malt & Hop in the Gulou district was my favourite craft beer bar in Nanjing. I last visited around a year ago to find an even better selection than usual, and each one I tried was a delight. I cheerfully told the owner how excellent my evening had been and that I looked forward to returning. She retorted that I wouldn’t, because they were about to close down permanently. My obvious look of horror hastened her to add that they would be opening a brew bar in the city centre in about a year’s time. This did little to lift my mood, but it was at least something…

    After a long wait, Bitter Brew is open. In fact, I visited several months ago whilst they were still setting up. The manager cheerfully told me how he enjoyed drinking beer in the afternoon, especially at weekends. “You’ll be open all day, then?”, I ventured. “Oh no”, he replied. “Probably from 6”, without a hint of recognition of the irony.

    This aside, the initial signs were good. The brewing plant was sizeable, and everything about it smacked of a modern, Shanghai-style brew bar, albeit with Nanjing’s all too familiar and disappointing opening hours.

    Bitter Brew opened in mid February about 6 weeks after they intended; I made my first visit on a Saturday night. Much of it is still roped off, but they had 12 beers. Half of these were their own brews, indicated on the chalkboard with an “O”. A limited food menu is currently available; onion rings, fried chicken, sausage, steak and fries. It all tasted decent enough, but nothing beyond the norm for such places.

    The brews were so-so on this occasion. In my opinion, their own beers still need a lot of work. It was quite easy to tell which had been brewed on site. The guest beers we tried were quite good, even if some were too gassy. The Kiwi Sour deserves a special mention for flavour and quality, despite its alarming radioactive green colouring.

    Half of the beers were less than 5 percent, which is unusual and welcome. There were many IPAs, but no dark beers. However, I was assured these would be featured in future. For beer quality (and range), it certainly is not Malt & Hop, but I guess we need to give it time.

    What can be said of the beers can be said of the whole place, really. It looks like it wants to be a Shanghai brew bar but it isn’t yet, at least. If they want to attract foreigners (and I guess that is not necessarily a given, but let’s assume so), having the food and drink menu in English would be a good start. Two of my discerning companions were Chinese and very helpful in translating menus, quizzing the bar staff, and giving their own thoughts on the beer and food. 

    From about 21:00 the place became rammed to the extent that the apparently, needlessly roped-off area was opened up. This incoming crowd was young and it was good to see them enjoying craft beer, but not so much to be submerged in the thick clouds of their tobacco smoke. 

    Bitter Brew is far from a success just yet. However, that is through my lens, and based on what I look for in a bar. Others may think it is already magnificent. 

    Incidentally, Wine Thieves is immediately next door. It is a new and spacious restaurant aping with some success a western bistro. It has much potential, and I have high hopes for the deli shop inside which is currently only stocked partially. Is it too much to hope it might soon be selling decent bread, cheese and cured ham, alongside their wine? Let’s hope so. If it does, I may be spending rather a lot of time off Xinjiekou’s Wangfu Da Jie.

    Bitter Brew is located at #94-2 Wangfu Da Jie in Xinjiekou 新街口王府大街 94-2号 Tel:  17315447616.

  • Cat Boxes its Way into Nanjing with All Day Food & Drink

    Cat Boxes its Way into Nanjing with All Day Food & Drink

    Some 10 years ago I visited the first Boxing Cat Brewery in Shanghai and I have happy memories of that time. Establishments like it were then far less common in China. Shanghai currently boasts four Boxing Cat bars and, I am very happy to report, Nanjing now has one too. 

    For those interested in beer, this is a major development for our city. Occupying two floors of a large venue in a classic, modern brewpub style, the Brewery offers outdoor seating on 1F, along with a large balcony on 2F. Boxing Cat opens from 10:00 until midnight every day for food and drink. James, the Manager, says they are already looking for a second venue in Nanjing. Let’s hope the likes of Jing-A, Slow Boat and Great Leap follow suit.

    Herein, 12 beers on tap, some of which are the regular brewery offerings, and some of which are seasonal. The beers are available as sample sets as well as in small, medium and large glasses. Some are a sensible strength for a good drinking session. 

    Boxing Cat stopped brewing in Shanghai a while ago; their beers are now brewed in Wuhan by Budweiser, which is owned by the global giant Anheuser-Bush InBev, the world’s largest brewing company. In my opinion, the beers have never been as good since then.

    In particular, they are now served with too much gas in all of their venues. Presumably AB InBev insists on this, in a similar fashion to their rather insipid mass-produced lagers. The fizziest craft beers never seem to me to taste as good as the rest. My semi-scientific explanation is that with bubbles of gas forming all over your tongue, many tastebuds are not in contact with the liquid for long. 

    This all said, the beers are still worth drinking and this venue is a very welcome addition to our city. On my visit. I tried the Ringside Red (5.0 percent), Contender Extra Pale Ale (4.9 percent), TKO IPA (6.3 percent) and a stout, but I cannot remember which one! The stout and the IPA were best, and the least fizzy. 

    Boxing Cat in Nanjing will also feature some of the collaborative brews they have done with Great Leap, Jing-A and, even more impressively, the likes of Nøgne and Mikkeller, both of which are legendary. Perhaps their brewing collaborators could have a gentle word about the fizz? 

    The drinks menu also boasts a wide range of classic cocktails, illustrating that the venue clearly aims to appeal to the widest market. Given its size, I can see why.

    An extensive food menu caters for all western-bar-food tastes; pasta, pizza, burgers, chicken, pork knuckle, chops, salads and snack platters. Although the kitchens were not yet serving the full menu upon our visit, my companion and I enjoyed deep fried chicken, hot chicken wings and sliders. We were also presented with a free trial dish, which was a bizarre cross between hot chili and spaghetti bolognaise, decorated with edible flowers. It wasn’t to my taste, but the chili (masquerading as bolognaise sauce) was actually very good. If that was served in its original form with a baked potato, it would be a perfect winter dish.

    We saw not many customers, but that was not surprising as it is new. Located immediately south of Sam’s Club on the same block, Boxing Cat is accessible via Tianglongsi station on Metro Line 1. Nearby are some inviting restaurants, a smart coffee bar and an upmarket Tsingtao bar with their full range of beer and a couple of special brews on tap. TsingTao IPA is very good, as is their original strong stout if you can find it (bottled at 6.9 percent), but I digress…

    I heartily recommend a visit and hope Boxing Cat in Nanjing thrives because it is the only craft beer bar of its type in the city with such generous opening hours. As an aside to that, I have just returned from a little bar tour of Wuhan. The Hankou side has some tremendous bars which open all day and were full of local people enjoying good beer with their lunch. Will some of the rather more traditional Nanjingers begin to embrace craft beer as part of their mainstream eating and drinking experience? This expat certainly hopes so.

    Boxing Cat is located at #105, Building 1, 109 Software Avenue, Yuhuatai District 软件大道 109号1幢105室 Tel: 18052015958

  • Battle of the Bars; Beijing vs. Nanjing

    Battle of the Bars; Beijing vs. Nanjing

    A t’Ale of Two Cities? How does the old Southern Capital compare with its northern partner when it comes to finding decent beer? In order to answer this question, I set out to visit more than 20 of the finest craft beer bars in Beijing. It was tough work, but somebody had to do it. Perhaps I will do similar for Shanghai in the near future.

    I was last in Beijing in 2014. I was hopeful that the beer scene would have improved since then, and I was not disappointed. I rather like Nanjing and I like to be loyal to the place in which I live. However, in most of my various categories of comparison, I am afraid Beijing absolutely thrashes Nanjing! I’ll also point out that nearly all menus in Beijing (beer and food) were bilingual, and it was very unusual to find staff who did not have at least enough English to cover the basics.

    In this issue I summarise the differences. In November and December will be  a short guide to the places I visited recently. 

    ~ Beer Quality ~

    Both cities have some good beers, but craft beer in China is still in its infancy. It gets better all the time, but nothing locally-brewed I have had in either city ranks with the best in the world. Winner: Draw! 

    ~ Beer Dispense ~

    Craft beer drinkers in Nanjing will be familiar with waiting a long time for beer to be poured, accompanied with frantic spooning of excess froth and faffing around endlessly with enough taps and valves to bamboozle a submariner. It’s not same in the capital; perhaps our fair city could learn how to pour a craft beer in 30 seconds as opposed to 5-10 minutes? In Beijing I did also not suffer one beer that was too warm, and that includes beer from the fridge. We have a number of bars in Nanjing with fine ranges of cans and bottles, ruined because the fridges are not kept cold enough. Winner: Beijing! 

    ~ Opening Hours ~

    With many bars open from 11:00, the capital understands that drinking need not only be a post-18:00 affair. Of course there may be more people in the capital who want to drink during the day, but I am mindful of the Devil’s Brewery & Smokehouse in Wuhan, which opens all day. When I went there recently, I was the only westerner, but at midday the bar was packed with locals enjoying lunch alongside a craft beer. Surely there is a gap in the market for a bar or two like that here in Nanjing? Winner: Beijing! 

    ~ Prices ~

    I was surprised by this, but time after time in Beijing I found myself paying quite a lot less than for an equivalent beer in Nanjing. I also noticed a number of loyalty programs, long and generous happy hours, and sometimes a flat rate off all (or some) beers during the day. The bargain of the trip was Great Leap. Many of their beers in all branches are available to take away in cans for ¥15, which is in itself cracking value, but every Wednesday these are “buy three, get three”. Suffice to say my suitcase on the way back was somewhat heavier than on the journey up. Winner: Beijing! 

    ~ Bar Style ~

    Those guys in the capital know how to design an impressive bar. Many would not be out of place anywhere in the world. Beijing benefits from hutongs, some of which have lent themselves nicely to really characterful conversions. Winner: Beijing! 

    ~ Ambience ~

    Most bars were busy, but calm, with people enjoying conversations which often appeared to centre on the beer and food. The music was appropriate (if occasionally too loud), and the capital is far more strict on enforcing the no smoking law; most bars display consumer complaint telephone numbers to report any offenders. Only in two bars did I notice a little lighting up. Winner: Beijing! 

    ~ Food ~

    Beijing has their craft beer as accompaniment to food down to a fine art. The (mostly western) bar food was a real highlight of my visit. It would not have been out of place in casual dining establishments anywhere in the world. Winner: Beijing! 

    ~ Water ~

    I think it matters. I really dislike small glasses of warm water at any time and I certainly don’t want to drink it alongside my beer. Most bars I visited brought warm water, but all were very quick to provide pint glasses of water full of ice on request. Winner: Draw! 

    ~ Transportation ~

    I’m going to say this mindful of the fact I was in Beijing during the holiday, and it was mostly quiet, so traffic was calm for taxi rides. However, under normal circumstances, one often has to use a crowded metro to beat the traffic and walk around large blocks with pedestrian lights that seem to stay red forever. Winner: Nanjing! 

    Incidentally, some Beijing bars were a nightmare to find on international maps. Google was better than Apple. Why an operation like Slow Boat does not ensure that a simple search on Apple Maps brings up all three of their locations is completely beyond me.

    Join Matt over the next 2 months as he reviews no less than 21 of the Northern Capital’s craft beer bars.