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
