Off the drunken track - 2

Discover Beijing’s best off-the-beaten-track bars. Warning: you may not go back to Block 8 ever again

The excellence of Er, a classic Japanese whisky bar, is all in the detail.

The ice in your glass is hand-chipped, the service is slick and discreet, and the whisky selection is quite possibly the best in the city, with more Bourbons than we’ve seen anywhere else.

Sharing a co-owner with the great Ichikura, Er also shares the same intimacy and atmosphere, with lowlighting, an elegant mahogany bar and a bewildering number of bottles for a backdrop.

On most nights, you’ll hear the quiet murmur of Japanese from staff and patrons while they enjoy rare 1974 Kentucky Vintage Bourbon (120RMB per shot, though most whiskies are 50-100RMB), Grasshopper cocktails (50RMB) and even decent hand-rolled pizzas (from 50RMB).

And for 500RMB, you can buy your own bottle and have them keep it behind the bar for whenever you want to impress a friend, client or date.

There’s a slightly irritating 30RMB ‘sitting’ fee to pay, but it’s worth it for a place as downright cool as this.

First Floor, Longbao Plaza, 36 Maizidian Jie, Chaoyang district (6591 5926). Open 6pm-2am daily. 朝阳区麦子店街36号龙宝大厦1层

Wudaokou Beer Garden

While already popular among folk who live in Haidian district, Wudaokou Beer Garden will be a revelation for those who usually reside in the east.

Hidden behind a big billboard, the beer garden is really a collection of makeshift food stalls forming an ‘L’ shape in a square – sort of what you’d fi nd at a school carnival. In the middle sits the beer tent, where Yanjing drafts go for 5RMB and big bottles of Tsingtao and Yanjing are just 4RMB. 

More than just a good place to get cheap beer, the food selection is enormous. Whatever you want, you can get, and cheap. From chuan’r (lamb, 1RMB; chicken wings, 4RMB) to dumplings (5RMB), Chongqing hotpot (1RMB per chuan’r) and noodle dishes (7RMB).

And perhaps to cater to foreign students, there are also Korean dishes and an American hot dog stand (10RMB). On a visit at about 10pm, it was difficult to find an empty table and we noticed that the fuwuyuan at the beer stall never stopped filling mugs the entire time we were there.

There are no official opening hours though it’s best to go in the evening when it gets cooler and you can still find a seat. Good food, cheap booze and a lively atmosphere generated by the mostly student crowd; what’s not to like?

Chengfu Lu (from the entrance of the Wudaokou subway station, cross the road and turn west. It’s behind a billboard), Haidian district (no tel). 海淀区成府路 (五道口地铁站对面往西,广告 板后面）

G-Zou

Hidden in one of the ground floor units of the uninspiring Sunshine 100 apartments is G-Zou, one of Beijing’s only authentic shochu bars.

Shochu (starting at 35RMB for a small glass, and served either hot or on ice) is a Japanese drink distilled from barley, sweet potatoes or rice, and is earthier and less fruity than sake. 

You won’t learn much from the Japanese-only menu – or the judogi-wearing bar staff who only speak Japanese and broken Chinese for that matter.

But you can point at one of the hundreds of bottles behind the long bar near the entrance. There’s also a larger back room with a huge square table at which to tuck into hearty Japanese home-style food with the other, often boisterous patrons.

A safe bet for those not inclined towards potato alcohol are the impossibly cold Asahi drafts (10RMB) served in small frozen mugs, which are great for washing down the complimentary pickled snacks. As with Er, it’s 30RMB to sit down.

First Floor (east side), Building C, Sunshine 100, 2 Guanghua Lu, Chaoyang district (5100 3038). Open 7pm-1am Mon-Sat; closed Sun. 朝阳区光华路2号(阳光100)C座1层东侧

Ball House

Head through the unmarked red door to the left of Ding House, by the Drum Tower, and you’ll fi nd Ball House, a quintessential Beijing hidden gem.

This surprisingly expansive bar feels like the living room of a cool, slightly stoned friend who was given a hefty endowment to build the ultimate chill-out room.

Three mezzanine rooms filled with cushions overlook the bar area, which is full of little nooks and crannies normally filled with local trendy types lounging on comfy sofas as understated electronic music bleeds from the speakers. 

Two cats wander around the place, fish meander in the neon fish tank, and there’s a table covered in bongs and lava lamps.

Perhaps best of all, though, are three of the best quality pool tables we’ve played on in Beijing, one in its own cosy room.

If that’s not enough for you, there are four fussball tables with pistons as players and a computer with free WiFi.Tsingtao is 15RMB, Guinness is 35RMB, Cuba Liberals [sic] will set you back 40RMB and hot chocolate 25RMB.

40 Zhonglouwan (from Gulou Dong Dajie, turn right at the Drum Tower, walk around the east side of the square and find Ding House on your right. Ball House is through the red door to the left), Dongcheng district (6407 4051). Open 2pm-3am daily. 东城区鼓楼大街钟楼湾40号

Kilimanjaro African Bar

For a quiet drink in a venue that feels like a total escape from Beijing, Kilimanjaro is a good bet.

The small bar, which consists of two separate rooms either side of the entrance, is packed to its wooden rafters with African handicrafts, antiques and knick-knacks picked up during owner Tina’s three-year stay in Mombasa. 

Rather than being kitschy, the décor is tasteful and sets the right tone, especially in the cosy room to the left of the entrance, where you can sit on long sofas and put the world to rights over a good selection of drinks, including OldSpeckled Hen ale (45RMB) and cocktails with names such as Snows of Kilimanjaro (38RMB).

The bar also serves Kenyan coffee and snacks.

Qilinbei Hutong, 138 Jiaodaokou Nan Dajie (150m north of the Kuanjie junction), Dongcheng district (8404 2298). Open 2pm-midnight Fri-Sun; 2pm-11pm Mon-Thur. 东城区交道口南大街138号宽街十字路口北 150米路