Yashow Cooler, Anyone? Westside Cocktails at Bar 19

If you’re reading this from Beijing’s east side, there are other venues featured on this website that will be of more interest to you. If, however, if you live on the west side and have long since graduated from Wudaokou’s cheap thrills, Bar 19 is a solid option.

Though heavy on fluorescent lighting, the central bar is handy for grabbing a stool and watching Venezuelan house band Harmony sing in English, Chinese and their native Spanish. Alternatively, you can duck into the more sedate lounge. In these enlightened times, the beer selection (RMB 40-50) could be broader, but the cocktails are both plentiful and well made. The “Yashow Cooler” presumably has nothing to do with its shopping namesake, but you’re safer with one of the Tangla trademark mixes (RMB 80) or classic cocktails (RMB 60).

Good for: Westside drinking

Bar 19
Tue-Sun 6pm-2am. B1/F, Tangla Hotel, 19 Fuxingmenwai Dajie, Xicheng District (5857 6688) 西城区复兴门外大街19号唐拉雅秀酒店地下1层