Big Smoke Owners Open Neighboring Bistro Little Smoke, Serve Up Tasty Pub Snacks and Flavorful Cocktails

The vibrantly ginger flavor dances across your palate, and the vodka leaves you with a soothingly warm buzz. Those traits make the new Moscow mule (made with four-week ginger-infused vodka, ginger ale, and Angostura bitters) the best of several new cocktail options at The Little Smoke, the recently opened neighboring offshoot of popular southern barbecue joint The Big Smoke.

Patrons will certainly be knocking those beverages back (which also include a RMB 40 negroni, a RMB 60 gin and tonic, and a RMB 52 bourbon stormy, among others) in rapid succession, considering the range of thirst-inducing pub snacks on offer. While those adverse to salty fare won't like these options, us less than health-conscious foodies were happy to indulge and found them to be quite satisfying. The best of that bunch are the all-beef mini corn dogs, which feature sumptuously cushy batter, encasing hearty swaths of beef. The result: a more than tempting homemade rendition of the guilty pleasure snack that will make many of us North Americans nostalgic for our youth.

The general's lollipops, meanwhile, are a less creative but equally satisfying option that likely appease patrons of all stripes, because they are essentially straightforward drumsticks coated in a tasty sweet 'n' spicy glaze. This snack menu is rounded out by other delicious options like fresh-baked pretzel bites, hand-cut truffle oil fries, and gooey mozzarella sticks. Each of them is also quite a steal in terms of value, considering the RMB 30 price tag across the board.

Those savory bites and strong, flavorful cocktails complement the softly lit, nookish bistro's vibe, and marks a more straightforward approach than its less successful predecessor and year-old experiment E in the same space, which had a noble food fusion theme that proved a tougher sell than The Little Smoke's unfussy trappings. Indeed, this cozy little bistro and its satisfying snacks will likely make it a hit with those looking for pre- or post-drinks, and the hearty fare on offer will stick to their ribs and leave them warmly buzzed throughout the coming cold months.

The Little Smoke
Mon-Fri 11am-midnight, Sat-Sun 11am-1am. Lee World Building (same building as The Big Smoke, down the alley from Frost Nails), 57 Xingfucun Zhonglu, Chaoyang District (6416 5195)
朝阳区幸福村中路57号楼利世楼

Photos: Kyle Mullin, courtesy of The Little Smoke