Bizarre New Sanlitun North Pop-Up Draws On Beer Gardens and Food Trucks for Inspiration

(Update, May 17 2019) This pop-up has since closed, and has been replaced by another food truck style stall by popular Japanese coffee brand %Arabica.

For many an American, summertime isn’t complete without a stop at one of the many food trucks slinging fast food and soft serve throughout the nation. Then there’s the seemingly quintessential European summer pastime: knocking back pints in a lively beer garden or square. And while those traditions have yet to catch on in Beijing, some local businesses have drawn on them both for a strange little pop-up in Taikooli North. 

On the right sits the Softree summer ice cream stand. It’s been there for a much of the summer but shut down briefly last week as workers built a beer garden next to it, backed by, what else, a Hoegaarden tent, officially dubbed the Hoegaarden Green House (which will only run until Aug 22). The Belgian beer giant’s garden has a dozen tables, fake foliage, and cans of their extremely sweet and light suds for RMB 28 each, along with beer cocktails like the raspberry-flavored Rose Berry or the lemony Orchard’s Cup, both RMB 68 per glass. 

The Softree food truck style stand is arguably more interesting, and not only because it bears the name of a Korean brand on the rise, rather than a Western behemoth looking for a fresh marketing twist like Hoegaarden. The ice cream maker, which opened a shop in the basement of Taikooli North a few years back, sells fragrant frozen yogurt for RMB 35 a pop. With a subtle flavor, a thick and delightfully creamy texture, and a generous sprinkling of rice crispies, it makes for a satisfyingly crunchy afternoon treat. Even fancier, there’s also an RMB 39 ice cream topped with a sticky wafer drenched in honey.

The menu is broadened by contributions from fellow rising brands like Boxing Cat (who just launched their own brick and mortar store further north), selling bottles of its Right Hook Helles, Contender Extra Pale Ale, Ringside Red Amber Lager, and TKO India Pale Ale, each for RMB 33. But homesick Americans will likely be more interested in Bad Farmer (a popular bakery located a stone’s throw from this stand), which offers a meat sauce-topped hot dog for RMB 28, corn dogs for RMB 18, sliced waffle fries for RMB 22, and other food truck staples.

The whole thing is so flashy it borders on tacky but in a fun and silly way (especially the beer garden). Though you can certainly get superior wares elsewhere to what’s sold at the food truck stand, be it intricately textured Canadian ice cream at Taikooli’s Kiss the Tiramisu or Cow’s in Topwin, or higher grade hot dogs at Funky Dog in Chaowai Soho, this one-stop shop with its offbeat ambiance and convenient location makes for a decent venue to quell all of your snack food cravings.

The Hoegaarden Green House/Softree Ice Cream Stand
Daily midday-10pm. South entrance of Taikooli North (next to the entrance of Jing Yaa Tang’s Jing A basement beer garden),19 Sanlitun Road, Sanlitun, Chaoyang District. The Hoegaarden section will only run until Aug 22
朝阳区三里屯路9号太古里北 南门

Photos: Kyle Mullin