Miles - Jian Means Business in the CBD Without the Inflated Cocktail Prices
There's thankfully no need to mourn popular Sanlitun cocktail lounge Miles, which, along with a slew of other businesses was slain during the Great Brickening. Just as the notorious gentrification campaign was taking off, owner Xiao Ming quietly opened a second Miles further afield, in the CBD’s Central Park, a shrewd move by the ambitious businessman, who has built a veritable cocktail empire with joints like Revolution, Inception, and Hidden House.
This location – now called Miles - Jian Bar – boasts two thick menus: one for cocktails and another for a globe-spanning range of whiskeys. The few dozen cocktail options are helpfully mapped out on a chart that places each in quadrants of sour, sweet, strong, and light. Among the must-tries is the RMB 85 Clara, with its palate-tingling bubbles, frothy, whipped eggwhite consistency, and a generous splash of rum. Eggwhite whiskey and rum drinks are, of course, a dime a dozen in Beijing. But this one's texture is pulled off with above-average aplomb, while the addition of dried plums (à la what you'd add to huangjiu) give it added dimension and a unique local twist.
Miles - Jian Bar currently opens at 6pm, a rarity in Beijing’s late-night cocktail scene, but a move that makes them a good fit for the white-collar CBD crowd looking for a post-work tipple. Its prices are also a rare treat: most drinks are around RMB 70-90, an absolute steal you consider neighboring Frank by Ala House prices its cocktails at or above RMB 120.
Another thing Miles - Jian gets right: placing equal focus on drinks and ambiance. While other lounges in the Ming Empire fall short in that regard – both Revolution and Inception wow patrons with inviting digs while serving up far less memorable cocktails – this Miles will satisfy both your eyes and your palate. Here, the low leather sofas, warm light emanating from behind a wall of spirit bottles, and mellow jazz and Leonard Coen deep cuts that ooze soothingly out the speakers make it difficult to head back out into the cold.
Are you up to speed on the CBD F&B scene? Check out all our downtown coverage, here.
Miles - Jian Bar
Daily 6pm-2am. Rm 103, 1/F, Bldg 1, Xincheng International, Central Park, Jinghua North Street, Chaoyang District (6585 4771)
朝阳区景华北街新城国际一号楼底商103室
Photos courtesy of Xiao Ming
