Five Hutong Cocktail Bars Worth Their Mixology Salt
Last week, Asia’s 50 Best Bars list was released, and it goes without saying we weren’t all too pleased when no bars in Beijing made the top 100. Thus, we put together a hasty little list of bars we felt deserving of a bit of recognition.
The thing is, we’d been planning to kick off a look at the many cocktail bars in Beijing that same week, starting off in the Dongcheng hutongs roughly around Beiluo, Andingmen, and Gulou Dajie. Why this area of the hutongs? Because it’s where most of Beijing’s longest standing, and most intriguing, purveyors of mixed drinks lie.
This is just the first part of our coverage of this area, before we go east and west to find the best bars in Beijing and review them here.
Fang Bar
First materializing on Fangjia Hutong in 2015, where it was founded by the duo Xiaoshuai and Zak Elmasri (current owner of Black Hole/The Factory, more on that below), Fang Bar has since moved twice due to the Brickening, first in 2017 to Jiaodaokou and again in 2018 when it moved to its current location just off Beiluoguxiang, where it shares a converted courtyard with beer bar El Nido. One thing has remained the same, however: the bar’s drinks are still as fantastic as ever.
The menu is split into a few categories – namely seasonal drinks, martinis, and other cocktails. If it’s a first visit, definitely go for the signatures, which incorporate a lot of special Beijing ingredients with various spirits and syrups to great effect.
What’s more, beyond their seasonal menu – summer includes some good looking ones like Memoirs of a Geisha (RMB 95), combining two gins with Japanese grapefruit liqueur, fruit and matcha; and the Mushroom Dip Sauce (RMB 95) a bourbon sour with Sichuan pepper, tamarind, and other spices – a great many of their drinks have cheeky names, like the Bitter Expat (RMB 85), a tequila highball with lime, lemongrass syrup and bitter gourd, and the Trick or Treat (RMB 85), made with vodka, “Old Beijing bean juice”, and coriander.
Fang Bar 方吧 (Beiluo branch)
1 Langjia Hutong, Dongcheng District
东城朗家胡同1号
Hours: Mon-Thurs & Sun, 6pm-2am; Fri-Sat, 6pm-3am
Contact: 010 6402 4089
Obst Zimmer
Born from the ashes of legendary hutong cocktail den Mao Mao Chong, Obst Zimmer sits hidden in plain sight on Jiaodaokou Nandajie, with a small sign marking its presence behind a non-descript rusted metal door.
Enter to find a bar that’s more like a kitchen table, with seats all around and decked out in enough fresh fruit to crush a cornucopia. Leather red seats line the walls, with ample space leading into the back of the venue. This space is definitely needed, as come nighttime, there won’t be an empty seat in the house.
Obst Zimmer is always packed for good reason, it’s a fun place to drink cocktails that are entirely bespoke. That’s right: drinks by you, for you. All drinks start at RMB 80, and all you have to do is pick your fruit or vegetable of choice (or both), base spirit, and whether or not you’d like a highball or a short drink. Then, Obst Zimmer’s skilled bartenders get to work crafting a masterpiece.
When we went, we opted for gin, lime, and basil, and received an interesting take on the Gin Basil Smash. Beyond the basil on the nose, the drink dived deep from the gin botanicals and into grassy and bitter notes, ending with a slightly dry finish. All in all refreshing, and nice when paired with MMC’s famous pizza.
Obst Zimmer by MMC
140-1 Jiaodaokou South Street, Dongcheng District
东城区交道口南大街140-1号
Hours: Daily, 5pm-2am
Contact: 010 6405 5718; 137 1607 9430
non-binary
We tend to talk about non-binary quite a bit, and for good reason – all their drinks are amazing and the bar is one of the most creative, atypical, and laid-back cocktail bars in Beijing.
Although non-binary has two locations, the one we’re focusing on is on Andingmennei Dajie, above the DAO Coffee and Tiaohui beer bar branches there. Unlike other bars, there’s no defined separation between the bar and the patron at non-binary, with the space instead split into four separate open counters with cabinets, shelves, and storage spaces.
Atop these counters, shelves, and storage spaces lie centrifuges, beakers, jars containing infusions, and other equipment and ingredients for making cocktails that border on mad science experiments.
These experiments can be found on the rotating menu, the most recent of which features non-binary’s take on the Tiki genre – in the “Summer ‘24” section – with new takes on classics like the Zombie, and even a Mai Tai with the addition of blue cheese. Drinks range from RMB 90+ and all provide a trip through flavors your palate might never have experienced in a drink.
non-binary 非二进制酒吧 (Andingmen branch)
2/F, 268 Andingmennei Dajie, Dongcheng District
东城区安定门内大街268号二层
Hours: Dail, 7pm-1.30am
Contact: 185 0053 9048
Black Hole
Black Hole is the name of the cocktail bar on the second floor of Gulou establishment The Factory, part of their three venue space which compliments the beer bar and comic books shop below.
The bar is one of the more distinct bars on the list, with the name playing into the more practical reasons for the look and feel of the space, according to Elmasri. The name came about during renovations, when Elmasri discovered the second floor needed a serious soundproofing job "as it was a wooden structure with the beams connecting directly to the neighboring buildings, meaning sound reverbs just carried right over," recalls Elmasri.
"I needed to use pretty much recording studio grade soundproofing padding for the walls plus soundproof the doors. They don't come in many color options, none that looked tasteful, at least." The use of matte black padding played on the mood and direction of the bar, with the name Black Hole coming about because when you set foot upstairs, you've entered a completely different realm.
As for the bar menu, there are 16 drinks in total, with new temporary drinks popping onto the menu for a period or special drinks getting the spotlight for certain events. All cocktails are RMB 85 and are almost doors to different realms themselves. Two off a recent menu upgrade worth trying include the Jumanji Tea, which features the herbal combo of Campari and Green Chartreuse, made into a sour with lime, simple syrup and sea salt; and the All Nighter, a coffee cocktail with bourbon and espresso highlighted by orange and candy popcorn.
Black Hole 黑穴
2/F, 135 Gulou Dongdajie, Dongcheng District
东城区鼓楼工厂鼓楼东大街135号
Hours: Daily, 11am-late
Contact: 186 0039 9582
The DaliDali
The second location of the bar of the same name near Huayuan Hutong, DaliDali takes inspiration from surrealist artist Salvador Dali. This goes beyond the design of the bar, with elements on the walls, ceiling, and everywhere made to make it seem as if you’ve walked into a Dali painting, but to the drinks as well.
Some of these can be seen all across Dianping, seeing as they’re so Instagrammable, as one poster on the app put it. Flower-topped sours atop a chest filled with dry ice, another with an ice cube shaped like a rose…
Thankfully the drinks are as flavorful as they are eye-catching. We went for a classic Gin Pesto (RMB 80), the original name for the Gin Basil Smash. Gin and basil are fantastic together, and this sour keeps it close to the original in flavor, with egg white lightening the drink a little to make it nice and airy.
The other we tried was a signature. While it wasn't as visually appealing as the other drinks the bar thinks up, the Mr. Coffee (RMB 100, pictured above), is a nice after dinner drink. Made with whiskey and given depth from coffee beans, it has an interesting spice to it as well, lending it a nice depth.
The DaliDali 达利酒吧 (Beiluo branch)
26 Beiluoguxiang, Dongcheng District
东城区北锣鼓巷26号
Hours: Mon-Thurs & Sun, 6pm-1.30am; Fri-Sat, 6pm-2am
Contact: 187 1506 9770
READ: New Cocktail & Bar Food Menus to Try Today
Images: Uni You, Vincent R. Vinci, courtesy of the venues
