8-Bit's A Hit

Upon hearing about this bar I admittedly thought it might be hipster central, like some obscure Shoreditch bar that people only wear skinny jeans, ugly Christmas jumpers and paedophile mustaches to, or Beijing's very own Zajia, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that instead of being full of hipsters it was full of, if anything, slightly geeky guys having a ball on game consoles they likely hadn't seen since the late 90's.

The consoles they have there include a Mega Drive (Genesis, if you're American), NES, SNES and N64. The consoles are all from Japan so it can be a little bit of a challenge finding which game settings you want if you can't read Japanese, but winging it is just part of the fun of the place in my opinion. It was a trip down nostalgia lane playing Mario Kart, Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter II, and of course blowing on the cartridges when they didn't work. To supplement the gaming nostalgia expect a sound track of 80's and early 90's pop like Human League, Joy Division, The Smiths etc.

The beer selection is pretty decent, with Vedett and Kirin on tap for 40 and 30 respectively, and the bottle selection leaning towards Belgian beers like Hoegaarden and Duvel, and decent American beers like Rogue, Brooklyn and Blue Moon. They had a relatively diverse looking video game themed cocktail selection (well, names at least), though as I don't like cocktails I can't comment on the quality.

The cherry on the cake for me was the fact they have Monster Munch and McCoy's crisps on sale! My jaw dropped, McCoys are my absolute favourite crisps in the world and aside from the few multipacks I'd brought to the Jing after a trip home I'd never seen them outside of the UK. The owner tells me he has a 'crisp mule' who is in the UK regularly on business and brings them back. At 25 kuai a pack it's unlikely that I'll be getting them any time soon unless a severe bout of homesickness occurs, but just knowing they're available should the urge strike is fantastic.

I'll definitely be heading back and I'd recommend giving it a try if you like retro gaming, chilled out bars and decent beer.