Beijing restaurants

Dinner and show in Mango Restaurant

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Mango Restaurant and Club

On 22 June 2021 I organized for some friends a dinner and show in Mango Restaurant. See my previous post about Mango: https://www.beijing1980.com/2021/06/15/mango-restaurant-and-club/
I prepared the menu and drinks and I think everybody was pretty happy. Very reasonable price!

The show that started 8:30 pm was well received! I had never seen the pole dancing as it comes much later, well after 10 pm, this time a few of us were still there and we could watch it. Pole dancing is now very popular in China and is considered as a new workout, with many gyms organizing lessons. Years ago I was in the Hilton Hotel where I watched a pole dancing competition. It is certainly not easy and requires dexterity and a flexible body! At one point belly dancing also became very popular, even our daughter took part in it in the gym. Others prefer flamenco,  salsa, tango and other dances. Often just as a pleasant way to exercise. Sadly many people look at it as “sexy stuff”. Chinese don’t. In Mango many families with kids come to watch the shows…

Our musicians

I could organize the floor for our two musician friends. Great performance by Kevin and Brian, real professionals. It took some work to get them wired but they brought most of the equipment so, all went perfect. They got an extra pizza to reward them.

See a few short clips of our musicians and of the late-night pole dancing. Need VPN in China to access Vimeo.

Mango Restaurant and Club

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Normally called “Russian”

Mango Restaurant and Club, aka Golden Mango Russian and MangGuo EShi Restaurant is located at 6 Ritan Beilu (Chinese: 金芒果餐厅俱乐部 – 日坛北路6号).
Serves Russian food, with a drink list including Baltika, Russian sparkling wine and various bottles of vodka and wine.
Besides the basement there are 3 floors: the 1st floor with the bar and the dance floor for the shows. The 2nd floor has several semi-private areas with large windows that give a good view of the dance floor. The 3rd floor is the open terrace with several nice corners plus another bar.
The menu is extensive, with Russian and Mexican dishes plus pizza, hamburgers, steaks, pork knuckle and more. The Russian honey cakes are really nice. Water pipes available (hookah, here often wrongly called “Shisha” being the tabacco, not the water pipe).
Prices are reasonable. I like the Russian beers.

See the pictures of the three floors, some of the dishes I had and some pages of the menu.
First floor is usually packed with Chinese, including families with kids. Third floor mixed public, Chinese and foreigners. Often private parties on the 2nd floor.

The show

See some pics of the show.

Tuesday to Sunday performances (8.30 pm the most popular) from Cuban and Russian singers and dancers. Looks like always the same group but with different costumes.

See the short clip on Vimeo (https://vimeo.com/563062594)(need VPN in China).

Exploring Encuentro replacing Red Rose

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Again a change

On 4 April 2021 I went exploring Encuentro replacing Red Rose. It’s the new restaurant on Beijing Gongti Bei Lu, Encuentro, basically South American food. Just in front of the North Gate of Worker’s Stadium, in the small alleay. Our friend Rtn Jose had suggested it, the place had just opened on the location of a former Muslim restaurant, then followed by another restaurant, Red Rose, American cuisine.

I tried the ensalada de tofu (nice), the ropa vieja cubana (very good) and the picarones peruanos (can be improved). Rather soft opening without a full a la carte menu.

The former Red Rose Restaurant

Beijing is not a good place to run a restaurant. Sky-high rents, unreasonable landlords and annoying government “inspections” to make life miserable – often only targeting foreign restaurants: reason why restaurants open, go bust, other open, restart the cycle. Chinese restaurants generally less bothered. Inspectors always find a new reason to mess: need other electric plugs (the safety ones have the wrong color), the gas pipes should be moved and painted in a different color, the trash cans are not OK (while a few hundred meters away trash litters the street with stinking trash. (un)Welcome to Beijing.

See a visit to the former Red Rose Restaurant with friends, July 2019. The place was actually very nice, food at first so-so, later improved a lot and I started liking it. A pretty ugly kind of bulldog was always around to check us out, in a very friendly way. I guess it closed, victim of the virus economy.

I fail to understand why new tenants always must break down everything and remodel. Like in this case, there was nothing wrong with the design. Screw the environment! (see my book Toxic Capitalism).

Beijing Rotary in March

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Wine Tasting Party

Beside our regular meetings, Beijing Rotary in March had an exciting party in ROOTS on 23rd of March.
Cassidy, one of the only five Wine Masters in China gave us an introduction on new world versus old world wines.
To make the concept real he brought a Pinot Noir from New Zealand (cheaper and screw cork) and another one from France (more expensive and real cork) and explained the intricacies of each type of wine and wine processing; key aspects are acidity, transparency, alcohol content, body, hint of earth, hint of oak, hint of berries, tannin content and aroma.

Cassidy also gave a historical overview on how “Wine Masters” are selected and appointed worldwide and how they have to pass theoretical exams along with rigorous tasting tests.
We received two nice wine glasses marked I and II to taste (blindly) the two Pinot Noir wines and to give our opinion.

Good attendance, with members of the Rotary Club of Beijing and Rotary Club of Beijing East, along with visiting Rotarians and guests. It was a fantastic fellowship, a delicious dinner, high quality wine tasting. Zeyu Zhu, a cellist from the Juilliard School (New York famous school) entertained us with a nice classical music.

Kempinski 30 March 2021

Acting President Didier chaired the meeting and gave an update on the upcoming events of the club.
Our latest member was inducted, Kevin Gouldmann. He received his certificate and pin from Didier.

Kevin was also the speaker of the day, to tell us about his unusual profession as a “Klavierbaumeister” (master piano maker).
Kevin studied piano and music in USA but left for Germany when 21 because he felt he was not good enough to play piano. Instead of playing the piano he later chose the guitar instead.

What makes a good piano? Design, choice of materials and workmanship are the key factors. He learned the different aspects to achieve the right result, first as an apprentice in Berlin for over two years. He then moved to Hildesheim, for several years. Later he followed the complete Ludwigsburg Master Program as a master piano maker. He graduated successfully after a second tough exam.

He worked in a piano factory until he was recruited by a Danish company where he became owner and partner. Later he moved again to Germany and then to China. In China he is one of the only three master piano makers. He is still active with manufacturers in Europe and also did a stint in Abuja (Nigeria), where he lived colorful experiences.
He explained some of the key issues in making a good piano and also explained the different piano types.
He had to field many questions from the audience.

Gilbert let our visitor Sarah Wagner announce the publication of her book “Unleash Today”, that came out exactly on this day in all the major Amazon shops. We look forward for Sarah to give us a talk about her book that she wrote together with Kate Surala.

I already bought the Kindle version!

Migas Mercado in CBD

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

A gorgeous view

Migas Mercado in CBD (Beijing) is a Spanish/ Mediterranean restaurant on the 7th Floor, North Zone, of China World Mall in the Beijing World Trade Center group of buildings.
The restaurant is one of several in the same building with a terrace that offers a great view of the new CBD area and the CCTV Tower.
Better keep the pictures of the area as in a very years it will change again dramatically and buildings such as the BTV Tower will be hidden by even more high-rises.
When we were there on a Saturday, 8 May 2021 we were told window seating, inside and outside, – demanded minimum consumption of 500 RMB per person. The next rows are 300 RMB minimum consumption, where we finally got a table. Most tables were already reserved.
See one of the many reviews: https://www.therooftopguide.com/rooftop-bars-in-beijing/migas.html

Nice food

I was there before and wanted to check the food again. We were not that in the blood sausages – Morel’s are better – but batatas bravas with chorizo, the salad and the mushroom paella, among other, were nice. With the many dishes ordered we reached the required 600 RMB easily. Service was reasonable while we were very early to get a table. A bit strange but we were told the minimum fee does not apply to afternoon tea…

The building China World Mall has a wide range of restaurants spread over several floors. I feel always a bit lost in that building, trying to find the right floors and the best entry/exit. A bit of a complicated labyrinth, worse if you try to come through the maze of underground levels walking from the other connected WTC buildings.