Bargain!

The Stumble Inn (a very promising new bar in every way, except being stuck way out on the east side of town) used to sell its Stella at 35 RMB for a 500ml glass. That didn't really tempt me away from the much more centrally-located Luga's Villa, where it is the same price. (I think it is the same price also in Tun, but that's too big and - on busy nights - way too crowded for my taste. And in The Rickshaw, at least on 'happy hour'; but I long ago gave up on that place.) There's no longer a 'local option' for me to indulge my predilection for this fine Belgian brew: Ginkgo (the former Room 101) keeps promising to reinstall a Stella tap, but keeps on failing to get around to it; and the Bell & Drum had one put in sometime last year, but seems to have given up ever actually stocking the stuff. Sigh.

Well, the Stella at Luga's Villa is 35 RMB until 9pm. Then it goes up to 40 RMB - which can be a bit of a nasty shock. 35 RMB is already quite enough: far more, in fact, than I have ever regularly spent on a beer in all my time in China. (I got into a Stella habit again last year on Room 101's early evening happy hour, when you could get TWO 330ml glasses for 20 RMB.) As I have mentioned in my What Makes A Great Bar? post and elsewhere, I disapprove of 'happy hours' that aren't happy enough or straightforward enough, that aren't simply an across-the-board 50% reduction. Rickshaw cemented its place in my disaffections by whittling its "happy hour" discount on Stella down to a miserly 5 kuai at some point last year. Luga's Villa has the same problem: the 'happy hour', though it covers a sensible 6pm-9pm timeframe, just ain't really all that "happy" - the discount on Stella is again only a poxy 5 kuai. I am more inclined to tolerate this with Luga, because I like the guy. And because I usually only go in there for a quick post-work gargle if I've been busy with something in that part of town, just one or two pints at 6pm or 7pm before I head off elsewhere. Oh yes, and because if I stay for more than two, Luga almost invariably comps me another one....

So, the good ol' Stumble was recommending itself heavily on principle, if not actually on cost-saving, by offering its Stella at the same reasonably keen price all the time.

But then..... the last time I went in there, they had a new promotion on Stella. It's being quite professionally advertised, and I thought perhaps it might be a new marketing campaign by Stella's distributors in China. But no, it seems that it is the brainchild of the Stumbling Crew themselves, Glenn and Shane.

It's beautifully simple: a mini 'loyalty card' on which the bar staff record each 'pint' as you drink it. Each one gets cheaper. The first is the standard 35 RMB. But the second is 30, and the third only 25. And the fourth is FREE. And then you start again....

Four 'pints' is a very manageable total for the 2.5 hrs or so that I'd typically spend on a visit there. And there's no hassle about you keeping your card and continuing next time, if you don't use up all four beers in one night.

Oh... my... god - that's 22.5 RMB per 500ml glass on average. That is, by some margin, the best deal on Stella currently available anywhere in this town. It's blowing Luga's Villa, Tun, and the rest out of the water. I look hopefully towards Luga to see if he will respond, but I rather doubt it.

Thank you, Stumble Inn. I know where I'm satisfying my Stella craving from now on.