For a long time I had had mixed feelings about The Den, but over the last year or so, I developed a real downer on the place after a couple of very bad experiences there (being served some egregiously fake whisky; and having them refuse to show a live football game upon request [which is supposed to be the place's raison d'être, for heaven's sake], and the manager was a complete arse about it on that occasion!). The draught beer has also gone through a very bad spell there, with the Tsingtao and the Tiger being quite undrinkable more often than not. And it didn't help that they lost several of their longest-standing members of staff - temporarily at least - because of the bloody Olympic crackdown on residence papers. I therefore declared it the Bar That Has Deteriorated Most last year in my 2008 Froog Bar Awards.
But for me, the worst thing, perhaps, was the remodelling of the decor. Yes, worse even than the shocking decline in the standards of the booze, food, and service! The one thing The Den always had going for it was a proper sense of gloom, a nice, dark interior. But, for the past couple of years, they seem to have been pursuing a general trend of trying to migrate slightly upmarket, and perhaps trying to become more family-friendly or woman-friendly. Hence - opening up the windows on the Gongti Beilu side, increasing the lighting, replacing the dark wood with light wood. Oiveh!
But, you know, it's been quite tastefully done. I can see that some people like this. I will go and weep quietly in a corner for the loss of the old bar.
No, the thing that really got my goat was the trio of (perversely interlinked) innovations that accompanied this revamp in the decor. They moved the kitchen upstairs (WHY? When the dining area is downstairs?? Makes no sense at all!). They moved the stairs into the front left corner of the bar (a slightly awkward location, surely?). And then they moved the front door from the middle to the front left corner of the bar!! That's right: they re-designed their bar so that you had to enter practically on to the bottom step of the stairs..... creating an interference pattern (or 'logjam', if you will) with the constant stream of waiters ferrying plates of food down from upstairs. Lunacy! Quite staggering: it is the single worst piece of design I have ever seen in a bar. Reason enough in itself to never, ever go there again.
However...... I am happy to report that The Den is pulling itself up by its bootstraps. They have recognised the idiocy of locating the door in that corner (or perhaps it was only ever "a temporary measure" anyway??), and have moved it back towards the middle. Lisa and Lily and some of the other more experienced staff are back. The food - which went through a very wobbly patch last year - also seems to be back on form, touch wood. Of course, the draught lagers are still SKANK - but you can't have everything, I suppose.
I went there last Tuesday for their St Patrick's Day promotion. In addition to the very inviting 'happy hour' deal of 30 RMB for a Guinness (and it's a good pint, too - I could be tempted to do this more often!), they were offering a bottle of Jameson's for 200 RMB - so we split a bottle between four or five of us. That was an ideal warm-up to the evening. Around 9pm we headed across town to Ginkgo, where they've also installed a draught Guinness pump (although it's at the slightly less alluring price of 40 RMB). My favourite Chinese "Irish" band (who, unfortunately, seem to have settled on the slightly crass name of 'The Dublingers' - I think I preferred it when they were billed as 'Beijing-Dublin', or as nothing at all) played some traditional songs, and drew a big, lively crowd. More Guinness and whisky were drunk; but, it being a 'school night', things wound down around midnight. And, since I was ravaged by a gastric 'flu bug last week, I really shouldn't have been out at all!
It didn't quite top last year's St Pat's experience - getting proper maudlin drunk while listening to The Pogues in a favourite, cosy bar with just a handful of friends and strangers - but it was a very good evening.
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