Grand Opening Weekend: Haze by M Agency

“The new messiah is here. The posse that brought you White Rabbit Club now brings you Haze.”

- The M Agency

Haze Lounge/Nightclub is Beijing’s newest underground club because it’s literally underground in a basement of a cafe in a shopping mall and also quite possibly the after-hours club Beijingers have been begging for since White Rabbit shut its doors on Lucky Street.

Haze is located in the basement of On The Corner Café, located on Guanghualu Soho (the white building with a lot of circles).

With free entrance, everyone is welcome to celebrate their opening weekend and see what Haze is all about.

Event Details:

• Date: Friday, September 2- Saturday, September 3
• Time: 10PM-late
• Location: Haze Nightclub
• Address: 22 Guanghualu SOHO A101

Upcoming Events Line-Up in October & November:

M Agency will be hosting AZARI & III live set in October 2011 & Steve Aoki in November 2011

About M Agency

The M agency is specialized in electronic music engagement, through musical event production, booking, the promotion of international & local music talent. The M agency is pushing forward the electronic music culture for an everyday growing audience in China.

Hercules’ Three S’s: Soups, Salads & Sandwiches

Located in the space of the old White Rabbit, Hercules is a venue specializing in gourmet soups, salads, sandwiches pastas, all-day breakfast and desserts.

I was pleasantly surprised by how nice and loungy the venue space is.  The decor is simple with wood benches and tables, higher bar tables and lounge beds by a window overlooking Sanlitun’s backstreets.

It is interesting to find a venue with such a casual menu serving on soups, salads and sandwiches to have the atmosphere more suitable for an evening lounge rather than a lunch, diner or cafe as the menu suggests.

Hercules Menu:

Over the past two weeks, I’ve dined at Hercules for dinner twice and have had a very different experience each time.  The first time was on a slow Saturday night so the manager took the time to come over, give us his recommendations and we very much enjoyed everything we ordered!

Eager to try more, we went back a second time the following Friday night, which was quite busy compared to the first night (maybe a total of 30 guests vs. 10 the first night) and had quite the opposite experience compared to the week before.  The service was terrible, they were forgetful and mixed up the majority of our order (brought us the wrong salad and the wrong sandwich) and we were super disappointed with our meal and overall dining experience.

They were clearly more busy the second night, but that goes to show a lack of consistency in both their menu and service.  Definitely a hit-or-miss place.

In any case, if you go to Hercules, I highly recommend trying some sort of combo of their 3 S’s.

Their soups – both the borscht and cream of mushroom were delicious (both RMB 18), their Orange Red Cabbage Salad (RMB 22) is probably my favorite thing on their menu and I am a fan of both their Pastrami and Ox Tongue Sandwiches (both sandwiches recommended by Hercules’ manager).

Do NOT order their Eggplant Parmesan – it’s dry, tasteless and was majorly disappointing and their banana bread was also quite a let-down.

Hercules’ 3 S’s:

Borscht Soup RMB 18/Cream of Mushroom RMB 18

Orange Red Cabbage Salad RMB 32

Pastrami on Wheat Bread RMB 38/Ox Tongue with Sauteed Onions, Mushrooms on French Roll RMB 38

Eggplant Parmesan on Rye Bread RMB 32/ Grilled Cheese on White Bread RMB 22

Banana Bread RMB 22/Kiwi Sutra RMB 50

Review of Hercules: Old White Rabbit space, 2/F, Tongli StudioSanlitun Back Street, 朝阳区三里屯同里2楼, Tel: 6415 0299

Best Part:

• 3 S’s: Soothing soups, Refreshing Salads and Delicious, hearty sandwiches – I recommend the Pastrami and Ox Tongue
• Orange Red Cabbage Salad is my favorite item on their menu thus far

• Slick wood decor and lounge area facing Sanlitun’s back streets
• Nice weekday promotions – All-you-can-eat Pasta Mondays, Buy-One-Get-One-Free Sandwiches on Tuesdays
• Lunch set menu for RMB 58, happy hour from 4-8 every day (2-for-1 drinks)
• Free, fast wifi and get unlimited refills of coffee for RMB 20 (Everyday from 2-5PM)

Comments:

• Both their menu and service has been a hit or miss.  Be sure to ask manager for recommendations if you are unsure of what to order.
• By the same people who created The Apartment, run Muse Vietnamese restaurant below and owned White Rabbit.
• A great spot for a quick lunch or relaxing coffee in the afternoon.

Rating: (on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being best)

• Food: 6
• Atmosphere: 8
• Service: 5
• Overall Experience: 6

LumDimSum Snapshots of Hercules:

CW Reader’s Choice Awards vs. LumDimSum

Unlike theBeijinger and Time Out magazines, CityWeekend lumps both the Dining & Nightlife Award Categories into one evening rather than split it up into two events. And for the first time this year, CityWeekend changed it up and actually kept the vote count visible to the public and made sure that every voter had a validated CW User Name Account.

If you are interested in comparing results, check out theBeijinger Restaurant Awards Breakdown posted here.  Time Out’s Restaurant Awards Breakdown is posted here.

I unfortunately was not in Beijing to attend the CityWeekend’s awards ceremony at Brasserie Flo, but word on the street was that it was packed and the turn-out was impressive.

If you haven’t seen the results already, here is a LumDimSummary Breakdown of all the winners in both the Restaurant & Bar Awards Categories:

CityWeekend’s Awards for Best Dining Categories:

• Best New Restaurant of the Year:

  • CW Winner: Tamarind

  • LumDimSum Vote: Capital M

• Restaurant of the Year:

  • CW Winner: SALT

  • LumDimSum Vote: Hatsune

• Chinese Restaurant of the Year:

  • CW Winner: Zen5es

  • LumDimSum Vote: Karaiya Spice House

• Most Romantic:

  • CW Winner: Jaan

  • LumDimSum Vote: Capital M

• Best Value:

  • CW Winner: Kiosk

  • LumDimSum Vote: Biteapitta

• Chef of the Year:

  • CW Winner: Mario Cittadini

  • LumDimSum Vote: Max Levy – Bei/Apothecary

• Best Service:
  

  • CW Winner: Maison Boulud

  • LumDimSum Vote: Maison Boulud

• Best Mexican/Tex-Mex:

  • CW Winner: Casa Latina

  • LumDimSum Vote: Casa Latina

• Best Italian:
  

  • CW Winner: Prego

  • LumDimSum Vote: Metro

• Best Japanese:

  • CW Winner: Nishimura

  • LumDimSum Vote: Hatsune

• Best French:

  • CW Winner: Maison Boulud

  • LumDimSum Vote: Maison Boulud

• Best Thai:

  • CW Winner: Purple Haze

  • LumDimSum Vote: Aroy-D (by Fulicheng)

• Best American:

  • CW Winner: Chef Too

  • LumDimSum Vote: All-Star Sports Bar & Grill

• Best Indian:

  • CW Winner: Mughal’s

  • LumDimSum Vote: Punjabi

• Best Middle-Eastern:

  • CW Winner: 1001 Nights

  • LumDimSum Vote: Biteapitta

• Best Beijing Duck:

  • CW Winner: Fat Duck

  • LumDimSum Vote: Made in China (Grand Hyatt)

• Best Hot Pot:

  • CW Winner: Ding Ding Xiang

  • LumDimSum Vote: Hai Di Lao

• Best Burger:

  • CW Winner: All-Star Sports Bar & Grill

  • LumDimSum Vote: All-Star Sports Bar & Grill

• Best Pizza:

  • CW Winner: The Tree

  • LumDimSum Vote: The Tree

• Best Dessert:

  • CW Winner: Din Tai Fung

  • LumDimSum Vote: Comptoirs de France

• Best Steakhouse:

  • CW Winner: Grange (Westin Chaoyang)

  • LumDimSum Vote: Meat & Wine Co. (but it’s closed now)    I will need to find a new favorite steakhouse…
    

• Best Wine Selection:

  • CW Winner: Enoteca

  • LumDimSum Vote: Palette Vino

• Best Buffet:

  • CW Winner: Seasonal Tastes

  • LumDimSum Vote: Westin Chaoyang

• Best Sunday Brunch:

  • CW Winner: Bubbalicious (Westin Chaoyang)

  • LumDimSum Vote: Orchard

• Best for Families:

  • CW Winner: Din Tai Fung, Seasonal Tastes (Tie)

  • LumDimSum Vote: Orchard

CityWeekend’s Awards for Best Bar/Club Categories:

• Club of the Year:

  • CW Winner: Mix

  • LumDimSum Vote: Bling

• Bar of the Year:
  

  • CW Winner: Apothecary

  • LumDimSum Vote: Apothecary

• Nightlife Newcomer of the Year:

  • CW Winner: White Rabbit

  • LumDimSum Vote: Fubar

• Best Local Band of the Year:

  • CW Winner: The Redbucks

  • LumDimSum Vote:  The Redbucks

• Beijing-Based DJ of the Year:

  • CW Winner: DJ Blackie

  • LumDimSum Vote:  DJ KEZA

• Best Alfresco Drinking:

  • CW Winner: XIU

  • LumDimSum Vote: Q Bar

• Best Live Music:

  • CW Winner: Mao Live House

  • LumDimSum Vote: Yugong Yishan

• Best Cocktails:

  • CW Winner: Mix-The Westin Beijing Chaoyang

  • LumDimSum Vote: Glen

• Best Place for Singles:

  • CW Winner: Mix

  • LumDimSum Vote: Bling

• Best for Dancing:

  • CW Winner: GT Banana

  • LumDimSum Vote: BLING

• Best Sports Bar:
  

  • CW Winner: All-Star Sports Bar & Grill

  • LumDimSum Vote: All-Star Sports Bar & Grill

• Hardest Bar to Find:

  • CW Winner: Fubar Peking

  • LumDimSum Vote: Club Obiwan

• Best Pub Grub:
  

  • CW Winner: All-Star Sports Bar & Grill

  • LumDimSum Vote: All-Star Sports Bar & Grill

• Best Fruit Plate:

  • CW Winner: Destination

  • LumDimSum Vote: Bling

• Best Promoter:

  • CW Winner: Street Hustle Promotions

  • LumDimSum Vote: Acupuncture

From Christmas Carols to DJ Kronic: Here is This Weekend’s Breakdown

Thursday, December 10:

Meili & Kristen’s Thai Dinner @ The Apartment

New White Rabbit Opens in Old ChinaDoll in Tongli

DJ Qbert @ Yugong Yishan for those who missed his AMAZING performance @ BLING last night

Friday, December 11:

1.  Under Broadway’s 3rd annual Christmas Concert @ the Goose and Duck (Chaoyang Park, 4th ring Green Lake Place)

With 20 Christmas carols and some gentle comedy, they’ll get your Christmas spirits up to gear.

This Thursday, Friday & Saturday at 7:30PM, come and support my friend Cody!

2.  Renaissance Man @Punk

Two DJs (Downtown and Jaxxon) from Helsinki and tearing up the house world at the moment. Their first single “Spraycan” was met with critical acclaim. You won’t want to miss this event. Free entry.

3.  “Take Me to the Max” Party @ Kokomo featuring DJ Max P. aka DJ Diddle Nuts   (And Al’s going away party…)

90′s, Rock & Roll, Oldies & Party Music

Every 2nd and last Friday of the Month

Time: 10:30pm-2am

4.  Official White Rabbit Opening Weekend

5.  Neon 90′s Party & Open Bar 11pm-1am @ The Boat for RMB 100

Saturday, December 12:

Birthday Shout Outs to Tyler Zacharia, Mariel & Xiao Bizzle!

2. Mariel’s Birthday Party @ Club Matata (dance spot in basement of 3.3 Shopping Mall, Sanlitun)