A First Look at New Bar and Restaurant Circle Urban

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Walking into Circle Urban, one of the newest restaurant bars to land in the capital, you are met with a strong vintage vibe with a checkerboard floor, brown leather chairs and a long bar at the back. There are stairs up to a second floor on the right, which has a wraparound balcony that is very reminiscent of another Beijing vintage style bar and restaurant Modernista.

Head upstairs and there are multiple private rooms, including one with prime seats overlooking the floor below, more seating along the balcony edge and a specially made shisha room. Out the front of Circle Urban they have a relatively large terrace area, complete with a swing seat that looks like a great little spot to chill during summer. 

This is owner Long’s first restaurant and bar, however up until recently he had been operating a coffee shop inside Renmin University, which he opened up in 2012. When asked about why the move, Long pointed towards how many people, especially foreigners, have been leaving the capital in recent years which made him want to try something new outside of Renmin University. 

Whilst operating his coffee shop Long would hold regular stand-up comedy nights and this is something he intends to carry on with his new enterprise. Unlike many of the other comedy and open mic nights here in Beijing, he plans to do both English and Chinese stand-up comedy, so the night can be welcoming to both foreigners and Chinese alike. 

Along with comedy, Long is also planning to have live music nights, dance nights, if you were to move the tables on the ground floor out the way the checkerboard floor would be a great space for dancing and also potentially screen some of the bigger sporting events. Circle Urban is currently in its soft opening stage, but will open officially before the end of July, after which you can expect to hear about future events.

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At the moment Circle Urban are only serving drinks but hope to open their kitchen later this week. On the drinks menu they have an array of craft beers on tap from Mingri Brewing, a Shanghai based brewery. I tried the Brewer’s Preference (RMB 39) a classic pilsner that had a light, refreshing taste perfect for the hot day when I visited. As you’d expect from any craft beer selection they also have multiple IPAs as well as some more unusual offerings such as a Tropical Guava Gose (RMB 48) and the humorously named Belching Beaver Peanut Butter Milk Stout (RMB 60/80).

As well as beer they have a selection of Japanese whiskey, gin, wine and a handful of classic cocktails. For non-drinkers they also have plenty of coffee options, including some caffeine free ones, milk shakes, tea and other soft drinks. As you might have guessed from the shisha room upstairs that I mentioned, they also have shisha available, which you can also enjoy in the general bar area, not just the shisha room. 

Their food menu is going to be available soon and has a big focus on barbecue with plenty of pulled pork, beef brisket and grilled peri peri chicken options. They also have some of your usual bar food available such as burgers, tacos and nachos as well as some less common options that I am intrigued to try such as their jalapeno poppers, poutine and fried plantains. 

All in all I am very happy to see Circle Urban’s addition to the capital’s bar and restaurant scene and eagerly await what I’m sure will be the many exciting things Long has in store for us here in Beijing. 

Circle Urban

A7 1959 Shijianli, 5 Jingshun Lu, Chaoyang District
朝阳区京顺路5号1959时间里A7

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Images: Courtesy of Circle Urban, Dianping

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