Beijing Bar Review: Da Vinci
By Noelle Mateer
Two months ago, we profiled Botany, a cocktail bar in Yongli Service Apartments, because we thought its location was quirky and unique.
This month, we’re profiling Da Vinci, a cocktail bar in Yongli Service Apartments. We’re beginning to think this location isn’t so quirky and unique.
First, some explanation for those who didn’t read our May 2016 issue (you’re forgiven). Yongli Service Apartments are in Gongti, just beside Yongli Plaza – the drab mall whose main redeeming feature is Yunnanese restaurant In & Out. This residential compound is where whisky-soaked speakeasies are apparently finding their new home, and in spring this meant the arrival of Botany, the brainchild of former TRB mixologist Frankie Zhou.
The people behind Da Vinci also have bar-scene cred. As the team behind the well-loved Parlor and Mai bars, they can craft serious drinks. And when we visit, they do – the Mona Lisa (RMB85) is a beguiling mix of citrus and bourbon, the plumb-infused whisky sour (RMB80) is standout, and the red jujube old fashioned (RMB85) is the same smoky, syrupy dream we remember from Parlor.
But you’re not here for just the Parlor-style drinks – otherwise you’d be at Parlor, no? No. You’re here for the location, which, depending on your disposition, is either alluring or silly. We say the latter when considering the decor. Having a theme as ostentatious as 'The Golden Period of the Renaissance' is something that only a handful of places can pull off. Like the Louvre. Said places do not include Gongti’s Yongli Plaza, where mounting a print of ‘The Mona Lisa’ in a golden frame above your brightly lit whisky selection is just a little tuhao tu handle.
There are practical disadvantages to housing a bar in an apartment space. And by this we mean that half the apartment is a fucking bathroom. There are also advantages, however – and by this we mean the living room is a space for VIPs outfitted with plush couches. Bottom line: Houses are cool, but are houses that cool? Will we see pub crawls climbing up Yongli Service Apartment stairs anytime soon? We’d rather not.
Fortunately, drinks are potent enough to cut through any apartment-related worries. We down them like we're esteemed geniuses who need a break from resurrecting European society from centuries of medieval turmoil. (God, we cannot handle this theme.) But the bar team is truly excellent. They infuse things. They burn things and let smoke gather in bottles. They present drinks on pretty trays. Most importantly, their drinks taste fantastic – despite the Renaissance print stretched across the ceiling like this is the goddamn Sistine Chapel of Sanlitun. They are very, very good, and well worth the RMB85 – something that cannot be said for many other drinks in this area.
That is, however, RMB85 more expensive than drinks in most apartments.
2-1612, Yongli International Center, 21 Gongti Beilu, Chaoyang 朝阳区永利国际2单元1612（6461 7962）
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