Beijing Restaurant Review: The Flying Kangaroo

By Noelle Mateer

We will grant you no guesses as to the Flying Kangaroo’s dual theme. We will simply describe the decor as follows: lotta planes, lotta kangaroos.

The walls are covered in framed photos of men and women and kangaroos in pilot apparel. There is a large inflatable kangaroo, and a life-sized Santa Claus mannequin dressed in a pilot uniform. There are red walls and assorted mafia den shit, because the staff hasn’t finished renovating the space after the departure of previous occupant, Godfathers Bar.

We bring an Australian friend with us to review Flying Kangaroo, for good measure. “Look, it’s a picture of a Qantas plane flying over Sydney Harbor,” he says as we peruse the menu, which is largely the same as Godfathers’.

It would appear the Flying Kangaroo isn’t quite finished. “Give them a few months,” says a neighbor we run into outside. But how long must we wait before a restaurant is ready for review? Sorry, I mean bar.

Sorry, I mean mafia den. Sorry, I mean airport lounge?

The middle-aged foosball aficionados of the greater Guanghua Lu area haven’t given the Flying Kangaroo any months at all. On our Thursday night visit, the bar and attached dining room are packed.

After snagging a table we leaf through several laminated photos of pastoral Australian scenes in the menu, and order from the section marked ‘AUSTRALIAN PIES.’

We’re told there are none. “Nooooo,” says our friend, in an Australian drawl that sounds like 25 syllables. We opt for fish and chips (RMB75) and the Australian burger (RMB60) instead. It turns out that Australian burgers are the same as any other burger, just with beets. (Sorry, beetroot. They say beetroot in Australia.)   

This hardly matters, and the patrons here don’t seem to mind – it’s more of an after-work boozing spot, anyway. The Flying Kangaroo’s utter disregard for modern decorating practices attracts folks looking simply for cheap, unpretentious fun. And by this we mean: mostly Chaoyang district dads.

But we should also note that it is an incredible place for 20-something ironic hipster friends to drink Coopers in. And, oh my God, it’s the perfect place for flight crews in transit through Beijing to drink Coopers in. Coopers, by the way, is a popular Australian beer. It is OK.

Flying Kangaroo is a dive. But it is the kind of dive that is, to many, home. Only time will tell if it takes off.

Daily, 10am-11pm, 44 Guanghua Lu, Chaoyang 朝阳区光华路44号(8563 0292)

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