Glen

No matter in which city, a good dram of single malt is our constant companion. There's Ichikura which some tout as 'hard-to-find'. Wah lau. It's in Sanlitun (三里屯) lor. Nothing is hard to find there, at least not by my standards. It was almost easy, actually. But it was tough to get a space in all of its 14 seats. Totally like a whisky bar in Tokyo. Tiny, cramped, but full of alluring single malts.

Then there's the more spacious Glen. I like that. The man and I returned to Glen for two more evenings. Reservations are preferred. It fills up very quickly. The bar is as usual, dim and cosy. Beware of the smell of cigarettes invading your winter wool and down. Their bar snacks (chargeable) go well with cocktails and whisky. Didn't try the cocktails. We were happy with whisky. Very typical of Japanese whisky bars, head bartender Iida Tomonobu still hand carves the ice balls/cubes/squares for his concoctions and whisky. Fresh juices are used for the cocktails. Service is excellent.

Food could be ordered from the next door Japanese restaurant Oden. Same owners as Glen anyway. Surprisingly good sushi rolls, and true to its name, its oden was flavorful, and authentic, without trying to fuse Chinese hotpot with that horrible numbing pepper.

There're the other cocktail bars that are pretty good, like Apothecary and Q Bar. But I'm not fond of cocktails. These are usually places I go with friends who don't take whisky. Amilal is a good place to check out Mongolian and Kazakh bands. There's Hidden Lounge too (I really like that place, which is similar to our much loved 'The Pigeonhole'), which is located in a residential district, and is a great meeting venue if you're in the mood to schmooze with like-minded art lovers.