W CoBar: The Quietest Café and Bar On the Busiest Road

W CoBar (a portmanteau of coffee and bar) is the product of two young Beijing-based girls who love travel and wanted to combine their experiences into a somewhere to call home while their in the Big Smoke. Dipping down into the basement floor of the Jiaming Center, next to east Third Ring Road, the café is perfectly poised to catch foot traffic from Bayer and several other nearby big name companies.

Opened in December of 2015, the café and bar includes breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, and dinner set, as well as some cocktails, wine, spirits and as of recently, imported beers on tap.

The menu is stocked with rich desserts (RMB 40-45): cheesecake, chocolate mille feuille, matcha mille feuille and red velvet cake. We opted for the latter, which is provided by Yu Cake, and is made with Philadelphia cream cheese and Elle & Vire whipping cream, giving it a smooth and not overly sweet, with a hint of salt.

An accompanying coffee will set you back 30-45 kuai for the blended range or RMB 100-380 for a cup of single origins. The cappuccino (RMB 45, pictured at top) tasted great and was particularly photogenic.

A bottle of wine will set you back anywhere between RMB 300-1,200. At the moment, they have four imported beers on tap: Steen Brugge Wit (RMB 60), Lindermans Kriek (RMB 60), Rogue Hazelnut Brown Ale (RMB 75), and Epic Hop Zombie Double IPA (RMB 95). A flight with all four is RMB 100. There are also 30 bottled beers from across Europe and the US to choose from, with prices ranging from RMB 40-100.

I have to admit that their brew offerings a little pricey but I've heard from a trusted source that if you walk in between 5.30-6.30pm on a weekday, you may just be able to bag yourself a pint of beer out of the tap free.

During our time at W CoBar at around lunch time, we only saw three other customers, who one of the owners was very keen for and open to feedback, making it obvious that they're still working on getting people through the door. The freebie mentioned above may just be the best way for them to do that.

W CoBar
B1-06, Tower A, Jiaming Center, 27 Dongsanhuan Beilu, Chaoyang District (6508 8065)
朝阳区东三环北路27号嘉铭中心A座B1-06

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Email: tracywang@thebeijinger.com
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Photos: Tracy Wang