Shuangjing Express: Grinders' Food Menu Now Available

Run by Trevor Metz, with the capable aid of one of Beijing's most instantly recognizable bar personalities, Chad Lager (Metz' brother-in-law), new Shuangjing venue Grinders has now launched its food menu. The full selection is not yet available, but there are several sandwiches, salads and pastas to give you a taste of what's to come. The roast beef (RMB 55) was big enough for two, featured very tender (and not overcooked) thinly sliced roast beef garnished with peppers, onions and cheese, and was accompanied by a small side salad. Not all the kinks have been worked out of the service, so don't expect your order lickety-split. However, Wednesday night demonstrated the pull of the place, with several tables filled on a frigid evening when neighboring venues The Brick and Lily's were both empty.

The two-story venue, with big picture windows, is a fine addition to the Shuangjing neighborhood, certainly another step along the way towards decreasing the massive oversupply of hair salons and real estate agencies the area is littered with. No wi-fi as of yet, but when that gets hooked up, Grinders should be a great hangout for midday web-surfers as well, not least because of the RMB 22 free-flow coffee deal. If you're going in for a drink, there's Stella on tap (RMB 30/500ml), a growing supply of bottled beers including four varieties of the extremely drinkable Japanese beer Oedo (RMB 40), and, for now, 500ml cans of Czech beer Zubr. Topping things off, Grinders must have one of the most affordable wine lists around, with 11 bottles available at under RMB 200.