InfraRouge: Shanghai Club Vets' New Beijing Venue Unleashes Gorgeous, Creative Menu

The Bar Rouge team is poised to make a stylish breakthrough in Beijing.

After building an impressive reputation with their long-running, uber-chic bar on the Bund, about which World’s Best Bars raved: “Thanks to its perfectly mixed cocktails (the peppered vodkas deserve honorable mention), Bar Rouge is the place to see and to be seen," the Rouge team’s Taikooli North entry, InfraRouge, has been met with understandably major fanfare. And while it’s tough (read: impossible) for the Sanlitun venue to compete with its elder sister establishment’s gorgeous waterfront views, its third and especially its breezy open fifth floor (InfraRouge’s stairwell skips the fourth floor) brings that attention to the atmosphere to Beijing. This roof level faces the glitzy Taikooli North malls and, more impressively, the shimmering light displays of the Intercontinental Hotel.

You enter InfraRouge through the building's third floor, which houses a gastro-lounge with aptly scarlet décor, numerous booths, and a bar manned by staff that quickly mixes drinks in a fashion that’s clearly precise and well-versed without being overly showy. When we stopped by on the mid-August grand opening night, we sampled tart, fizzy, generously sized glassfuls of their herbal spritz cocktails.

Since that first visit, the gastro lounge’s food menu has also gone into full swing, featuring plenty of fancy French fare with Far East twists. A clear standout during our return visit in early September: the foie gras in durian soy milk (RMB 158 for a plateful). Now, as much as I'd love to let you keep on thinking I'm a sophisticated Beijing foodie, I must confess that the only thing I loathe more than foie gras is durian – two things that wind up on menus in the capital far too often for my liking, though I'd never seen my greatest culinary fears collide on one plate before. Nevertheless, I pried open my mind and was shocked to find that the dish wasn't offensive to my nostrils or palate, but instead supple and subtly flavored.

Pleasant as that surprise was, I was more enthused by the beef tenderloin (RMB 198). Its juicy, tender cut of medium-rare beef was topped with an ingredient that looked more like a 798 Art District installation: a billowing, flowy wafer made of fried yam. You'll need to break that wavy topping with your fork, and once you gobble up one of those chunks you'll relish its crisp texture and sweet, earthy hints of yam flavor. Their desserts are also fantastic. We loved the chocolate fondant (RMB 68), with 75 percent cacao and basil ice cream, while the pineapple (RMB 58) came in thick, citrusy slices paired with Sichuan peppercorn and lime sorbet, all of which encompassed a broad spectrum of flavors.

Upstairs, you'll find InfraRouge's club. It boasts a wraparound balcony and a starkly lit, jet-black painted dance floor, with loungey booths and stools around its perimeter for wallflowers hoping to peek the stylish threads sported by the fashionistas and socialites that will no doubt flock to this club. The owners hope to enlist international touring DJ’s, though, to be honest, we found the fifth floor to have an atmosphere better suited for mixing and mingling than busting a move. That suited us just fine – we were more than happy to sip our taste bud-tingling spritzes, take in the Sanlitun skyline and chat with elegant fellow attendees. A more laid-back, loungey vibe certainly won’t go astray, considering the surplus of dance clubs in the area.      

Fans of Hujialou’s Mei Bar, Migas, and pioneering upscale club Xiu during its heyday, along with of course Bar Rouge and other glitzy Shanghai joints, will all love InfraRouge’s elegant and swanky vibes. We’re looking forward to stopping by again to glimpse their cocktail menu and try more of their food. But during our sneak peek, we were very much impressed by the professional service, stylish ambiance and delicious spritzes at this red-hot new venue.  

Note: The venue will begin serving lunch from 11.30am-2.30pm on Sept. 25.

InfraRouge
Tue-Sun, 6pm-11pm (3/F restaurant), 6pm-2am (5/F lounge and club). 3/F, N8 Taikooli North, Sanlitun Lu
朝阳区三里屯太古里北区3楼N8室

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Email: kylemullin@thebeijinger.com
Twitter: @MulKyle

Photos: Uni You, courtesy of InfraRouge