Four restaurants to launch your epic night out
Anyone who has spent some time on the Beijing nightlife circuit knows how unlikely it is that the average club denizen, on weekend reconnaissance missions from dance floor to dance floor, would ever pack on the pounds. Even if you factor in a typical night out on the town’s multiple bottles of Tsingtao, a few hours of dancing will still put any clubber in a state of caloric deficit, not too mention exacerbate the next day’s hangover. The solution? A solid meal before you hit the clubs.

Back in the days when most of the partygoers in town were living out their student lives in the wild, wild west of Beijing, they no doubt patronized the Wudaokou Japanese establishment Isshin on Chengfu Lu, situated just 30 meters north of the subway station. A personal favorite of Peking University alumnus Yuxi Lu is the tempura box dinner, served with salad, miso soup and fruit, which “always managed to keep me satisfied through a night of drum’n’bass!”

For a bite before one of those nights of throbbing techno at Tango or rousing rock at Star Live, CW’s own nightlife maven Lee Mack calls Jin Ding Xuan “an institution before any great show.” Right next door to both venues on Heping Xijie, one can gobble down some of the capital’s most divine dim sum, serving plump parcels of every imaginable type of dumpling smothered in black bean sauce aplenty, and conveniently open 24 hours for those extra-late nights of musical revelry.

Whether rolling high at Suzie Wong’s or tumbling further and further down the hole at White Rabbit, you can fill up on the flavors of the subcontinent at Lucky Street’s Punjabi Indian Cuisine, where an ¥88 nightly dinner buffet, according to owner Gireesh Chowdhury, “sets you up to party until the sun comes up.” A plateful of the city’s most authentic palak dal scooped up with melt-in-your-mouth pooris is a must before hopping to any hip house beats.

When only a night of green tea and Chivas cocktails beneath the mirrorballs will do, Beijing’s stylish set can slurp up noodles on Gongti Xilu’s Bellagio to get a taste of Taipei before hitting the city’s nightclubbing giants around the Worker’s Stadium. Also open until the wee hours, the classy but reasonably-priced Taiwanese joint’s shaved ice desserts are a perfect way to cool down after working up a sweat on a crowded dance floor.

But if the thought of sitting in a restaurant after a night of Beijing bacchanalia is simply too mafan, there’s always the well-lit and understated 7-11, which has saved the life of many a soldier of nightlife almost as many times as your average DJ.

-Rachel Simhon