Like most dive bars across the city, The Beaver can be something of a miserable place when it’s empty, especially when compared to the perennially pleasant patio at Abbey Road opposite.
When it’s properly jumping – usually later in the night and especially on Fridays and Saturdays – things are considerably improved, however, and even if it’s not, there are still a couple of good reasons to visit aside from the single TV above the bar showing live sports and the battered foosball table.
The first is their surprisingly extensive range of beers on offer – with bottles of Brooklyn, Victoria Bitter and Rogue (from 40RMB) which, though fairly standard elsewhere, are little-seen rarities in a dive bar. The second is their unexpectedly good bar food menu, which boasts the most authentic battered sausage in town (55RMB with crinkle-cut chips), cooked up by an ayi in a small kitchen out back.
