I like beer. A lot. So when our guides announced that they were taking us to a “local bar” after dinner one evening, we were pretty excited. While our hotel bar was more than adequate, we would rather stay in the city for a few more hours than be confined to our island hotel for the rest of the night.
Brewing equipment
To describe the Paradise Bar as a “local bar”, though, is a bit of a misrepresentation. A majority of the clientele were foreigners (NGO/embassy workers), followed by a handful of North Koreans lucky enough to have access to hard currency (prices were in euros). These patrons, who were likely high ranking bureaucrats, definitely weren’t representative of the typical Pyongyang resident.
Most of the patrons weren’t in the actual bar area, either. Instead, they had secluded themselves in small rooms where they could drink and converse with each other in private. Save for two North Koreans, our group of U.S. Imperialists had the entire bar area to ourselves.
The only locals were these two North Koreans
I ordered the fruit beer, and after 20 or so minutes (service was a bit slow), I finally had a half-liter of green liquid sitting in front of me. Despite its bizarre appearance, it was absolutely delicious. It tasted like kiwi, which surprised me because I never imagined that someone would brew kiwi beer. Everyone at my table ordered different beers so we could trade with each other and sample the microbrewery’s entire selection. All of them tasted excellent. Definitely the best beer in Pyongyang, if not the entire country. Watch out Belgium, these guys could be a contender if they ever get their act together.
Kiwi beer. A delicious half liter for 50 euro cents (around 70 cents US).
Some blueberry liquor that could “stun an elephant.” It was horrible.
Having visited the Paradise Bar & Microbrewery, I now hold the ultimate trump card in the beer snob wars. Whenever some dude starts bragging about some craft beer he had in Belgium or wherever, I’m going to say, “Oh yeah, dude, you should totally visit the Paradise Microbrewery and try a few of their beers. Pretty easy to get there, you just gotta hop a flight to Pyongyang.”
Related posts:
- North Korea: Shopping at the Paradise Department Store, aka the Super Walmart of Pyongyang Imagine you’re a high-ranking North Korean bureaucrat living in Pyongyang, have a few thousand euros burning a hole in your pocket, and need to purchase a 36” flat screen TV, leather couch, cigarettes, and tortilla chips. Where do you go? The Paradise Department Store, obviously. Stocked full of electronics, clothing,...
- North Korea: There’s no escape from the Yanggakdo Hotel, Communist Resort, and Casino Much like your choice of air carrier, there aren’t many hotels to choose from when planning a trip to Pyongyang. You can’t exactly go to priceline.com and put in a bid for a non-smoking room at a four star hotel with a great view and no covert listening devices hidden...
- North Korea: USS Pueblo “souvenirs” In a previous post about North Korea I described our group’s visit to the USS Pueblo, an American ship that was captured by the North Koreans on January 23, 1968 and has since remained in North Korean hands. To this day the North Koreans love bragging about how they captured...
From Richard:
The only that would have made this better is the sight of a couple of Kim Jong-il’s doubles in the corner, enjoying a frosty brew.
From Joris:
I love your blog and site. It’s really interesting to read, as I am interested in N-Korea as wel. But, it’s a fact that our beer is the best in the world. So please, travel to Belgium and check the beer. It will be the best you’ve ever had.
From Lindsay:
Thanks! I went to Belgium in 2005 and the beer was delicious!
From andrzej:
ANDRZEJ SZULC
PO BOX 31
82-300 ELBLĄG 1
POLSKA
My hobby is colecting beer labels and coasters. Please You very much to send me beer labels, matss, pins, openers and caps (perhaps by doubles),pens,etc… from Your brevery.
Your faithfull
Andrzej Szulc