Pizza the action

Perched up in a booth on the second floor of the Kro's Nest, a bar and pizza joint in Gongti Beimen, one can catch a bird's eye view of the Worker's Stadium and surrounding area. The scenery is the last thing on patrons' minds though. The Kro's Nest has pizzas so confoundingly colossal their hypnotic effect makes it difficult to focus on the surrounding view.

If there were such a thing as too much pizza, this would be it. Matching the size of the pies are the Nest's mixed drinks.

At upwards of 70 yuan each, the mixed drinks contain at least two shots, making the plush prices fairly justifiable. Beers are slightly cheaper with 25 yuan Tsing Taos and a variety international classics starting at 55 yuan.

It's dim lighting and stonewalls mingled with wooden arches give The Kro's Nest a certain aura that can only be matched by a Western style pizza parlor.

The scattered Guinness posters decorating the non-stone portion of the pub's walls may not create an overly poignant visual, but the lack of overall decor adds to the simplicity the bar already embraces.

The pub's zip-line style ordering system is another area where sticking to simplicity has worked out nicely. Two thin metal cables running from the top floor to a centralized location the floor below are used to transport orders in a zip lining, Peter Pan vs Captain Hook fashion.

A mere buzz in the background, the vast variety of low-volume music is overshadowed by the constant echo of ESPN updates streaming from a plasma television, which size somehow makes the pizzas look small.

The bar's three plasma screen TVs are strategically located so every seat in the house can catch a glimpse of the game, making the Kro's Nest an ideal place to eat pizza, drink beer and catch a good football match.

Text & photo by Todd Balazovic

(China Daily 03/29/2008 page6)