As you can imagine, the need to keep up with the latest and greatest Shanghai cocktail bar openings is one of Team Bespoke’s favorite things about being a bona fide City Expert, and the fervor with which we relentlessly pursue our mission has been remarked upon by many a cocktail companion. It does help us though, when bars cluster themselves together for our tipsy convenience. We were delighted then, to find Candor nestled literally next door to another 2015 Bespoke favorite, The Flask. One big difference, though, and the clues is perhaps in the name – whilst The Flask has opted for the increasingly ubiquitous speakeasy route (hiding their entrance behind a Coca Cola fridge), Candor is loud and proud with a giant shop front and a bright circus-cum-boudoir theme.
If you like your cocktail to come with a boozy history lesson, co-owner Aaron Feder, previously of El Ocho and Heyday, is your man, and his encyclopedic knowledge of the topic is something to behold. Aaron ran us through the menu with vigor, before suggesting a Genever Old Fashioned. Result! We’d never tried this base spirit, an early precursor to gin, before, but it was perfectly made and proved delicious.
Be warned, the drinks here are strong. We were planning to make our way through the menu but after a sinking a couple we decided we’d overdone it. We did have one final question: that pole behind the bar….? It is, Aaron casually informs us, for future performances. Nothing untoward, he assures us, but in addition to being a top rate bartender he is also a skilled circus performer with experience on the “Chinese pole’. Another first for us, and one that we look forward to experiencing next time…
Candor is located at 432 Shaanxi Nan Lu near Yongjia Lu. Want to tour the city’s besr cocktail bars and have bespoke tipples created just for you? Try our Bespoke Cocktail Experience!