It’s as if a mouse has given birth to an elephant.
Shake Bar
Leafy Jinxian Road in Bespoke’s own corner of the former French Concession is best known for its home-style restaurants and copious amounts of laundry flapping in the breeze. Now, however, in Shake it can claim to have one of the city’s best intimate live music venues too.
Tucked away in a 3rd floor loft, Shake is an small space with a well-stocked bar at the rear, but all the seats set to face towards the stage. Expect live performances of soul and funk at least four nights a week* from a roster of Shanghai’s most-seasoned performers – on our visit the house band’s classic funk set was going down a storm with eager punters, so much so that we wished the owners would clear the decks and include a bit of a dance floor.
Seven Shanghai Hidden Gems That You Should Know By Now
1. The Back Alley Bow Tie Showroom
Shanghai’s glam ladies enjoy a reputation as the nation’s most fashionable, but the city’s millennial gents are snapping at their heals thanks to up-and-coming designers like Weixu Wang. His quirky little studio is tucked down a narrow lane behind the elegant old Meilong Zhen restaurant just off Nanjing Xi Lu, and you’ll need to pass groups of knitting aunties and bathtubs full of goldfish in order to find it. Inside, you’ll find a dazzling array of bow ties made from almost every conceivable material (including plastic ceramic and metal) that cover all the bases from conservative to crazy! Weixu Wang is at 1 F, Building 72l Nanjing West Road 1081.
2. The Great (Free) Glass Elevator Ride
The glorious old Art Deco wing of the Okura Garden Hotel – formerly the ‘Cercle Sportif’ – is well worth exploring, however many ignore the modern tower block stuck on the back. It does offer one wonderful gift though: a glass elevator on the outside of the building that whizzes from the lobby to the 33rd floor, giving those inside wonderful views right across the rooftops of the former French Concession and across to the skyscrapers of Pudong. Even better, the staff doesn’t seem to mind outside guests bumbling about, as long as you keep it low key. The Okura Garden Hotel is at 58 Maoming Road.
New Peninsula: Just The Old School Glamour Beijing Needed
It was hard for us to imagine how the Peninsula Beijing was going to spruce itself up enough to alter our perception of it – but by Jove, they’ve only gone and done it.
C2H60
If new beer emporium C2H60 has an identity problem, we’ve decided we’re ok with it.
It may be stocked to the wooden rafters with imported bottled beers (literally – there are 700 different brews here) but to those who enter, C2H60 looks for all the world like Beijing’s swankiest cocktail bar.
La Social
“What Would Jesus Do?” has been uttered by many a devoted soul over the centuries. Turns out at new bar La Social the answer is “surround himself with Hollywood dressing room lights, Day of the Dead masks and have one helluva party.”
Yes that’s right, if a little Latin American flair has been missing from your life (and let’s be honest we’re in Beijing, so yes it has), then this new venture from the guys behind the Mosto/Modo restaurants will make your heart sing.