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| Bar Rouge: Sino sirens/ photo: Bar Rouge |
FRENETIC COMMERCIAL hub by day, Shanghai transforms after dark into a sparkling seductress. Historically, this has been a party town, and yesteryear’s opium halls and Somerset Maugham hangouts are today’s private members clubs and Giorgio Armani stores. Shanghai has returned to its rightful place as one of the world’s great sin cities – and it can feel as if the party has only just begun. Welcome to Shanghai by night.
The Bund and the beautiful
After a half-century of neglect, Shanghai's iconic Bund waterfront underwent a three-year overhaul ahead of the 2010 World Expo. Now, the famed social and commerce centre of the swinging 1930s, is once more debonairly dressed and ready to thrill. From the regenerated Rockbund district to the north, to the old dockyards in the south, many of the riverfront’s iconic heritage buildings have been transformed into luxury hotels, clubs, boutiques, cocktail lounges and dining palaces.
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It's a far cry from 1999, when restaurateur Michelle Garnaut opened Shanghai’s first independent international restaurant in the old Nissin Shipping Building on the waterfront. Back then, the Bund was a long shot – but M on the Bund proved to be a very popular pioneer. This eminently stylish institution is still one of the Bund’s best, serving contemporary European fare such as its signature slow-baked, salt-encased leg of lamb, accompanied by an excellent seasonal wine list. Downstairs, the pink-tinged Glamour Bar has a sophisticated 1930s vibe and excellent straight-up martinis. It also plays host to a diverse collection of artists, panel discussions, musical recitals and an annual writers’ festival (tel: [86-21] 6350-9988, 6-7/F, 20 Guangdong Road).
Five years after M, Three on the Bund opened right across the alley (tel: 6323-3355, www.threeonthebund.com, 3 Zhongshan E1 Road). The Michael Graves-designed beauty is home to an Armani flagship boutique and the first Evian spa outside France. On the top floor, New Heights (tel: 6321-0909) serves Western food with a nod to Southeast Asia. It’s the most casual and affordable option and boasts the best view in the house from the wraparound terrace.
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| Barbarossa: chic/ photo: Barbarossa |
On the fourth floor, Jean Georges (tel: 6321-7733) is the three-star Michelin chef’s only signature restaurant outside New York. Inspired by old Shanghai grandeur, the moody lounge is filled with pony-hair club chairs and eel-skin benches leading through to a luxurious burnished copper and cobalt blue dining room. If you’re not dining on an expense account, try the Nougatine experience, nightly from 6-11pm. Seated at white-clothed tables in the more relaxed bar area, you can sample a selection of JG favourites at bar prices.
The Gothic castle at 6 Bund (6 Zhongshan E1 Road) is also home to several upscale restaurants and a couple of fun lounges. Our pick is Japanese Sun with Aqua on the second floor (tel: 6339-2779). The bijou Dolce & Gabbana Martini Bar (tel: 6323-2277) between the men’s and women’s D&G boutiques on the ground floor is a fashionable spot for a restorative espresso or ‘tini between shopping.
Bund 18 (tel: 6323-7066, www.bund18.com, 18 Zhongshan E1 Road), in the powder-grey neoclassical former Macquarie Bank Tower, features Hong Kong chef To Chi Hoi’s trendy Cantonese cuisine at Tai Wan Lou (tel: 6339-1188) on the fifth floor. One floor up, Mr & Mrs Bund (tel: 6323-9898) is a show-stopping Shanghai restaurant. Taking a break from the molecular cuisine that made his name, French chef Paul Pairet returns to his roots offering modern French bistro fare – some rustic, some glammed-up – with over 200 dishes meant for sharing. It is open for dinner nightly and continues as a supperclub until 4am five nights a week. Be sure to book a window seat and save room for the excellent desserts.
Bund 18’s top-floor Bar Rouge (tel: 6339-1199) is an enduring party haunt. Between show-off bottle-juggling and setting fire to the bar, the bartenders may deign to make you one of their signature ginger melon martinis. The scenic terrace hosts beach parties that raise temperatures during the hotter months.
M1NT’s macho Shanghai club, owned by shareholding members, sprawls across a 2,000sqm, 24th-floor penthouse, offering 360-degree views from behind the Bund. It also features a 17-metre shark tank, raunchy pop art murals and hot tubs on the rooftop terrace. (tel: 6391-3191, 24/F, 318 Fuzhou Road).
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| Sasha's: colonial vibes |
Nearby, Hong Kong club Drop (tel: 6329-1373, 55 Yuanmingyuan Road) occupies an intimate heritage venue opposite The Peninsula Shanghai, bringing its proven formula of top international DJs, designer interiors and exclusive door policy to the late-night dancing and lounging scene.
On the South Bund, Lost Heaven (tel: 6330-0967, 17 Yan'an East Road) traces the cuisines and cultures of the Dai, Bai and Miao ethnic hill tribes through China's Yunnan province. From the jangling costumed greeters at the entrance, to the richly spiced curries in the low-lit second-floor restaurant, and exotic cocktails on the rooftop bar terrace – it’s folksy fabulous all the way.
At boutique hotel The Waterhouse at South Bund, Table No. 1 (tel: 6080-2988, 1-3 Maojiayuan Road, Zhongshan South Road)serves mod-Mediterranean fare created by Michelin-starred Brit chef Jason Atherton. The rusted rooftop cocktail bar is a hot spot for summertime drinks and stellar Pudong views.
The heights of luxe in Pudong
Pudong has perked up considerably and some of the Shanghai nightlife throb has moved here in recent years.
The swanky Shanghai IFC development in central Lujiazui welcomes a host of smart venues. At the top of the list is Flair. Crowning the 58th floor of the Ritz-Carlton Pudong, the Super Potato designed hotspot is currently China’s highest alfresco restaurant and bar. The real kicker is the huge, stepped terrace, affording unforgettable views of the Bund and Oriental Pearl Tower. Reserve ahead for a decadent front-row lounge.
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| Bund cool, Aqua: photo: Aqua |
Several sleek dining options can be found on the third and fourth floors of the ifc mall (8 Century Ave), including a branch of Hong Kong’s Michelin-starred Cantonese restaurant Lei Garden (tel: 5106-1688); Morton’s of Chicago, The Steakhouse (tel: 6075-8888); and Japanese-owned Enoteca (tel: 5012-1480) wine bar, each boasting wraparound views and/or fine terraces.
Park Hyatt’s 100 Century Avenue (tel: 6888-1234, 91-93F, Shanghai World Financial Centre, 100 Century Ave, Pudong) stretches from the 91st to 93rd floors of the 101-storey Shanghai World Financial Centre. Despite its high profile, it’s not the least bit high-faluting. Filling the 91st floor is a cool and convivial tavern with Western, Chinese and Japanese show kitchens and a 750-label cellar. The à la carte menu here allows you to mix and match different cuisines. The 92nd floor hosts a jazz bar and quieter Oriental lounge with a small dance floor and ballroom dancing four nights a week, while the uppermost level is a private dining space for 100 people adorned in mod-Nordic style and lorded over by mischievous ceramic mooseheads.
Tucked away by the riverside behind the Oriental Pearl Tower is Salvatore Cuomo’s original Pudong location, The Kitchen (tel: 5054-1265, Unit D, 2967 Lujiazui Xi Lu), another Shanghai dining favourite. The airy Italian restaurant is a great place for sundowner drinks looking across the water to Puxi, and its woodfired oven turns out arguably the city’s best pizza.
Pudong Shangri-La’s penthouse bar is another destination in its own right offering creative cocktails and jaw-dropping views. Downstairs, the Japanese institution Nadaman serves teppanyaki and yakitori in a Zen-like setting with sleek granite surfaces and big paper lanterns. Yi Café is buffet brilliance, with 10 show kitchens presenting cuisines from China, Japan, India, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe and North America. (tel: 6882-8888, Pudong Shangri-La, 33 Fucheng Lu, Pudong).
For laid-back happy hour drinks, head to Blue Frog alongside the enormous Super Brand Mall. This popular Shanghai chain offers 2-for-1 house pours daily from 4-8pm, good burgers, free Wi-Fi and a pleasant terrace surrounded by skyscrapers.
Playtime in People’s Park
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| Cotton's: Warm elegance |
Constructing an Arabian palace on historic green space in the heart of the city was a questionable move by Shanghai’s town planners – but the party people aren’t complaining. Deep in People’s Park, on the edge of a still lake, candlelit Barbarossa (tel: 6318-0220, 231 Nanjing Lu) glimmers like a mirage. Step inside to find three storeys of maharajah chic filled with North African antiques and European trip-hop beats. Food and service can be lacklustre but you won’t much care after a cappuccino-flavoured sheesha pipe on the terracotta rooftop.
On the rooftop of the old British Racing Club, now the Shanghai Art Museum, Kathleen’s 5 (tel: 6327-2221, 5/F, Shanghai Art Museum, 325 Nanjing West Road) is an elegant restaurant in a glassed-encased terrace beneath the original clock tower. The food plays second fiddle to the ambience.
Also on People’s Square, JW Marriott’s 40th-floor JW Lounge Bar (tel: 5359-4969, 399 Nanjing West Road) is a top spot to kick back in style and drink in the vertiginous views of the Square (which is actually round) and the city radiating beyond. It’s a good place to contemplate your Shanghai nightlife options.
Shikumen chic – Xintiandi bars and clubs
Site of the Communist Party’s first clandestine meeting in 1921, the 19th century shikumen neighbourhood of Xintiandi (Lane 181, Taicang Road) is now a hub for all manner of glamorous delights. If you have the cash, there are more Shanghai dining options here than you can shake a stick at – but some are more memorable than others.
T8 (tel: 6355-8999, No 8, North Block Xintiandi) serves global cuisine in a lacquered Zen setting, with an impressive list of boutique wines. If you’re craving Chinese, Xintiandi has two spots worth trying: Crystal Jade (tel: 6385-8752) and Din Tai Fung (tel: 6385-8378). Casual American bistro KABB has a faithful following and great hangover brunches on weekends.
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| Let your hair down at Zapata's |
Fans of Liuligongfang will love Taiwanese owner Yang Hui Shan’s showcase restaurant TMSK (tel: 6326-2227). Perch on a crystal stool at the bar or head up the carved staircase to a sumptuous dining room complete with musicians playing traditional Chinese instruments on a small stage.
The dark, sultry DR Bar (tel: 6326 8008) next door is owned by the architects of the Xintiandi development, Ben Wood and Carlos Zapata. Their minimalist venue showcases design materials sourced in China, from the ink stone slabs to the trio of vodka shooters served in a Chinese “cricket jar”.
To the manor born in the former French Concession
Shanghai bars and restaurants have made full use of the city’s rich architectural heritage and many of the French Concession’s finest old villas are now atmospheric tippling grounds.
Sinan Mansions (cnr Sinan Road and Fuxing Road) has transformed an entire 1930s neighbourhood of pebbledash heritage houses – once home to Zhou Enlai, Sun Yat-sen and Mei Lanfang – into fine restaurants, cocktail lounges, art galleries, plus a Rmb38,000 per night luxury hotel. There’s a feast of great outposts here by Shanghai’s most popular locally based chefs and restaurateurs. Sample one (or all) of the following: piquant Peruvian set menus and punchy Pisco Sours at Chicha (tel: 6418-0760, Bldg 33); Australian chef David Laris’s private banquet room 12 Chairs or Yucca Mexican micro-lounge (tel: 3368-9525, 3/F, Bldg 26F); molecular mixology and bar bites at The Alchemist (tel: 6426-0660, Bldg 32) or exquisitely crafted cocktails and Creole creations at Apothecary (tel: 3368-9419, Bldg 2).
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| T8: Trendy haunt/ photo: T8 |
Members' club KEE Shanghai (tel: 3395-0888, 3/F, 796 Huaihai Road) occupies the upper floors of twin 1920s French Concession villas just off Huaihai Road. Its classic European restaurant and luxe scarlet lounge adorned with art and antiques, lead out to a colonnaded balcony overlooking a quiet garden. A good concierge should be able to get you into this posh Shanghai dining venue.
Sasha’s (tel: 6474-66289, Dongping Road) has been the long-time resident of a big red villa formerly home to the infamous Soong family. The bar offers a relaxed, colonial vibe, pool table, reasonable happy hours and an expansive courtyard with comfy wicker chairs.
Cocktail gem Constellation II (tel: 5465 5993, 1-2/F, 33 Yongjia Road) is a more refined affair. Taking its interior cues from the roaring 1930s its two floors joined by a spiral staircase are filled with quiet nooks and leather armchairs bathed in the glow of antique lampshades. Immaculate cocktails are shaken by Japanese-trained barman/owner, Kin. Down the road in a two-storey heritage villa on quiet Anting Road, Cotton’s exudes warmth, with four open fireplaces, a large garden terrace and genuinely friendly vibe (tel: 6433-7995, 132 Anting Road).
Another alfresco Shanghai dining option is Purple Onion in the popular B&B, Old House (tel: 6248-8747, No 16, Lane 351 Huashan Road) offering a chic all-day Mediterranean menu and a spacious walled garden under a leafy canopy.
Catalan chef Willy Trullàs Moreno helms delightful Spanish villa restaurant El Willy (tel: 5404-5757, 20 Donghu Lu). Innovative dishes on the menu here include scallop with ceviche, avocado and crispy shallots, and chocolate coulant with green tea ice cream and tomato cardamom jam. A tucked-away garden hosts alfresco seating and occasional organic farmers’ markets.
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| Blue Frog / photo: Blue Frog |
Close by, Willy’s intimate lounge El Coctel (tel: 6433-6511, 2/F, 47 Yongfu Road) serves chic tapas alongside its sparkling cocktails and low-lit, seductive vibe.
Designer Wang Xingzheng has a passion for Chinese culture and his city bars should not be missed. Yongfoo Elite (tel: 5466-2727, 200 Yongfu Road) is a rarefied members club in the old British consulate evoking the Shanghai of popular imagination rendered in mahogany, old leather, crystal chandeliers and Chinese lanterns. The Shanghainese cuisine is nothing to write home about, but an evening spent draped across a canopy bed in the garden sipping gin-and-tonic and listening to Beijing opera in the background certainly is. The Door, way out in Hongqiao (tel: 6295-3737, 4/F, 1468 Hongqiao Road) is similarly exotic.
For its jaw-dropping industrial-chic interior and nouvelle Japanese cuisine, book one of the mezzanine tables at Shintori Null II (tel: 5404 5252, 803 Julu Road). The same group also owns bar/restaurant People 7 (tel: 5404-0707) next door, known for its fun password-protected entrance and trick toilets.
Shanghai clubs and live music scene
In Fuxing Park (2 Gaolan Road), Muse at Park 97 (tel: 5383-2328) attracts a glittery Chinese crowd – don’t forget your dice and aviator specs. Velvet Lounge (tel: 5403-2976, Bldg 3-4, 913 Julu Road) is a favourite late-night lounge for expats and locals alike with curtained enclaves, a DJ, dance floor and great thin-crust gourmet pizzas.
MAO Livehouse (308 Chongqing South Road) and DADA (tel: 150-0018-2212, 115 Xingfu Road) are two of the most happening music venues with regular live bands and DJ gigs.
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| DR Bar: Minimalist venue |
Shanghai and jazz are synonymous and two of the city’s best-loved live jazz clubs are within a stone’s throw of each other on Fuxing Lu. The plush JZ Club (tel: 6431-0269, 46 Fuxing West Road) hosts a varied weekly line-up of vocal jazz, Big Band, Latin and Shanghai jazz, headlined by popular Shanghai-based musicians, such as flamboyant Chinese vocalist Coco Zhao and guitarist Lawrence Ku, while the long-running Cotton Club (tel: 6437-71108, Fuxing West Road) is a much rawer venue with a dark, smoky interior and righteous blues.
In a heritage villa behind the Bund, House of Blues & Jazz (tel: 6323-2779, 60 Fuzhou Road) revives the golden Shanghai Jazz Age, complete with wood-panelled walls, art deco furnishings, fat cigars and stiff G&Ts. The musical roster brings top jazz and blues bands from the international circuit for three-month stints, along with ‘mellow Monday’ gigs by local performers, and jam sessions on Sundays.
Shanghai nightlife waits for nobody, so strap on your beer goggles and enjoy the ride.
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