July 12, 2006
World Cup bar crawl
With the World Cup having finally drawn to a close, what better time to review, not the tournament itself, but the various drinking establishments in the city that Shanghaiist frequented during a month of serious boozing and football-watching. Quite simply, there was no better excuse than the world's biggest sporting event to check out some new watering holes, and swell the coffers of Shanghai's already dirt-rich bar owners.
Air Bar, 1066 Yan'an Xi Lu, was our first port of call, for the Germany v Costa Rica opening match. Fantastic setting, beer garden on top of a skyscraper roof, plenty of air to be had indeed. Nice World Cup drinks specials and even nicer Costa Rican Seniorettas.
Plan B on 33 Yongjia Lu was the venue for the first half of England's opener against Paraguay. A bar we liked and frequented regularly before the World Cup, Shanghaiist was disappointed to hear loud music continue to play for quite some time after kick-off had begun. Not only that, but when complaints were made, the Canadian manager saw fit to purposefully dance around in front of the screen blocking fans' view of the action. This did not amuse the many fans in the bar and we left at half time seeking a more football-friendly venue.
Jia Mu Tang (嘉木堂) on Dong Zhu An Bang Lu near Jiangsu Lu was our destination for the second half -- recommended to us by a Chinese friend. We have discovered a small, hidden gem. Totally Chinese and unpretentious, this neat little neighbourhood bar is the kind of place Shanghaiist will be spending a lot more time in, especially as Tsingtao bottles are just 10rmb, and it's dangerously close in proximity to our day job office.
Koala Bar, 280 Huai Hai Lu, saw us take in the African dark horses Ivory Coast in their clash against Holland. Friendly bar, great drinks specials, nice big screen and good banter. Definitely a bar worth returning to.
Freelance, 45 Yueyang Lu, had a 100 RMB all you can eat and drink night, as Shanghaiist joined a Mexican hombre for the Mexico v cheating f**ks Portugal game. The bar was full of Mexicans which made for an excellent atmosphere in its comfortable beer garden. Wonderful outdoor fans (of the mechanical variety, that is) keep things fresh during Shanghai's nightmare-hot summer evenings.
Windows Scoreboard, 681 Huaihai Zhong Lu -- strangely enough for a cheap beer lover, Shanghaiist had not visited the Huaihai Zhong Lu Windows before the world cup. But we found a genuine sports bar with two big screens, drinks at a fair price and a boisterous, fairly young crowd. Enjoyed a great atmosphere during the USA v Ghana group game. Who said Americans couldn't get excited about football? Not this lot, who were just as loud and crazy as fans of any other country. Good skills.
Shuffle Bar on Xingfu Lu will be a familiar venue for anyone who attended Shanghaiist's recent happy hour there, and on our return to the venue for the Argentina v Germany quarter final we found it full of Shanghai Shenhua FC Blue Devils, which made for a rather rowdy atmosphere. Most of them were rooting for Argentina and were running a book speculating keenly over the winner. Oddly, the two screens in the bar were showing the action about 30 seconds apart, which made for a bizarre evening.
O'Malleys on Taojiang Lu, -- made numerous trips here, mostly to watch England games with Shanghaiist's companions who were unfortunate enough to be born on the wrong side of Hadrians wall. No venue can compete with it in terms of capacity and atmosphere, which is presumably the reason for the rip-off beer prices. It was here we saw England exit from the tournament -- full marks to the kilt-wearing chap in the Portugal top. Quality stuff mate, wonder where he was from? Also took in the final here, resurgent France versus cheating bastards who give football a bad name streetwise Italy. But, for the final, it was 100 RMB to get in, including two drinks -- bad
Zapatas on Hengshan Lu was our venue for the France v Brazil quarter-final, being a mere five-minute stagger along the road from O'Malley's following England's hilarious unfortunate exit to Portugal on penalties. Nice outdoor big screen, not-so-nice beer prices.
British Bulldog, 1 Wulumuqi Nan Lu -- an obvious destination of choice for the England matches but we didn't make it there, having been quoted 3,000 RMB to reserve a table over the phone. Would you be charged 200 British Pounds to sit at a table in a "Public House" to watch a football match in the UK? Don't think so. Shocking World-Cup-fuelled greed and the bar is now on this Shanghaiist's blacklist.
Anyway, with the World Cup out of the way, Shanghaiist will get its football fix from the somewhat less glamorous CSL, when Shanghai Shenhua take on Qingdao Zhongneng at Hongkou Stadium on Sunday night, at 7:45pm.
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Plan B World Cup...
I was that guy in front of the screen and I am sorry that you came to Plan B to watch the game but we had let our customers know well in advance that we were celebrating numerous birthdays that evening including my own and we were just not into Football at the time.. I was indeed impaired but hey the music was fun and the bar kept it s theme-we are not a sports bar just a bar with sports..I hope yoy guys come as much as you did before..Shanghaiist is always welcome..And hey what better revenge than doing a bong for your country..One up us Canadians..Cheers
Agree re the shameful World Cup cash-in frenzy of certain bars. Take Big Bamboo for example, which charged 100RMB (incl two drinks) for the Argentina v Germany match. Even with my limited arithmetic, this meant that each drink coupon would be worth 50RMB. Not so, apparently. For a 65RMB pint of Guinness, I was repeatedly told to pay an extra 20 RMB. But, I pleaded, 50 + 20 = 70, and a pint of Guinness (as listed in the bar menu) retails for 65RMB. After 15 minutes of being brusquely patronised by three different bar sub-comandantes, a fourth finally relented and waived the mysterious extra 5RMB tariff. That said, I would never deign to darken the door of that bar again.
Saw the comments on 3000rmb tables and would like to put this into its correct perspective. With the late matches to reserve a table for the match would mean blocking the table all night potentially loosing 9 hrs of brisk trade and ending up with a no show. As a general policy we prefered not to block tables thus were reluctant to make reservations exaclty because of the cost of lost business. For the persistent customers who were pushing for a reserved place we were pointing out the above circumstances and quoteing a minimum charge not a reservation fee. I would add that the prefered suggestion from my staff was to sugest the guest comes in early open a Tab and staked their claim for no charge at all.
Sorry - 3000 min charge? Something wrong when a pub demands more for a night then the average monthly salary.
Was at the BB for the UK vs. Sweden match - nice to know that the "Brits Abroad" still rings true.
I think that's the point - its obviously exhorbitant because they didn't want people to use it. Brit Bulldog much preferred people to take a first come first serve approach.
The reason is they got badly burnt early in the world cup by people who booked tables for a game and failed to show until late into the second half or in several cases failed to show at all. Lots of empty tables equalled many annoyed punters who couldn't get into a half full venue because of those pesky "reserved" signs.
I think Brit Bulldog's biggest mistake was to offer the table booking option at all, with or without a price.