SCORE! A night at the Volar!
If you've never heard of Volar, it's probably because you're not in, or you just don't have it, or, like most people, you probably just don't care. The club, which supposedly always has quite the queue at its Hong Kong location (no line in Shanghai), boasts to be a member's only exclusive venue. Of course if you're not a member, you can always decide to part with RMB150 to get in, but you still get to tell people you went to a member's only club.
We made sure to call ahead and arrange a table under our name. When we arrived, we were asked what our reservation was under, and after mentioning it, the door bitch by the name of V*lla (censored to protect her identity) quickly glanced at the list and told us we weren't on it. Hmmm, strange. We asked her to check again but she refused to look at the list. We continued to try to reason with her and then asked if we could talk with someone else associated with the club. We were told no, but luckily, after a few minutes, another door girl came out and asked us if we were under the name we reserved under. We said yes, and they said that we were on the list and we can enter right away (Volar, if you happen to ever grace our presence by visiting this humble site, may we suggest paying for reading lessons for your door staff?).
Upon entering the graffiti-adorned interior (designed by Philippe Starck no less), we were promptly and without-hassle given our table and drinks. We'd say there were maybe thirty or so people on the first floor (Does nobody party at 1am on a Saturday night in this city anymore?). Talk about exclusive! We're no techno/electronic/house expert, so we couldn't tell you if the music was particularly good or not. On the plus side, though, most of the RMB 68 cocktails were exceptionally well-made. Tips: if you don't like the taste of cough syrup, though, avoid the grape flavored drink (Flaming Moe's anyone?). Also, if you are like us and don't want to spend thirty minutes trying to figure out the bathroom that looks like it came straight from Hostel, the sink turns on through a tiny button on the floor. They also seem to have a strict dress code, but they had no problem with my drenched-in-sweat-from-Go!-Team plain white t-shirt.
VOLAR. No 99, Yan Dang Road, (by Nan Chang Road) 卢湾区雁荡路99号, 近南昌路.
134 8223 9390; reservations@volar.com.cn
Image from Independent Critics
