Results tagged “barrouge”

So China has been named by Ask Men as the fourth horniest country in the world - thanks to the 5000 sex shops recently opened in Beijing, its status as largest producer of sex toys, and the fact that it has a SEXPO (which we're guessing they didn't visit - because, really, it was totally a boner killer). Most hilarious was its recommendations of horny places to visit in Shanghai - Bar Rouge, Zapata's and Windows. We think perhaps they're mistaking horny for white, old and sleazy. Yes, the difference is subtle, but we maintain that it's pretty solidly there. We could be wrong, but we're assuming Ask Men was thinking more along the lines of Austin Powers and less that chunky Brit with the wife and kids across the ocean. (Thanks @tuzhonghua!)

Shanghaiist spotted John Cusack at Bar Rouge on Friday. Ensconced in the bathroom-sized VIP room on the club's terrace and guarded by a bevy of beefy bodyguards, Cusack was playing with his phone and appeared both tired and bored (who recommended BR anyway?). Doing the rounds of Shanghai nightspots, he was spotted at MAO the night before until the wee hours.

By Benjamin Cohen

By Derek Sandhaus

HAPPY DRINKING AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!

With Christmas just around the corner, there are plenty of parties to attend, plus more wine tastings and other opportunities to get thoroughly blotto. Here's what Winopete has heard about so far: Nov 29 Oriented Happy Hour at MoCA art gallery in People's Park. Please visit www.oriented.com for details. Nov 29-Dec 1 Italian wine exhibition at the Shanghai Exhibition Centre (Tongren and Yan'an Roads) hosted by the Institiute of Fine Italian Wine. No other details...

Tuesday saw a new champion being crowned at the Shanghai Regional Finals of the 42 Below Cocktail World Cup at Bar Rouge. Although we were expecting to see a lot more fancy shmancy juggling and tossing, there was a wide variation in the style of cocktails, and plenty of showy tricks -- liquid nitrogen, torches, fancy garnishes and what have you. Cross from Vault Bar & Lounge, who used to be a chef, showed how the kitchen and the bar are coming much closer together, by completely reinventing the '90s nightmare with his 42 Rosemary Chocolate Martini which was topped with a Sichuan pepper foam. Alex of Volar, the second runner up will join Cross and Johnson Ren from Aria at the China World Hotel (the winner from the Beijing leg) in representing Team China in Queenstown, New Zealand for the grand final shakeoff. We didn't get to sample any of the winning creations (nobody knows we're a cocktail connoisseur), but before Cross heads down under, we might make our way to Vault and get him to make us his rosemary choctini (mmmm... death by chocolate). Once again, we hate to come across as taking yet another tired jibe at Bar Rouge, but service kinda left a lot to be desired (and we know we aren't the only ones complaining) on an otherwise splendid evening in a fabulous location. [Photos by Don Yap]

Shanghaiist has been feeling very French of late. After wondering when Paul was going to re-open and hanging out at Bar Rouge's "Excusez-moi" party... well, we had dinner in La Crêperie - Shanghai's new and so far only eatery devoted to crêpes from the Brittany region.

Shanghaiist grudgingly attended the "Excusez Moi" launch party at Bar Rouge last night, a new monthly concept that brings "a unique sensual-chic experience to Shanghai’s nightlife scene." While we weren't exactly "swept away by a wave of sensuality," there were a couple of guys without shirts there. Oh yeah, and a girl in a bra! Naturally, we could hardly control ourselves at this "Red Hot" event with all our "deepest fantasies" come true. This was Shanghaiist's first time at Bar Rouge, but sadly, the best thing we have heard about it, the balcony and view of the Bund, was closed off that evening. Probably to protect the locals from raunchy foreigners. Luckily, we weren't roofied at all, and the women seemed to refrain from doing strange things with champagne bottles, despite the ad's encouragements. (Apologies for the blurriness in some pics, we're still figuring out our new camera!)

The sad thing is that this will probably work. Someone finally found a way to out BonBon the folks at BonBon. On the positive side, all of the schemey types that you didn't want to meet, but have more than 100 RMB in their pockets, will probably be at Bar Rouge on Thursday night. Which means I should be safe to roam the rest of the city at will.

For one reason or another, when it comes to nightlife, Shanghaiist has its reservations about the Bund. Sure, we do the promenade/requisite bar crawl when out-of-towners come to play but, at the end of the day, we’re just not sold on it. (Our aversion was further amplified upon recently discovering a Facebook group called “THE SHANGHAI ELITE” – yes, they’re so elite they need to shout their name wherever they go. The activities of this group – Shanghai American School repruhzent! – revolve around “wild, breathtaking, heart aching, crazy and absolutely WiCkEd and crazy SHIT”. Among the ELITE’s favourite clubs, according to a recent thread, are Bar Rouge and Attica. We rest our case.)

Shanghai. It is all happening. Here's the proof:

Back in late February, a 10 percent swoon in China’s equity market touched off a global sell off. Had you NOT listened to us and bought in on the dip, you’d be sitting pretty and swimming in coins like Scrooge McDuck. Yesterday, the Shanghai Composite Index crossed 4000 for the first time ever, a whopping 50 percent higher than where it stood at the end of that dreadful day just two months ago, and on the heels of a 160 percent gain last year. Sorry, we were dead wrong. Now we hear stories of people pawning their homes, cars, children to raise capital for the stock market. Very sensible indeed.

Word on the street is Thailand had a little political shakedown this past week: Something about a Prime Minister being ousted and tanks rolling in the capital city. Kids these days … Not one to be out done, and perhaps to reclaim the spotlight, Shanghai (well, actually the order came from Beijing) stirred up a political tumult of its own, sans armored vehicles and AK-47s, but equally as CNN-worthy.

Shanghaiist has a new favorite bar in town, and it’s great. It’s stylish yet unpretentious, has great cocktails, and a killer view. It’s ... Glamour Bar?!? Who knew! Adjoining old Shanghai chestnut M on the Bund, Glamour was once a nice place to chill while waiting for a table, but was easily outshone by the flashy upstarts elsewhere on the Bund.

GigShanghai: A blues messianic, Recycled music, nose fetishes

GigShanghai: West Virginia house, German metal and ass beer

To save the awards going to the usual places (not that they necessarily mean much, with all due respect to That's Shanghai), nominate your own choices. You think the dumpling hole-in-the-wall near your apartment has the best outdoor seating? So say so! Don't let expat housewives and Bar Rouge coolios apportion out all of the votes. We will definitely plump for Big Bamboo as the best sports bar though. Get cracking then.

That's the title of a two-week-old post at ChinaRant.com that, if true, could signal an alarming (but not surprising) new trend in the Shanghai bar and club scene. Or it could just be an isolated incident. Either way, girls (and maybe guys, too) should travel in groups, watch their drinks and look our for their friends. The story told, which appears to come from a real person, is about a girl having a great time at Bar Rouge -- dancing, enjoying the view, trying not to be singed when they light the bar on fire, etc. -- and then suddenly being "slumped over the sink in the bathroom." She said this wasn't your normal drinking-related slump over the sink, either. They are convinced that someone had drugged her drink. "Roofie," as you may know, is short for Rohypnol, which is the trade name for Flunitrazepam, a powerful sedative and skeletal muscle relaxant commonly referred to as the "date rape drug."

Recent reviews of the best burgers in town made Shanghaiist want a drink -- a cocktail, to be exact. Don’t get us wrong, we love our local favorites -- we’re addicted to Xinjiang Black Beer now that it’s stocked at the nearby convenience store. We’re even known to occasionally take a healthy shot of baijiu alongside our Qingdao Beer during dinner. (At least, we think so -- we usually don’t remember the details of baijiu nights.) But when the Black Beer’s sold out, and baijiu doesn’t feel quite right (does baijiu ever feel right?) a cocktail can hit the spot.

There are probably some pretty good Shanghai vids at toodou.com, too. Unfortunately, this Shanghaiist can't read Chinese ... yet.

Shanghaiist occasionally heads to the Bund for a night of entertainment. (No, not Bar Rouge. Preferably a burger and a couple of beers at Noah’s). To get there, we take the metro and get off at Henan Zhong Lu, walking the rest of the way to the Huangpu. And every single time as we ride the escalator from Exit 3 of the station up to the street, we can’t help but notice the city’s most bizarre billboard (pictured).

A commenter over at Gridskipper seems to think so. Although that same person insists there is "no snobbery" at the bar at Bund 18 and that $7 cocktails are a bargain. Another happy customer says at Bar Rouge you'll find "gorgeous people" and "flaming buckets of champagne all around" -- it's "decadence at its best."

For those who think that The Bund is a one-trick pony of drinks and fine dining, it might be worth taking a quiet stroll inside the newly renovated Shanghai Municipal Archives for a taste of something different.

We know we've already told you this, but here's more anyway. B:lo, the offspring of Madam Zung and the Zapata's/Sasha's/O'Malley's empire has closed its doors forever. They canceled next Friday's much-anticipated drum and bass bash after experiencing a disappointingly (although perhaps not surprisingly) low turnout for last Saturday's Ministry of Sound gig -- really, there were less than a dozen people when we showed up. Unfortunately there will be no official closing down bash, which means no free or half-priced drinks (aww, we love cheap booze). This comes as a huge blow to the night scene -- we have lost the venue that brought us our first ever 16-hour parties! Oh well, more time for Shanghaiist to train for the Shanghai Marathon (seriously ... and not just for the post-race parties, either!).

Chinese cities are notorious for their pace of change. In particular, restaurants and bars tend to open and close with stunning speed. The editors of Lonely Planet must have a nightmare on their hands trying to keep track of it all. In fact, Shanghaiist’s edition of LP -- which we think has only just been superseded -- includes entries for Rollo di Pollo (a pizza restaurant at the back of M on the Bund) and Shanghai Sally’s, among other anachronisms. And last year, Time Out released a Shanghai guide which, in the space of about two or three pages, mentioned Cotton’s, Red on Anfu Lu, the Kiwi Bar and a bunch of other venues that had already sadly departed. (Okay, nobody was too sad about the Kiwi closing).

Shakespeare used this biting line to refer to the brain of a dim-witted character in As You Like It. But it would also fit the bill if you were describing Shanghai's present weather.