We've heard about this for a while, but never managed to head down so we weren't sure what to expect when we got to Kommune the other day. An OCN-style networking mingling over dinner? Thank god for the laidback Aussie nature, it's more of a cozy get-together among friends, i.e. booze and all-you-can-eat BBQ minus the pretense. So the price has now been upped to RMB 148 (from RMB 100) with two drinks thrown......

We're always on the look out for a cheap pint, because we're tight and like a drink purely as a service to you dear reader. Unfortunately, unless you like sharing your table with overly friendly bar staff and/or cockroaches, finding a decent beer that doesn't hurt your wallet can some times be a little tricky in this city. It'll come as no surprise for you to learn then that when it comes to buying a......

In our ongoing quest to keep you updated on the sugar free food and beverage options in Shanghai (and to keep with our tradition of posting stories that are "SOOOO interesting"), we thought we'd mention that locally branded Coca-Cola Zero — a sugar free carbonated beverage that "unlike the sugar-free Diet Coke, is formulated to taste like Coca-Cola," according to Wikipedia — started being available in Shanghai grocery stores and convenience stores sometime last week......

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Cooler-than-thou hotel URBN on Jiaozhou Lu (Jing-An) is having licensing issues with its hotel bar, but the "room twentyeight" restaurant is in full swing serving moderately pricey (around 150RMB for a main) food and a good range of drinks. Their cocktail list is one of the most interesting we've seen in quite some time with the standout being the 'Tiger Rouge' featuring:Pisco (a Peruvian spirit)Pineapple, Raspberry and Lemon JuiceBalsamic VinegarFresh Basil Odd, but it works,......

By Jake Newby Let there be rock! Alright, it's not the real AC/DC obviously. Shooting to thrill instead will be a Belgian tribute band. Yep, that's a Belgian AC/DC tribute band. Magic. Rock 'n' roll ain't noise pollution and these lads from Belgium are supposed to deliver a pretty high voltage performance that will shake your foundations. They've headlined festivals all over Europe and have even opened for the mighty Status Quo, leaving their audiences......

GUINNESS PRICE GOUGING UPDATE: In our last post, we accused Big Bamboo (132 Nanyang Rd) of having the most expensive draft Guinness in town at RMB70 (their new price, as of a few weeks ago). Apparently that is incorrect. Since then, a Shamrock snout has reported to us that actually the priciest Guinness in Shanghai is somewhere in Xintiandi where they charged RMB88 a pint! Holy Hippopotami! We'd be interested to find out which establishment......

RYE WHISKEY AT MARTINI BAR: D&G Martini Bar (1/F, 6 on The Bund) has acquired a limited stock of Templeton rye whiskey, probably the only rye whiskey commercially available in Shanghai. Martini Bar has specially prepared some cocktail recipes featuring this much sought after liquor including "The Horse's Neck" and the "Klondyke Clipper." Should you be a whiskey or Bourbon aficionado, mosey over to Martini Bar and sample one of these delightfully different drops. PUB......

This Italian delicatessen in the Old French Concession (Yongfu Rd) has been opened for a few months now, and manageress Alessia Vettore will not hesitate to open bottles and unpack fresh Italian cheese to seduce your palate. Even if supplies come in small quantities, the tiny place offers a wide range of “choice-quality traditional Italian products, including Modena balsamic vinegar, wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, dressings, pasta, ready-to-serve sauces and creamy savouring toppings, wines,......

Winopete has 'read' the dregs in his wine glass and come up with the following predictions for the Year of the Rat:Another 3 or 4 night clubs will open, and another 3 or 4 will evapoRATe into Shanghai's failed business netherland, with at least 2 or 3 of them being reincarnated as something else. We're not naming names yet to avoid legal complications.Pudong will remain a wasteland for iRATe pub-goers, with salvation only delivered by......

WHAT TYPE OF DRUNK ARE YOU? When you get pissed out of your mind, are you a harmless drunk? A violent drunk? A poetic drunk or what? We all prefer not to meet a violent drunk because that's just trouble, and it's then up to somebody like a Zapatas bouncer to take him out. Loquacious drunks, like a German acquaintance, are pains in the backside, but it's usually easy to make a quiet exit. Then......

We seriously LOVE some of the things we hear about going on in our city. Yes, some of the people we meet here can be harsh and mean, but this story goes to show that humanity still exists in Shanghai. Two weeks ago, Rebekah Pothaar, an executive with Ctrip.com, found that her ayi's husband was in a serious motorbike collision. They went with her to the hospital and found that surgery was going to cost......

Most of the time when we need liquor we head to Carrefour, City Supermarket, or any of those types of places; but we are now happy to report that we found one more option: 9519, a Chinese somewhat upscale liquor store that's stocked with baijiu, huangjiu, vodka, gin, vermouth, red and white wines, beers, and even some fancy old-fashioned wine sets (ceramic, similar to a sake/wine set). The name is meant to sound like 酒,我要酒......

This is your final warning! Where: Shanghai Studio, No.4, Lane 1950 Huaihai Zhong Lu, near Xingguo Lu (淮海中路1950弄4号,近兴国路) When: Tonight, 9 pm until the last demon is exorcised! Drinks: RMB 25 beers, RMB 30 standard drinks and house wines Entrance: RMB 35 (includes a free beer or soft drink) For those of you who still haven't gotten your costumes (shame on you!), you still have a few hours left! See photos of last year's party......

Thank God it's Friday, and it's two and a half hours left to the Shanghaiist Happy Hour! Come alone, or with friends, colleagues or dates! Come right after work, or come late! When: TONIGHT, June 15, 7 pm to midnight Where: Abbey Road, 45 Yueyang Lu, near Dongping Lu, in the former French Concession. Tel: 6431-6787 Highlights: Drinks 50% offMusic: Beatles covers galore!Free finger foodCome dressed as a Beatle (or beetle) and get a free......

Twenty-six hours until the next Shanghaiist Happy Hour ... and we've got our work cut out for us. We have to sort through more than 12 hours of Beatles covers songs — an amount that is illegal in most countries. Thanks to our readers (and BitTorrent) we have unearthed some gems, though, and you can see the entire list as it stands today after the jump (believe it or not, we still hove some downloads......

We ask because for our June 15 Happy Hour at Abbey Road we are piecing together a playlist made up of all Beatles songs sung by other people. Personally, we are partial to just about anything by Elliott Smith, but we know there are many, many options out there — the Beatles are the most covered band in music history (or so we read somewhere). Last year, The Guardian had a nice little rundown of......

When: Friday, June 15, 7 pm to midnight Where: Abbey Road, 45 Yueyang Lu, near Dongping Lu, in the former French Concession. Tel: 6431-6787 Highlights: Drinks 50% offMusic: Beatles covers galore!Free finger foodCome dressed as a Beatle (or beetle) and get a free drinkLots of outdoor seatingEveryone is invited! This is your chance to go to a Beatles bar and not hear one song sung by the Beatles! Of course, the playlist will consist of......

Editor's note: Sorry for getting this up so late in the day. But if you still happen to be stuck behind a computer, there is plenty of time left to show your love for Australia! This isn’t the latest personals ad from Shanghai’s Craiglist, but a call to all Shanghai resident Aussie cobber digger mates to celebrate Australia Day. January 26th signifies an important date in Australia’s history. For most Australians, it represents an opportunity......

Just a friendly reminder that you can catch a screening of Wong Kar-wai's Happy Together tonight at 7:30 in the basement of ARCH. Drinks are 20% off, film and conversation are free! (IPR enforcers, please don't sue us). Also, you may want to arrive early — seating is limited down there. Happy Together (春光乍泄) at ARCH cafe, 439 Wukang Lu near Huaihai Zhong Lu, 7:30pm, admission free. Discussion to follow film.......

Thanks to the kind folks at ARCH, the second installment of movie nights at ARCH is going to be this Thursday, and the movie we will be showing is Hong Kong auteur Wong Kar-wai's (王家卫) Happy Together, starring Tony Leung and Leslie Cheung as gay lovers in Buenos Aires. If you've never witnessed what happens when you cross Christopher Doyle's cinematography with Wong's cinematic sensibilities, we could point you to numerous writings on it. Fans......

A lot of folks over at Shanghaiist are movie buffs of varying degrees, and we thought it might be nice to have a place where people can get together and watch and then discuss films over drinks. The folks over at Meiwenti Productions, who run the local DV filmmaking competitions you might have heard of, were into that idea as well, so here we are: ARCH cafe, Thursday, December 7. The movie you'll be watching......

Search YouTube for "Shanghai" and "Halloween" and the above is what you get -- a Halloween street party on Maoming Nan Lu from way back in 2001 (back when they allowed street parties on Maoming Nan Lu). Ah, those were the days! We'll keep this short, because we have a bomb shelter to decorate. We're looking forward to seeing your costumes tonight! What: Shanghaiist Underground Halloween Party When: Saturday, October 28, 9 pm - late......

Due to our strong personal convictions, we wish to stress that the Shanghaiist Halloween Party in no way endorses a belief in the occult (or Bollywood for that matter). -- Shanghaiist staff That quote makes a lot more sense if you have just watched the long version of Michael Jackson's Thriller video (or at least the very beginning of it) like we just did -- hard to believe it really scared us back in 1983.......

If you don't come to the Shanghaiist Halloween Party this Saturday, watch out. We're not saying a knife-wielding crazy man in a white mask will come after you ... but it's always a possibility. (Do not watch the above video if you don't want to know how the original Halloween movie from 1978 ends.) What: Shanghaiist Underground Halloween Party When: Saturday, October 28, 9 pm - late Where: Shanghai Studio -- A Bar in a......

We're all for cheap Coopers beer -- its great stuff. But drinking it nonstop from 7 pm to 2 am on Friday makes you pretty much worthless on Saturday ... hence the lack of activity on this site yesterday. From what we recall, the Dinkum Drinks Happy Hour at Senses Wine Lounge was a rip snorter of a party (we promise, no more forced Australian slang after this post). Great weather, good music, lots of......

In case you have missed -- and really, how could you -- we have been asking daily Aussie trivia questions in a build up to tonight's Shanghaiist Dinkum Drinks Happy Hour at Senses. The winners of these daily contests get a free drink at the party (if they can find us in the crowd). Well, we've saved the easiest question for last. Really, everyone out there should know this one. It's a three-parter, and it......

Only 26 hours to go before you get to drink cheap Coopers beer while wearing your Drizabones and listening to Regurgitator's "Kong Foo Sing." And no, we have no idea what any of that means. But we do know that we'd like to see you at the Shanghaiist Dinkum Drinks Happy Hour tomorrow night. And we do know the answer to today's Aussie trivia question. And if you you do too, Shanghaiist just might pay......

Today's Shanghaiist Dinkum Drinks Happy Hour reminder comes with another chance for you to have Shanghaiist pay for your first drink at the party Friday night. The first person to comment below (using a legit email address) with the complete correct answer to the following question wins. We'll put your name on a list -- track down Dan at the party, and he'll get you your drink. Here's today's question: Where's the most famous place......

We're sure you are all marking the days off on your calendar, but just in case, here's a reminder: Three days and less than two hours to the Shanghaiist Dinkum Drinks Happy Hour! Here are the fair dinkum details: What: Shanghaiist Dinkum Drinks Happy Hour When: Friday, Sept. 22, 7-11 pm (but we'll stay there longer than that) Where: Senses Wine Lounge, 515 Jianguo Xi Lu, near Wulumuqi Lu Drink Specials: 2 for 1 on......