Results tagged “winopete”

The Park Tavern (840 Hengshan Rd, near Tianping Rd) had its secretive soft opening almost 3 weeks ago. Opened by Gerard and Kinsey (ex Blarney Stone) and managed by Stephen Sands (ex O'Malleys, Fosters), this place was brought to our attention by some local, loose-lipped leprechauns. The place is beautiful: it's a 4-level extensively renovated old house very close to Xujiahui Park. There's a basement sports bar with pool table, darts and large TV screen. On Level 1, there's the main bar with 50-inch screen plus a tables and corner couches. Outside, there's seating in the front garden. On Level 2 there's another bar with less tables, suitable for smaller gatherings, and then there's a large terrace on the 3rd level providing an abundance of outdoor seating, with another large screen for avid sports fans. Each level has a separate satellite TV feed to enable the venue to show different broadcasts simultaneously. The Park Tavern's style is basically Anglophile-Expat, but they'd rather not be pigeon-holed into any stereotyped category such as sports bar, Irish bar or American bar. Wall decorations, at present, are minimal.

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HAPPY DRINKING!

Heading south down Hengshan Rd from Dongping Rd, turn trustingly left down a dark lane with a large ad for Yang's Kitchen on the wall. Keep walking till you see an old villa on your right-hand side where there is a faded brass plate with the faint engraved lettering "Le Garcon Chinois." (Actual address is No.3, Lane 9, Hengshan Rd). Go up the stairs and you are there. Le Garcon Chinois restaurant has a cosy and unpretentious bar that serves good quality drinks at very reasonable prices. There is an extensive cocktail list with most drinks priced RMB35-55. House spirits are mostly RMB35-40, including Bombay Sapphire and Tanqueray gins, both at RMB35. Vodka sippers can enjoy Grey Goose for RMB55, while Tequila massacists can revel in self-destruction by slamming down shots of Jose Cuervo 1800 at RMB45 a pop. Even though the bottled beers are run-of-the-mill, they are good value priced between RMB20-25 (Qingdao RMB20; others RMB25). For those on the wagon, soft drinks are also priced RMB20-25. Wine drinkers will be pleasantly surprised, with several wines available by the glass priced from RMB45-58, with the pick of the bunch being a fine Bordeaux red at RMB58. Should you wish to indulge in a bottle, a good selection is offered with this scribe noticing Vasse Felix merlot, Petaluma chardonnay and Henri Bourgeois sauvignon blanc. Being located close to many other well known expat bars and restaurants, this place should be on many more drinkers' drinking circuits. Go give it a try.

Living up to its name, the decor is predominantly red, including red lighting, red sofas, red walls, red backed chairs and even a red surfaced pool table. There's a corner lounge with its own small screen TV, a bar with seating for about eight amply-built foreigners, one nice sturdy table that seats about seven, then there is a lot of small tables for couples or small groups, with some tables on a split level higher than everyone else, apart from the band. The pool table is unfortunately positioned very close to the seats at the bar. Better hope the owners have insurance for flying pool ball-caused injuries — it's a matter of when, not if. There are also some screens for watching sports broadcasts and music videos, including a pull-down screen in front of the stage, another one near the bar and the small TV facing the corner lounge suite. Apparently, USD300,000 was spent on renovating the place and taking care of all the proper licensing fees.

HAPPY DRINKING AND MERRY CHRISTMAS!

BLUES ROOM GRAND OPENING: Tonight (Wednesday Dec 12TH), 8-11pm, FREE vodka cocktails and snacks. Live jazz. Be there! RUBY RED WHITE BORDEAUX TASTING: Something special for wine aficionados this Friday (Dec 14th, 7.30pm): Ruby Red is holding a tasting of 6 Bordeaux white wines - 3 dry whites and 3 Sauternes, including Chateau D'Yquem and Lafaurie Peyrageuy!! A fantastic opportunity to taste these famous wines. Given the wine quality to be offered, the cost is...

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...

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...

DONGPING ROAD: DOOMED OR REDISCOVERED? As some readers may know, the strip of Dongping Road on the south side from Hengshan to Yueyang Roads is leased to the bars, restaurants, tailors etc by the music college behind them. Most of the leases are coming up for renewal over the next 2-12 months.There has been some concern that the music college may decide to reclaim their land for their own expansion purposes, rather than renew the...

CARMEN RESTAURANT: Carmen Restaurant recently materialised on Xikang Lu, near the even newer Steak and Eggs. Passing by, what caught our eye was their blackboard promotion for all you can drink: 50RMB for chicks and 80RMB for blokes. Went inside and discovered the deal was just for draught beer (Carlsberg) and cocktails. OK, could be acceptable, but decided we'd better try their cocktails first before committing to an all-out drink fest. Winopete chose a G&T that was actually quite decent. A friend opted for vodka and tonic which was also quite satisfactory. What was not so good was being hurried into deciding did we want the all-u-can-drink deal or single drinks, and also being asked to pay before a sip of alcohol had passed our lips. Furthermore, this night a bunch of rowdy German card players to descended around us which led to the staff cranking up the music to a very conversation-unfriendly level. The timing of both these events led to us upping and leaving. The mouldy-looking furniture for a brand new venue is never going to earn brownie points with me, but a decent all-you-can-drink deal grabs our attention, especially given the dwindling reputation of Bon Bon. The bottom line is we'll try Carmen again.