Bar Moderne

What: Hamilton House’s recently renovated, rebranded lounge.

Why: You have more money than taste.

How much: Cocktails RMB 65. Martinis RMB 100 – 150. Beer RMB 45.

Where: 137 Fuzhou Lu, near Jiangxi Lu. Tel: 6321 0586.

Promoted as a throwback to the heady days of 1930s Shanghai, freshly opened Bar Moderne is Hamilton House’s new lounge cloistered in the eponymous Gothic-Deco landmark. Yet, with its excessive use of white and silver, a velvet-lined, backlit bar that wouldn’t look out of place on a cruise ship and a large picture window offering views into the washroom, the interior seems to feel more 1980s Miami than anything else.

The prices certainly reflect this era – audaciously exorbitant. From a fairly limited drink menu, a cool RMB 150 buys an uninspiring Grey Goose martini with a rather curious and unwelcome citrus aftertaste. The olive toothpick didn’t even begin to fit the glass and was only salvaged from its submerged depths after the majority of the drink had been consumed. The RMB 65 Spiced Rum Old-Fashioned, while certainly easier on the credit card, was over-iced and a touch heavy on the bitters.

Other small red flags betrayed characteristic, post-opening teething issues: tetchy staff, slow service in a quarter-full venue and overly loud, funky house that didn’t fit the space – the forlorn, forgotten piano in the corner agreed with our assessment. Fortunately all these concerns are fixable and with any luck Bar Moderne, with its inherent appeal to the ultra-trendy, will be able to ride the wave of Bund-area success into the future.