Bar Reviews: Haven, Kaiba Tap House, Kartel, Stocchi

Haven

By Campbell Browne

What: Highly exclusive vampire themed club

Why: OMG! You’re, like, totally Team Edward

How much: RMB 500 entrance fee

Where: Dream Wharf, Building 3, 1029 Zhongshan Nan Lu, near Duojia Lu. Tel: 3331 0202

Theme club virgins beware – there’s new blood on the South Bund, and it doesn’t totally suck. For most of the month, Haven is closed to the public (we can only assume it’s harbouring the undead on these off-nights), but the vampire-themed club opens it doors to mere mortals brave enough to cross its threshold on the first Saturday of the month.

If the cloaked guards greeting the fragile humans with bowed heads didn’t give away the premise, the Dracula décor sure will. With candlelit marble staircases leading up to gothic ceilings and balconies offering perfect vantage points for stalking your prey on the dance floor, the entire place just seems to whisper of elicit acts that would make Anne Rice blush.

The cocktail menu lists more than your typical O Negative and Bloody Mary. Sponsored by Grey Goose, the staff is still a little fuzzy on what drinks will be making the rounds come hard opening, but expect tipples for hardest of Twi-hards served by barkeeps in ghoulish facepaint.

If you’ve made it this far without losing a pint or two, try to slink through the shadows past the guards to the VIP room. After you’re forgiven your trespasses, take a dip in the private pool while flames lick the deck surrounding the water. If nothing else, it’s the perfect place to mull over your immortality.

In the realm of theme bars, Haven goes just far enough to guarantee a bloody time. We didn’t necessarily say good. Crucifixes optional.

Kaiba Tap House

By Andrew James

What: Third branch of the beloved Belgian beer bar

Where: 202 Taikang Terrace, 169 Jianguo Lu, near Ruijin Er Lu

How much: Drafts from RMB 40 – 55, bottles from RMB 35 – 588

Why: You want the strongest pale ale in Shanghai

If Taikang Terrace hasn’t popped up on your radar, it’s likely due to an overabundance of art galleries and a concerning lack of booze. Belgian beer bar Kaiba is set to change this with their latest location situated on the second floor of the new development.

The dimly lit bar is Kaiba’s attempt to get off the bottle, deciding to focus on draft beers. Although it’s still early stages for the bar – they haven’t officially opened yet – they’ve already lined up seven unique beers on tap; including  Maredsous Blond, Vedett Extra White and Extra Blond, La Chouffe, Rogue Dead Guy Draft  Ale and Dead Guy Chocolate Stout and De Koninck Draft, with an eighth on the way.

The beer menu ranges from affordable (RMB 40-55 for draft) to ridiculous (RMB 588 for a 75cL bottle of Bush Prestige) and offers up all of the regular Kaiba specials including two-for-one ladies’ night and discounts on monthly beers. The high ceiling, cement and wood plank walls, baked brick floors and steel seating complete the relaxed atmosphere. Although it strays slightly towards a classy version of Road House with tin beer advertisements decorating the barn board walls, the music is decidedly un-Swayze and runs from hip-hop to hipster country (ie Johnny Cash).

The key attraction is the terrace that runs the length of the bar, and sits noise-complaint close to the neighboring apartments and draws the majority of the crowd. Service is as friendly as a Belgian beermaid (that’s a good thing), and they’ll walk you through the menu if too many Hoegaarden Forbidden Fruits have left you confused as to whether you want a Lindemans Faro, Pauvel Kwak or Abbaye Des Rocs Brune.

Kartel

By Kirsti Jönson

What: ‘Destroy chic’ lounge... whatever that means

Why: Because you love to drink fine wine in a bathtub-cum-sofa

How much: Cocktails from RMB 55 – 120, bottles from RMB 170 – 12,880

Where: 4-6F, 1 Xiangyang Bei Lu, near Julu Lu. Tel: 5404 2899

Three floors of French panache, Kartel uses its location in the heart of the French Concession to its full potential. With no tall buildings obscuring the views, its floor to ceiling windows and rooftop terrace offer 360 panoramas of downtown Puxi – a trend we love that seems to only be gaining momentum.

Presenting la crème de la crème of French goods, the menu is heavy on the wine – unsurprisingly, since the owner also opened the Francophile vin destination Dr Wine just around the corner. In addition to the by-the-glass/bottle options, Kartel also incorporates the harvest into its cocktail list by offering wine-based mixed drinks, spiced up with Sichuan peppercorn and ginger. They hide their wine cellar on the fourth floor, and go all Wayne Manor on you by hiding a secret door behind a wineshelf. The cloak-and-dagger entrance opens up not to a drug den like the bar’s name suggests, but instead to Kartel’s very own wine school (although the institution is still in the works).

Barflys with an appetite should head on up to the fifth floor, where nibbles like a blue cheese and walnut tartine are served alongside drinks. Here’s where you’ll find the refurnished bathtubs that have found new life as sofas, spotlighted, of course, by lamps in shower fixtures. Inevitably, though it’s the top floor open terrace that will see the most traffic, at least until winter’s chill blows into town.

Stocchi

By Melissa Trias

What: Chocolate Lounge Bar

How much: Chocolate RMB 1/gram; Cocktails RMB 70

Where: 185 Fumin Lu, near Julu Lu. Tel: 5404 2815

Why: Two sins, one bar

After the enormous success of hoF, it’s no surprise that the idea of a chocolate lounge is catching on in Shanghai. Stocchi, the latest bar to pair desserts with drinks, offers its selection of chocolate bonbons, petite cakes and sweet cocktails from its expat-friendly location on Fumin Lu.

Ideal for nights when you want a tipple without losing your friends in the crowd, the bar is intimate without sacrificing the fun factor. Lip-shaped sofas that melt into the dark purple walls are perfect for cuddling up in, while colourful lights add a tinge of Euro clubbing to the atmosphere.

When it comes to drinks, Stocchi’s menu tends toward the luscious. Sip your way to Indulgence, a cocktail that’s as smooth as velvet, or the Elixir of Love, a dose of mojo in a glass. Just as sinfully delicious was the Fruit & Nut Choco Tini. With amaretto, cherry liqueur, crème de cacao and cream, the cocktail is certifiable for a dessert menu. In the end, it was more like drinking a cupcake than downing an adult beverage. Not that we’re complaining – we licked our lips to the last drop.

Sure it might sound like a bar for the ladies, but Stocchi is trying to draw in customers of all genders by offering new products at their bar every Tuesday and Friday, the most recent of which is their chocolate beer. Pandering to the male sex has never tasted so yummy.