Bar Reviews
Tuesday, 09 February 2010 08:02
Written by Ned Kelly

---

This new lounge bar in the basement of new Peninsula Hotel on the Bund is based on Madame Ning, a fictional Shanghai socialite and avid explorer.

The place is cram packed with her travel mementos, art and other miscellaneous ‘objets.’ The resulting decor is busy, slightly bonkers and a bally good laugh. The central bar and stage area – animal skin print stools, swirling chandeliers and a spiral staircase – is surrounded by four themed alcoves: a screening room showing old reels and hung with posters from cinema’s golden age; a maharajah’s sumptuous sitting chamber complete with a silk-cushioned sofa and peacock feathers; a submarine with a periscope, deep-sea diver and a shark’s head smashing through the metal paneling; and an artist’s studio in which everything but the furniture is upside-down – the book-lined walls, paintings, fireplace and even a bust and an easel on the ceiling.

Madame Ning’s drinks are delicious and the cocktail menu expansive, if a touch expensive (RMB90 per drink), as are the modestly portioned bar snacks. We recommend the Pink Panther martini with grenadine and lemon juice or the longer, fruity rum and blue Curacao-based Under The Sea. All the while you can enjoy a live band fronted by none other than a runner-up from China Idol, we might add. The repertoire fluctuates between toe-tapping classics and soft rock poppycock, which (dare we admit) is actually a lot of fun once you’re into your cups. Is it an everyday bar? If you’ve got the cash, why not? But even if you’re strapped, it’s worth at least one visit for the sheer novelty value.

Tue-Sat 8pm-1am. All cards. B/F, The Peninsula, 32 Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu, by Beijing Dong Lu (2327 6731) 中山东“宦 32号,近北京路

Next >