New restaurant: Kico Club

By Matthew Bossons, July 24, 2015

Xingsheng Lu is home to a myriad of different bars, lounges and nightclubs, and while they’re all independent establishments, many locations feel no different than the business next door.

There are exceptions to this rule, but for the most part, bars on this particular Liede street are generally unmemorable and a rip-off of something that came before it.

Kico Club is one of Xingsheng Lu’s newest additions and, although it makes great effort to be noteworthy, it falls short in a number of key areas.

Kico’s greatest asset is its beautifully designed interior, which features an impressive clash of wood, metal, cement and red brick. It also has two floors, the lower level home to a lounge-like restaurant while the upper one is a small but functional club. The ground floor also plays host to a large and bustling patio that’s perfect for enjoying a beverage in the sun.

Billed as a German restaurant, the venue does serve some German delicacies – but it also boasts pizza, sandwiches, pasta, steak and salads, along with dessert options.

If you want to order within the restaurant’s advertized theme, try the German cheese sausage with roasted mashed potatoes (RMB88). The spuds – pulverized to the point that they are essentially soup – are mediocre, but the sausages are as hearty and German as it gets.

If you prefer your German food with a strong dose of tomato sauce and cheese, then the German sausage cheese pizza (9-inch for RMB58, 12-inch for RMB78) is a must try. Other menu highlights include the fried Alaskan cod with large prawns (RMB138), black pepper beef fried spaghetti (RMB42) and the always-delicious German cheesecake (RMB48).

Drinks are soundly priced (by Xingsheng Lu standards), with a whiskey sour selling for RMB58 and a pint of Hoegaarden going for RMB60.

The food is good quality and the prices are equitable, but Kico Club hasn’t yet done enough to set itself apart from the countless other options lining Xingsheng Lu. Having a club upstairs is definitely a bonus, but the menu is largely more of the same, and that’s a real shame.

Price: Approx. RMB120

Who’s going: After party crowds, the young and restless

Good for: Lounging, feelings of deja vu

// For address, see listing.