Since The Boulevard opened a year ago, the bookcase-door entrance has become somewhat of a tired trope, spreading to at least two other establishments in the city. With this in mind, newly established speakeasy-style bar FLASK has brought something new to the table, by having patrons pry open and walk through not a bookcase, but a refrigerator at the back of a Spartan fresh juice joint on Shaanxi Nan Lu.
Within, the décor, too, is an artful recreation of the now-familiar Shanghai speakeasy. Staff in slacks and suspenders ferry prohibition-era cocktails past luxuriant leather armchairs and bookshelves stocked with dusty tomes, typewriters and analogue cameras. FLASK is also home to an eclectic array of anachronisms that somehow blend in easily with the period theme, from giant brass rings, black cubes and musical instruments suspended from the ceiling, to a wall of mysterious jugs that resemble early-stage homunculi.
Only a single sheet long, the drinks menu is deceptively short. On the first side, cocktails are divided into 'His' and 'Hers' sections with the former offering sweet and delicate concoctions such as Taiwan Plum Soup (RMB90) and the latter proffering heroically named creations like the Robin Hood Roy (RMB90).
The menu's Tardis-like nature is revealed on the back page, however, as it enumerates an international selection of 46 different whiskies spanning the Scottish highlands to Taiwan's northern plains and the Kentucky bourbon trail, glasses of which range in price from RMB75-200. Although there’s not much food on offer yet, they plan on rolling out a full menu of snacks and sandwiches soon.
FLASK's invariably classy and stylish clientele trickle through the fridge-door from 10pm onwards, but the space - dark and windowless as the genre dictates - nonetheless retains a sense of spaciousness and privacy. For a niche whose novelty may be wearing thin, the place still offers enough creativity and quality to make it a welcome addition to Shanghai's bar scene.
Price: Cocktails from RMB80
Who’s going: Local hipsters, expats in minority
Good for: Impressing a date, small groups, hiding from prying eyes
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