Three years ago, the 1979 shopping complex looked like a failing retail venture: bored security guards roamed hallways lined with empty, padlocked storefronts. Today, there’s a three-story coffee shop, New York style pizza and some of Shenzhen’s finest new restaurants – all apparently thriving on our weeknight visit.
At the back of the area, with AstroTurfed putting greens abutting its wall, is Luxury. Despite the name, the decor is unpretentious. Within the single-story space, twinkling Christmas-style lights hang above a long sofa that curves toward the bar’s dimly lit rear.
Make no mistake, the drinks are premium priced, but the quality matches the cost. The first page of drinks on the bilingual menu is original to Luxury, the brainchildren of the head bartender, known simply as ‘Feng.’
Feng’s kiss – the drink, not the action – uses single malt whisky, pineapple and orange juice (RMB88) . In Chinese we’re told it’s like a real kiss: the first ‘taste’ is sweet but then it turns strong and a bit bitter. The description proves true.
The RMB88 girl’s skirt has another moniker that invites a double entendre, but it’s also a sweet sip that should be taken seriously. By the time our lips touch the ice at the bottom of this egg-white-topped drink, we’ve deemed it one of the best ‘girly’ drinks we’ve had in recent memory.
At this point Feng pauses, sits down and begins talking about a beautiful woman he knows from Beijing. She favors tequila, drinks like a majestic fish and is the inspiration for an off-menu cocktail: Beijing girl (RMB98).
Based around silver Patrón and sprinkled with rose petal powder, the drink is finished with a touch of something odd or original, we’re still not sure which. Feng sprays the top of the glass with a mist of the tatted-up, felon cousin of the baijiu family: erguotou.
The tinge of bitter liquor doesn’t overwhelm the sugary drink, but it also doesn’t add much to it – the only unfortunate moment of the evening when reality falls short of imagination.
Price: RMB100
Who’s going: in-the-know cocktail connoisseurs
Good for: quiet dates, drinks with a story
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