If you’re looking for tea and cake, you’ve come to the wrong place. Not to be confused with the Tianhe Hilton’s similarly named cafe, T Lounge Bar has just opened above Bosphorus Turkish Restaurant on Jianshe Liu Malu. Occupying the top two floors of the building, it clearly has ambitions to be a pre-club cocktail spot.
Vodka, rum, gin, brandy, tequila and whisky – the gang’s all here, mixed into mojitos, margaritas and Long Island iced teas, all for RMB70. The choices are diverse and largely stick to the classics, with a couple of addendums. For instance the T World, a mix of gin and spearmint wine that’s breath freshener in booze form, making you feel like a model in a toothpaste commercial about to blast an unsuspecting passerby with an exhalation of ice crystals.
If you opt instead for straight spirits, be it scotch or bourbon (RMB50-80), the staff (ever attentive and helpful) will offer to serve it with cubes or a hand-carved ice ball – a sure sign, if ever there was one, that a place has high-end aspirations.
Before you select your beverage, however, you’ll need to choose between the lounge and the terrace. Both are cozy spaces to relax, though the view from the rooftop is certainly no stunner. The prevailing sights are of rundown apartment blocks and neon business signage.
Plants abound, both inside and out. In the lounge, the effect is to remind one slightly of a conservatory – one that is incongruously appointed with kitschy chandeliers. Unlike places that adhere to one style with strict precision, this is a venue that mixes different types of chairs and sofas together, the overall effect being to make it feel more welcoming.
Artisan flair is heavily implied in the manner of the bartender. While drinks are certainly better than the run-of-the-mill dross, true cocktail connoisseurs will find themselves merely satisfied, not impressed.
// 4-5/F, 1 Jianshe Liu Malu, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou 广州市越秀区建设六马路1号4-5楼 (020-8382 3653)
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