From the folks who brought you Summer House comes the latest club to juice up Foshan’s nightlife in Lingnan Tiandi. Set on the third floor overlooking a maze of stone alleyways and beside a rustic bell tower, Marmalade blends the line between fine dining and clubbing, inspired by what one would find in downtown Berlin or Amsterdam.
Stop in when doors open at 5.30pm and you’ll be escorted past the stage and bar area to seating in the loft or outside on a terrace. High ceilings and full windows cast light onto tables adorned with silverware, prompting guests to taste delicacies from Italy, Spain, Greece, Germany and even the Middle East, paired with a glass of wine. According to the club’s founder and manager, Andreas Schultz-Zehden, Marmalade imports all labels directly from a handful of wineries in France and Spain, avoiding unnecessary markups from middlemen (wines average RMB300-400/bottle).
Guests can choose from main dishes of prime steak, pasta and salads or lighter options to share over drinks, such as meat and cheese platters. But Marmalade turns the most heads with its oysters, which are imported fresh from the shores of Normandy. Though we only had room to sample the ice cream – a rare French variety sold exclusively at five-star hotels in Shanghai, Chengdu and Guangzhou – we can only imagine the other dishes would literally sparkle against the club’s candlelit, minimalist white palette.
Stick around until 9.30pm and you’ll see waitresses promptly remove silverware from the tables before dimming the lights, allowing a rich, blue glow to saturate the walls. We’re told the dining area can be transformed into a catwalk for model shows, but the real party commences in the front room, where international DJs, solo singers and Brazilian dancers invigorate the stage. Live performances continue until 1.30am and alternate every half hour, though parties generally last even later.
With a bright, open atmosphere, Marmalade easily distinguishes itself from Summer House’s dimly lit, furtive ambience. The club may emphasize its dining component, but the spotlight clearly falls center stage. Embrace the bright lights and “show yourself,” as Schultz-Zehden would say. It’s time to get some bread on that marmalade…
Price: Approx. RMB150
Who’s going: The smart European, self-diagnosed party animals
Good for: French oysters, nightly live entertainment until 1.30am
// Listing.
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