Atop Jing’an’s McKinnon Hotel is new a bar: Above the Globe, an Art Deco-informed lounge from Eddy Yang of the renowned Tailor Bar. If you’re wondering why you’ve never heard of the McKinnon, that’s because it isn’t real. Completely outfitted as a hotel but never accepting reservations, it is instead the site of the acclaimed immersive theater production Sleep No More.
A silent, suspenseful take on Shakespeare’s Macbeth, audiences are taken on a journey throughout the faux-hotel, each room hosting its own scene. Having opened last December, the show is sold out months in advance, despite costing RMB650 a pop. Above the Globe, however, can be accessed without purchasing tickets.
As an homage to The Bard, menus are separated into three categories: Tragedy, Comedy and History. Tragedies are dramatic and bitter, a number of them with coffee bases.
The eponymous Sleep No More (RMB100, above) sells itself as successor to the erstwhile King of Caffeine Four Loko, packing a triple threat of illy-Coffee liqueur, espresso and mate tea. The result, a long drink with Remy Martin VSOP, is surprisingly thin and weak.
Libations on the Comedy menu are supposed to be light and fun, though the Sam and Oli (RMB100) lacks vibrancy. The biggest downfall of this drink is the addition of Haig Club whisky, which despite being passionately endorsed by David Beckham is perhaps the single most revolting liquid one can insert in a drink. It honestly tastes worse than cheap vodka.
The real winner may be the History menu, featuring drinks like the Harvard and Yacht Club, which surely deserve to be consumed in a mahogany library full of the original works of Henry David Thoreau. One gem from this menu is the Clover Club Cocktail (RMB100), an ethereally beautiful pale-hued number with gin, raspberry syrup and egg white.
The bartenders here are consummate professionals and aren’t afraid to go off-menu. After complaining to our companion (loudly, in retrospect) about the bitterness of our first drink, the Bijou Cocktail (RMB110, below), staff went out of their way to recommend our next one, a deliciously spicy Penicillin (RMB100, below last), customizing it to a flavor they thought we’d enjoy more.
Perhaps it was because there were few other people in the place, but they always seemed to be attentively making note of our likes and dislikes so they could ensure we left satisfied.
Apart from the beauteously appointed bar, stocked with an exceptional selection of spirits (this is an Eddy Yang’s concept, after all), Above the Globe is a little Spartan. The main seating area has all the atmosphere of an empty nightclub, though we imagine this changes once filled with post-performance theater goers.
Price: 100-300 per person
Who’s Going: Young locals, theater geek types
Good For: whisky-based cocktails, small-medium groups
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