You need to be looking for Yoka Balance to find it. The unassuming Ginza-style cocktail bar is just a few blocks north of the more highly trafficked part of Shaanxi Bei Lu, home to Up Shanghai, The Rooster and more. Look for the subdued-yet-glowing circle of light next to a nondescript pale wooden door, and you’ve arrived.
The bar is run by Chinese mixologist Yang Hua (who also goes by Yoka) who trained with a Japanese teacher. Painstaking attention to detail – from ice cubes carved into shapes and sizes to match the cocktail ordered to the correspondingly different glasses – puts them squarely in the Ginza genre of bartending.
Split between a bar where you can maintain eye contact with bar staff, thanks to a slightly lowered workspace – reminiscent of Bar XYZ – and a cozy semi-private area to the back, the low-lit rectangular space lacks style. Barring a pretty painting of a crane, the art seems picked at random. Equally unremarkable are the dulcet tones of the cookie cutter Japanese bar jazz playlist.
The more aesthetically pleasing illuminated back bar shows off a decent variety of gin and whiskey alongside entry-level bottles of Bols (in various colors), Peachtree schnapps and Fireball cinnamon whiskey. The use of flavored liqueurs and mainstream brands over homemade syrups and small-batch micro-distilled booze eliminates the smoke and mirrors. All that remains is finding out whether or not these guys can mix a balanced cocktail.
Image by Cristina Ng/That's
When presenting the Sloe Gin Forest (RMB80), Yoka explains his aim to transport us to a magical and relaxing wooded area. This original cocktail combines Hayman’s sloe gin with Remy Martin V.S.O.P. cognac and ginger ale. It’s a pleasant long drink that would be improved vastly by switching out the Schweppes ginger ale for a more upmarket brand.
Image by Cristina Ng/That's
Things went awry from there. A good Sidecar (RMB80) is potent yet balanced mix of flavors, but they overdo it on the Cognac and bracingly tart lemon juice.
Image by Cristina Ng/That's
Also missing the mark is the Bourbon Old Fashioned (RMB90) made with a full cube of sugar and topped with a cheap, artificially colored cherry better suited to a Shirley Temple. Our companion likened the tipple to Scandinavian cough syrup.
Image by Cristina Ng/That's
The last signature drink, Los Nuits d’Hadrien (RMB90) begins with a perfumed aroma followed by the crazy taste of Laphroaig 10, Peachtree, Pernod and Yellow Chartreuse. If fruit, licorice and smoke are a match made in heaven, this cocktail fails to make that known.
Close your eyes and imagine a time before lauded Japanese-style bars like Speak Low, Avenue Joffre or Ars & Delecto graced Shanghai. Ride the time machine all the way past the dawn of this century when the original Constellation opened. That’s when we would have raved about Yoka Balance. As the situation currently stands, we see much room for improvement.
[Cover image by Cristina Ng/That's]
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