Once again, your boy is back on the streets, checking out some new places for drinking in the city. These are not cocktail reviews. Vibes, music, conversation, stories, and sound take priority. The search is on for characters, good chat, challenging drinks, grandpa drinks in rocks glasses, and loud glassware.
Bar Closures, News, Whispers, Hunches
Found 158 is under construction again
Something major is happening at Found 158, aka The Pit. Everything is gone except for a couple of newer bars by the West entrance, and the whole complex is under construction. A big sign by the old Taxx/Arkham entrance says "Play X Shanghai Coming Soon". Play X has a huge multi-venue complex in Shenzhen (it's home to LeBaron Shenzhen) as well as a venue in Chengdu.
Needle in C-Park, right next to Reactor
Listening-ish bars are a big theme in this edition, and there's another new one over in C-Park. Reactor just opened Needle, right next to their club. They say it's a vinyl library with 3,000 records from around the world, plus coffee, craft beer, wine, and light bites. Dammmmnn.. 3,000 records? Remember URVC? Reel to Reel??
Finally, someone has already moved into the Xingfu Lu house that was once called HUNT. It's called SKY Bar, and it's apparently a "Southeast Asia bar". Right. They're offering one of the wildest deals in town: 68rmb for ten beers. And that's right across the street from the izakaya with the 50rmb free-flow deal. Sorted.
Alright let's get into this month's new spots.
Anthem
Listening bar-ish places are having a moment in Shanghai and I'm here for it. After many months of anticipation, Anthem on Jiashan Lu finally opened last week and it's clear why it took so long. Everything looks painstakingly considered – like if Lexus was a bar. The menu paper, fonts, coasters, custom slipmats – it all fits together. A vintage Blue Note incense holder. A little Sun Ra figurine. The books on the shelf and the smell of the hand soap. The guy behind Anthem spent 15 years in advertising and VI design, and you can tell. His Xiaohongshu documents the entire build.
Then there's the sound system. It's serious vintage hi-fi gear sourced from the US and Japan, with pieces going back to the 1960s and 1970s. The menu has a whole page for the details. Like cocktails and cigarettes, sound system preferences are personal, and yeah, this one sounds good. More importantly, they play great tunes. Spiritual jazz came through with clear mids and highs – you could hear the separation between instruments and still talk to the person next to you. Notes seemed to hit the walls and just float to you.
The drinks (108-128rmb) were way above average, too. The saketini was burly, balanced with the perfect touch of rice, and the coffee-cream highball was surprisingly complex, with barely sweet vanilla-flecked ice cream. Dip the bar snacks into the ice cream like fries into McDonald's soft serve. Even the water glasses sound nice when you clink them for a toast.
Places like this can easily veer into pretentiousness, but Anthem stays on the right side of that line (although a friend was told to quiet down on their visit). It looks fancy, but the staff are genuinely friendly and happy to explain the details. Fresh, exciting, and relentlessly considered.
Opia
Just around the corner from The English Corner is Opia, the latest bar from longtime Shanghai bar dude Daniel An (Taste Buds, Atelier). It's painted in a first cousin of Tiffany Blue and feels like a place to people-watch and take photos.
There's a U-shaped ring around the room, with the bartenders and DJ working below. It feels like an operating theater, and there's almost zero opportunity to chat with the bartenders. They're busy anyway – it's a high-volume spot. But you can try to talk to the people next to you. Lots of details feel curated for social media. The signature cocktails are printed on a hand fan, and they might give you a little container of popcorn, which contains a little fortune cookie, which might contain a prize. Mine was a flat coconut sago ice cream dessert that didn't get finished. Decent popcorn though.
The 9th floor terrace is the real highlight, with big couches and widescreen views. The drinks are pretty and whatever. One was tropical and refreshing and the other seemed confused, but they do have a sunset free-flow deal for 168rmb. Someone was DJing. Can't remember what they were playing, but the shrimp toast was pretty memorable. Service is friendly. I'd tried to come here before, at 1.30am, pretty faded, and was told repeatedly that they were closed. "Can I just order one drink?", I insisted. The manager declined, but offered to take a shot with me. "A light one.", she added. I think it was prosecco. She remembered me next time.
On a holiday evening, the place was brisk at 7pm and was at capacity by 9pm. It's a high-traffic bar in a high-traffic area – a place to check out once and take some photos after city walkin'.
Studio DRY · WET
Back to the topic of listening bar-ish places, there's a great new one on Fuxing Lu where Maolago used to be, and it feels more Southeast Asia than Japan. Oha Group (Bar No. 3, Pass Residence, Dead Poet) is still holding down this space, and you can see why – big windows, a rooftop garden, and a prime location. After Maolago closed earlier this year, they turned it into Balinese restaurant Holy Basil, which has already become Studio DRY · WET. Between the music, décor, and some of the cocktails, it feels like a cross between a treehouse and an underwater level in Donkey Kong Country, which is a very good thing.
You walk up the steps, which look like rubber LEGO bricks and feel extra safe for rainy days (or just falling down steps – it happens), and enter a dimly lit room full of cute lamps, chairs of various textures, bamboo, and a music cave in the corner. Some nice big vintage speakers by the bar are pumpin' out glitchy, warped music.With the turquoise beaded curtains, it could be a Pam Grier crime movie shot in Chiang Mai. The sound feels good, the volume is right, and they're curating a rotating selection of DJ mixes each month.
And the food delivers: a papaya salad with papaya cut thick like biang biang mian, a potato pancake somewhere between a latke and a gamjajeon with fish sauce, and some grilled chicken thighs done right. Drinks are impressive too, especially a simple long drink with coconut water, gin, and oyster, with a seashell tied around the glass. The bill came out to around 350rmb, which felt like a deal. This is a great example of how to stand out in 2026 Shanghai: well-considered, good value, refined and kinda niche but not pretentious, and fun.
House of Blues & Jazz
Where were you in 1995? Veteran actor Lin Dongfu was opening the first House of Blues and Jazz on Sinan Lu. You might know his voice from the Chinese dub of Transformers. Fast forward 31 years and they've moved yet again, to a sprawling fifth-floor space inside a century-old building near the Bund. Outside, an uncle asked, "House of Blues and Jazz?", and pointed up, then immediately asked, "Lady Massage?" We declined and disappeared into the vintage elevator.
The previous House of Blues & Jazz was a few blocks away on Fuzhou Lu. You could hear the music from the street, and there was dancing. This sequel isn't quite like that. The gigantic main room recalls the ballroom in The Shining, in a good way. On the night before the October holiday, there were about 16 people, including the three-piece jazz band and staff. This isn't a pop covers kinda spot. The band played some serious and often instrumental jazz: Thelonious Monk tunes, a Clifford Brown tribute, etc, with the bassist dropping just the right amount of banter. They charge a 50rmb cover for the music, and it's worth it.
A draft Brooklyn Lager arrived crisp and perfectly poured, but they were out of the Tsingtao Distillery single malt whisky. My companion went wandering and bumped into the owner, who gave us a tour of the back rooms and roof. She explained how they moved the entire bar from the previous House, and that all the paintings were by her husband, the founder. Overall, worth checking out for sure. Just don't expect the same raucous energy that the old one had – not just yet anyway. Hopefully they get there soon. Take the stairs on the way out.
Caffè Yaya
Caffè Yaya is the third chapter in the Yaya's empire. The Italian-Chinese fusion spot started with Yaya's on Tongren, with mapo tofu lasagna and great lunch sets, then expanded to Nono's on Yongfu Lu, above where The Shelter once stood. For number three, they're in a hotel on Wuding Lu. It's a hotel restaurant/café/bar.
RoboCop 3. Terminator III: Rise of the Machines. Number three is hard. Something about the space feels off. Could be the feng shui, those food-courier robots schlepping waimai to the elevator, the uncle pushing the overflowing towel cart, or people checking in. You're constantly reminded that you're in a hotel, and not a particularly interesting one. It's a puzzling location, especially with Yaya's a few blocks away.
Service seemed confused, bathrooms were messy, and the food was just... alright. I had to remember there was even duck in the pasta, and the portions were small enough that we tried to get goose rice next door afterward. Spritzes, G&Ts, and similar cocktails are 78rmb, and the clarified coffee drinks are 48rmb and pretty nice. There are cool touches, like a word search on the placemat, warm candlelight, and an old-school Seiko clock, but somehow the place doesn't make you wanna stay.
One highlight though: the affogato. Painstakingly sculpted and worth the wait. Would come back for that. The cookie also looks promising.
If this was a hotel restaurant in like, Wyoming, it would be pretty awesome. But this is downtown Shanghai, and two non-alcoholic drinks, two small dishes, and an affogato came out to over 300rmb. There are more interesting menus for the same price or less even on the same block, and Saizeriya does an alright spaghetti and garlic-buttered shrimp too. Caffé Yaya isn't bad. It's just mid, and Shanghai doesn't have much room for mid right now.
Bar Cerino
After Yaya's and the goose rice that could have been, we headed south to Yongjia Lu to see how the other new Italian spot would compare. Cerino is a collaboration between London's decorated cocktail institution Termini and Shanghai's Triple Neck, with espresso by day, Italian classics and twists by night. The contrast between this place and the last was stark from the moment of approach. The man who greeted us might be the politest waiter I've ever met. We're talking one hand behind the back while presenting a tray of complimentary waters.
Even on a Monday the place was packed, and it took 20 minutes to get a seat – ample time to inspect the bathrooms. Wow. Impeccable, and stocked with everything from mouthwash to tampons.
The drinks (98rmb-128rmb) are strong and beautiful in a dangerously sexy way. If Caffe Yaya's is RoboCop 3, these drinks are Basic Instinct. They're 1950s-housewife-playing-bridge strong. One of them came out looking like a mirror – a mirror from which a hand might reach out and drag you in. The glassware. Damn. It's like what Gossip Girl parents drink from on special occasions.
They also have some granitas, espresso, gelato, cold cuts, and some of the best olives I've ever had. The one complaint is that the place was cold, but it makes sense to pump the AC when your staff are rocking three-piece suits in the early autumn heat. So yeah, strong drinks done well, and private-butler-level service. Definitely one to check out.
