Review | Drink enough at this bar in Shanghai and you enter a hidden speakeasy: it’s a great concept, let down by the food
- Sober Company’s speakeasy Tipsy can only be accessed with three tokens, which you earn through drinking in its cafe, restaurant and cocktail bar
- The drinks, made by Japanese bartenders, were amazing, but the food was less inspired
Sober Company in Shanghai has a wicked marketing strategy to get people drinking, and it works like a charm.
It’s separated into Sober Cafe, Sober Kitchen and Sober Society – and as you consume alcohol in each space, you get a token.
The mastermind behind the three-in-one concept is award-winning Japanese bartender Shingo Gokan, who also founded one of the city’s most famous bars, Speak Low.
Our evening started with pre-drinks at the Sober Cafe, which serves a range of tea and coffee-based cocktails. The oolong high (55 yuan; US$7.76), a mix of vodka and cold brew beauty oolong – which the waiter had recommended during our last visit, was disappointing this time. It’s designed to be consumed before the meal, so it’s meant to be light. But with the flavour of tea barely there, it tasted watery.
