Dada
Not here for the live jazz every Thu-Sat, 9pm-1am at the Luxe Manor’s spectacularly over-the-top lounge? Well you can always pick a dark, discreet corner and choose a stylish chair from any era—it’s now the perfect time and space to reject the prevailing standards of contemporary theater and compose anti-art poetry in Dadaist fashion. Feel like prose? Write manifestos against the office bitch with a group of anarcho-political friends over glasses of the delicious Salvador Dali (black-pepper-infused vodka, Amaretto di Saronno, essential oils of lemon and lime, grilled pineapple chunks and maraschino syrup). Surreal!
2/F, The Luxe Manor, 39 Kimberley Rd., Tsim Sha Tsui, 3763-8778.
Varga
Choose your décor in this unique neighborhood bar—downstairs is French chinoserie boudoir with elegant chaise lounges, upstairs is a svelte bachelor pad. Talk about the nostalgia that the gorgeous pin-up girls on the walls evoke, or existentialism, Vedic philosophy, or basket-weaving, et cetera. Or perhaps, channel your inner gossip-queen with their Green Fairy (absinthe and pineapple juice) and just let a session of good ol’ hearsay blossom naturally into a carnivorous garden of vicious man-eating flowers. Classy!
36 Staunton St., Central, 2104-9697.
Salon de Ning
In this opulently decorated bar lounge, pretend you’re a clique of fabulous jetsetters who flit from Africa to the Swiss Alps to Shanghai. Muse insipidly about how gruesome the two-hour flight was without Valium. But everything’s alright once you recount your affair with that hot Argentinian tango instructor as you sling back your Ning Sling, a sensual union of passion fruit purée, lychee liqueur and Absolut Mandarin garnished with mint and lychee. And you shan’t be wearing a wife-beater or flip-flops please, you’re a jetsetter. Exclusive!
B/F, The Peninsula, Salisbury Rd., Tsim Sha Tsui, 2315-3355