Tsim Sha Tsui Bars and Live Music Venues
Hotel bars, live music venues and odd little dives—the nightlife scene over on “The Dark Side” isn't what you might expect.
It all starts rather innocuously at 8pm on a Thursday night—of course it’s a Thursday night—when my cousin Maine and I meet up at Knutsford Terrace. The scents of different cuisines—Middle Eastern, Indian, western—waft through the air; and the subdued bustle of the place is comfortable and familiar, considering the mini-strip has been the backdrop to many a giddy night for us. Knutsford has a bit of something for everyone: dim holes-in-the-wall; quality classic drinks and live music at All Night Long (G/F, 9 Knutsford Terrace, Tsim Sha Tsui, 2367-9487); and Turkish meze, shisha and belly dancers at Merhaba (G/F, Yiu Pont House, 12 Knutsford Terrace, Tsim Sha Tsui, 2367-2263).
We bypass our usual haunts and try out one of the aforementioned dim-café-like bars called The Birdcage (2/F, 15 Knutsford Terrace, Kimberley Plaza, Tsim Sha Tsui, 2316-2288) that we need to walk through a Chinese restaurant to get to. Called a “Shanghai lounge,” it’s decorated with golden double-happiness symbols and, confusingly, what look to be Christmas lights with fake flowers wound around them. We’re about to pass on this watering hole until we catch sight of the cocktail list, which features a number of Chinese liquors. We decide to sample some—even though when we ask the server what “hua diao” is, she rather unhelpfully answers that it is a type of Chinese liquor. Right. (It’s actually a type of Shaoxing yellow wine, according to omnipotent Google.) Our drinks—an “Oriental Zombie” and a “Dynasty”—are both almost neon-colored and taste kinda like a mix of artificial fruit flavorings. We speedily gulp them down while sitting on the terrace, then get the hell outta there. (Well, no one can say we aren’t adventurous.)
A quick walk ‘round the corner from Kimberley Plaza takes us to the Luxe Manor, where we peek into the sophisticated Dada Bar and Lounge(The Luxe Manor, 39 Kimberley Rd., Tsim Sha Tsui, 3763-8778), with its dark purple color scheme, comfy-yet-classy loveseats, intricate tables and golden chandeliers. It’s completely empty, but the host informs us that there’s live jazz music on weekends—local aficionado Eugene Pao is among the headliners of this month’s lineup. So we save Dada for another time and walk down a floor to FINDS (2522-9318), where most of the other patrons are sitting down to dinner. We peruse the drinks menu at the bar amidst the buzz of muted conversation. Their signature cocktails are innovative concoctions like the Earl Grey Martini, which jumps out at us instantly. Made of vodka, Cointreau, cucumber, lemon, lime, elderflower and apple juice, it’s truly delish. Molecular mixology snobs—I mean, enthusiasts—will probably be interested in FINDS's regular Molecular Mixology Tuesdays.
Since it’s getting late and we’ve only explored one street of the entire district, we get a move on and walk down Kimberley Road—past multitudes of wedding stores closed for the day that look kinda creepy after hours—to a decidedly more dive-y part of town. The ground floor of M1 Bar (B/F-G/F, 80 Kimberley Rd., Tsim Sha Tsui, 2311-9922) looks innocent enough, but its basement is filled with magnetic dartboards and a karaoke machine. We try to figure out how to select a song when not one, not two, but three servers descend upon us, demanding that we order a drink. Since the cocktails look like they were named by an army of 13-year-old boys (e.g. “Good Sex,” “Vibrations”), we clear out pretty quick.
We reach Chatham Road South and head over to Tsim Sha Tsui East just as the night is really starting to pick up. There’re plenty of classy hotel bars to pick from, like V Bar & Lounge (G/F, Regal Kowloon Hotel, 71 Mody Rd., Tsim Sha Tsui East, 2313-8788) and Tapas Bar (Lobby, Kowloon Shangri-La, 63 Mody Rd., Tsim Sha Tsui East, 2733-8756), but we end up heading to the waterfront, where rival live music pubs blast tunes right next to each other. With its killer live band, casual atmosphere and flat-screen TVs (which were showing a soccer game that night), Bulldog’s Bar and Grill(G5-UG5, Tsim Sha Tsui Centre, 66 Mody Rd., Tsim Sha Tsui East, 2311-6993) lures us in. We hunker down right in front of the stage and grab a beer.
We reluctantly depart to cap off our night back where we started—next to Kimberley Road, at The Mira hotel. We’ve heard great things about the open-air seating, Arabian nights and live DJs at Vibes (5/F, The Mira, 118 Nathan Rd., 2315-5999), but we opt for low-key lobby lounge bar Room One (2315-5888) instead. The quiet, comfy booths are the perfect setting to wind down a night.