Note: Lou Shang Bar & Café is now closed.
Don’t give up if you can’t find Lou Shang Bar & Café. With a name that translates to ‘the bar upstairs’ in Mandarin, it’s only apt that the bar is located on the first floor, somewhat hidden behind a wooden sliding door. Only a small signboard of a lady and a cup that’s visible from the main road marks the spot. Husband-and-wife team Manfred and Ai Peng wanted to maintain an air of mystery and intrigue about the bar – hence, the discreetness.
Lou Shang is partly inspired by Manfred’s bar-hopping adventures when he was studying and bartending part-time in Sydney. Originally a boutique, the duo changed it up entirely by adding a balcony and converting the back office space into a kitchen. Overall, the bar is homey and inviting. It’s accentuated with lots of wood, from the furniture pieces to the wooden floors, along with the occasional pops of colours. There’s also a DIY light fixture fashioned out of a tree branch from Manfred’s mango tree just above the makeshift fireplace. You’ll also find lots of quirky things around the bar as well, such as a deer head wall mount brought back from the UK and posters from Prague by artist Alphonse Mucha, which are all alcohol themed.
As for cocktails, Lou Shang is best known for their Asian-inspired cocktails. Must try cocktails include the assam laksa cocktail, the lou han guo gin cocktail called Serenity, and the Uptwon Monk which has dark rum, yuzu, plum, calamansi and cognac.