New Bar Alert: Sober Company, Speak Low's F&B Super Project

Shanghai’s trend of mega F&B super projects has struck again. The latest Frankenstein (we mean that in a good way) is Sober Company, an effortlessly dapper restaurant/speakeasy/café brought to you by the Speak Low team. 

Sober Company is the name of the place, but once inside it’s split into three sections. You may find yourself a little confused at first but it’s all incredible so don’t panic, here’s a little help to set you straight.

FIRST FLOOR

THE CAFÉ: SOBER CAFÉ

The entire first floor is their café, which they’ve coined ‘Sober Café.’ It’s classy, homely design, somewhere between euro café and New York diner. They’ve got ice cream, all-day breakfast, coffee drinks and assorted apertivos and coffee cocktails, which are all on point and reasonably priced enough to make this a regular spot. 

 Coffe & Tonic, RMB 55

They’ve also got a great outdoor patio, which faces out onto the intersection of Nanchang and Yangdang lu.

View of their outdoor patio, currently occupied by tons of congratulatory flower arrangements. 

SECOND FLOOR

THE RESTAURANT: SOBER KITCHEN

When you’ve had your fill of coffee cocktails and olive oil cake, it’s time to head upstairs. There are two options here: a set of stairs on the left, and one on the right. Left goes to the bar (we’ll get there in a minute), and the right takes you to their restaurant, ‘Sober Kitchen’.

On the wall of Sober Kitchen there’s a big sign that says CANAL ST in the same style as the New York subway station at China town, and that’s no coincidence. Much like the (semi-recently) closed Fortune Cookie, Sober Kitchen serves their very own version of New York style Chinese/Asian food, hard to pin down but spectacularly mouth-watering. 

 KFC (Ka’s Fried Chicken), RMB 90

 Dan Dan Tacos, RMB 70

 Pi Dan Tofu, RMB 55

They’ve also got a sprawling wall of windows looking out onto the streets below, which fill the space with great natural lighting. You can grab a seat at their long wooden tables, perfect for a family or big group. There are also smaller tables that have mahjong tile surfaces and a couple more private booths. 

The kitchen even has it’s own little bar, with two, slightly more private booths beside it

Drink from the Sober Kitchen menu: Canal Street, Chrysanthemum infused pisco, lychee, pomegranate, lemon. Served in a teapot over dry ice, RMB 10

Lolita From Nolita, Cynar, Punt-e-mes, sweet vermouth, hua mei, chocolate bitters, soda water RMB 90

THE BAR: SOBER SOCIETY

Hidden latch lets you peek into Sober Society from the hallway, little details like this are all over the place at Sober Company

Lastly there’s the bar, Sober Society, which you can get to through a light-bulb-filled urinal hallway from the Kitchen, or if you would’ve taken the staircase on the left from the café. The cocktail lounge and bar has some sultry jazz/speakeasy vibes, similar to Senator Saloon but very much its own thing. 

And just when we thought we’d had enough of the speakeasy thing, alas we’re thoroughly impressed. The drinks aren’t exactly economical, but they’re stunning and as good as any we’ve had in the city. 

Matatlan (RMB 130) Mezcal, Tequilla, sweet vermouth, amaro, bitters, pepper smoke.

SPEAKEASY INCEPTION: TIPSY

The icing on the cake: the speakeasy HAS A SPEAKEASY. That’s right, we can’t disclose too many details, but there’s a hidden door that leads to another smaller, more private bar called ‘tipsy.’ Overall, Sober Company is a mammoth undertaking that has been done impressively well. Food, drinks, design, all get an A+ from us and we’ll be back again soon for brunch…or breakfast… or dinner… or drinks at the bar. 

Sober Company

Address:99 Yangdang Lu (near Nanchang lu)

Hours: Café (8am-1am weekdays, 2am weekends) Restaurant (5pm-midnight)

Bar (7pm-2am Sun-Thur, Fri, Sat 3am.)

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