THIS is the New Yongkang Lu - And It's Open Until 2AM

By Ned Kelly

You can't keep a good bar street down... although you can force it 'underground.'

Our sources have confirmed that many a fine Yongkang Lu, and a number of non-YKL establishments will be repopulating that previous pit of iniquity Datong Mill, now known as Found 158 (but that name might yet change), the basement level space sunk into a park on the Julu Lu / Ruijin Lu block.

Beloved live music venue JZ Club is making its new home down there, after closing on Fuxing Lu back in May, and the place is already under construction. They will be launching their annual Jazz Festival next month, so aim to be open by mid-September. Expect other venues to be throwing those doors wide very soon after that.
Leading the charge are French Kings of Shanghai Cafe Society, Cafe de Stagiaires. They just won Happy Hour of the Year in the 2016 That's Shanghai Food and Drink Awards.

Another award winner, Mexican restaurant and margarita slinger El Luchador, will be also be expanding their Aztec Empire down there. The Camel Group has also taken a second smaller spot for a venue based around seafood and Chinese craft beer - it will be called Hooked.

Big, big, BIG news - also in are the people behind super popular Chinese fusion restaurant Xixi Bistro, who will be opening a new concept restaurant in Found 158 (as well as a Xixi Bistro somewhere else, watch this space). The restaurant was forced to close on Wuyuan Lu due to licensing issues back in May.
Also jumping into the fray is Genesis, AKA 'the coolest bar you have never heard of,' although we've been told they are throwing a 'Michelin star chef concept' into the mix. Wowsers.

Finally, walk past JZ Club to an indoor area and you will find a huge (HUGE) cavernous room. Going in there is a beast of an immersion theater called Queen of the Night that will seat some 350 people. There you'll be dining while theater happens around you.

Jazz, Chinese fusion, Michelin star concepts, immersion theater... this place sounds a lot classier than humble old Yongkers. And a large step up from Datong Mill's previous incarnation.

If you had not heard of it, Datong Mill opened a good while back when we still had a memory (don't anymore, so we're gonna guess it was about 2010) and had a bar that was an airplane called Departure 10 Ultra Lounge (below) where the adventurous could join the 20-feet-below-street-level club.
It also had lots of bars that got it namechecks on blogs with names like happymassage.com. Yes, it was that kind of place...

More recently it has hosted the occasional event - the guys from Kick the Gong Around held a Vintage Tribal Fest there last July, which was jolly good fun.

Okay, that's it for now. More from the rumor Mill as we hear it. We can't wait to start Milling around down there. Be put through the Mill. Tilt at Mills...

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