Flask Speakeasy Reopens, and With a New Bao Bar Out Front

By Betty Richardson

Gone but not forgotten, FLASK bar (the one with the coke machine entrance) has reopened at a sleek new location on Xiangyang Bei Lu. It's right next to the new Beef & Liberty, and Shanghai's first Moka Bros. Boy, must be great to have an office in that area. 

To the outer world there is the façade of a bao bar, Tiger Bites, which by itself is totally worth visiting. Great okonomiyaki bao and pork belly fries, which you can also eat inside the bar until 2am(!)

Eagle eyed readers will notice the coke machine entrance is gone, and no, it's not being replaced. They're tired of the whole schtick, which they say was so widely copied that you can find a coke machine secret entrance at a bar "in every province of China."

Like the first FLASK, and the group's subsequent ventures Botanist and Fumi Coffee, they've stuck with Italian architect Alberto Caiola, who has been given a free reign to design the new entrance – a simple revolving door that leads to a mirrored black corridor with lights. The visuals carry suggestion that one is being 'whisked back in time,' à la Back to the Future to the old Flask. 

And it is, virtually the old Flask. The tall, compartmentalized bar is instantly recognizable. As is the seating area, gallon jar wall divider and the jaunty, prohibition reeeeemix soundtrack.

Look familiar yet?

Fans will also find the drink menu unchanged from the old space, think twisted classics with the odd gimmick thrown in for good measure. They come quick though, quick enough to keep the crowd here going 2am.

FLASK, 108 Xiangyang Bei Lu, by Huaihai Zhong Lu 襄阳北路108号，近淮海中路

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