Low light, good drinks and somewhere to talk: the Shanghai bars we would pick for a night for two.
Last checked 14 November 2026. No bar paid to be included.
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Speakeasy
No. 10, The World's 50 Best Bars 2017
Shanghai's original speakeasy, hidden behind a bar tools shop since 2014 and led by Shingo Gokan's SG Group. Classics downstairs, rare spirits and refined cocktails upstairs, plus private rooms. It has been No. 2 in Asia and No. 10 in the world.
📍 579 Middle Fuxing Road, Huangpu, Shanghai
🕒 Daily 6pm to 1.30am (OpenStreetMap; check before you go)
Cocktail bar
Sam Kuan's bar with marble counters, a lofted second floor and two house rules, the first being that the bartender is always right. Custom cocktails from more than 100 ingredients, plus tributes to Dick Bradsell.
📍 51 Fenyang Road, Xuhui, Shanghai
Hidden cocktail bar
A discreet hideaway behind a hidden door, founded by Joseph Boroski, with a mahogany bar. It was known for having no menu, though one is now there if you want it. Pricey.
📍 Jing'an, Shanghai
Cocktail bar
An intimate bar opposite Wukang Mansion with about a dozen seats, all about classics and gentle twists.
📍 Opposite Wukang Mansion, Xuhui, Shanghai
🕒 Daily 11am to 2am (OpenStreetMap; check before you go)
Listening bar
A Japanese-style vinyl listening bar founded by Gary Wang, with a slanted, atmospheric room and cocktails made for sipping.
📍 Shanghai
🕒 Daily 7pm to 1.30am (OpenStreetMap; check before you go)
Tap a pin for the bar. Numbers match the list.
Start with Speak Low, Barules, J. Boroski, Bar No. 3 and Root Down. Our full list has 5 bars.
This guide is written by the team at M.AD Agency. We run Cocktail Week, the ten-day cocktail festival held town by town across the UK and Ireland. Since 2022 we have taken it to more than 20 towns and cities and worked with hundreds of bars. We put this guide together from our own research, Asia's 50 Best Bars results and trusted local guides.
No bar paid to be included and nobody can buy a place. We check the guide regularly as bars open, change and close.
Run a bar in Shanghai that should be here? Get in touch at hello@cocktail-week.com and tell us about it.
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