Club Reviews - C Club, Green Parrot, Drop and Home
Hong Kong is a strange place for its night life. Hong Kong, for its size, appears less vibrant than it actually makes itself out to be. Certain parts are 24 hours although unlike the centre of London, which is a-buzz pretty much 24 hours in a day, these pockets of activity are not really that lively. The Hong Kong nightlife is usually confined to two distinct areas - Lan Kwai Fong on Hong Kong Island and Mongkok and TST on Kowloon side. I’ll admit I travel less to the Kowloon side than I should, and a recent escapade reminded me that most of the better looking girls are on that side.
For the Hong Kong side, Lan Kwai Fong represents the focal social point for many in Hong Kong. It’s a slightly unbalanced mix of people - expats, asian expats and locals. It’s hard not to find a bar to have a good time in…although if dead, then just get up and leave. Try experimenting, that’s what I would initially suggest. But if you want to take the easy route, then well, here are my two cents worth on four places in and just off Lan Kwai Fong.
I’ll have to be honest but I must say that over the summer in HK, the quality of girls actually goes up somewhat (well, and the guys too if you ask my female friends) as the returning overseas students bring the in-your-face American beauty and attitude. It’s like an injection of youth and coolness. This applies to C Club and the other places that I’m reviewing here. So the quality of “talent” should be adjusted according to the necessary seasonal factors.
The C Club
This is one of those upmarket places with a queue and there are no trainers allowed. The queue is there because it is most likely to be full and from my experience, Hong Kong’s queue’s aren’t directly related to the exclusivity factor as they are in London. The C Club is next door to California and I’m not entirely sure if they are owned by the same company or not. Don’t make the mistake of going into California - that’s passed its prime a long time ago (Some time after late 2000, as I was still going there then).
C Club is the one that you have to walk down the stairs to go in. The best day to go is on Wednesday which is “Model’s Night” or ladies night. I’ve been there on both ladies night and on a regular night and I must say that the quality of people are well, pretty, well groomed and well, the beautiful people shall I say. It does have its fair share of pretention but I guess that’s to be expected at 60 bucks for a drink.
C Club, being the popular place that it is, has plenty of seating but in most cases these are private tables and private areas. These places are expensive in the UK to say the least, I have a feeling that in HK these places will have a similar price tag. It’s also quite cute to see people about half a decade younger than you living the high life. I remember doing it myself and enjoying it. Now that I look back, you look more like a kid and a spoiled brat than ever(which is probably why Brat Pack is the name of one of these successful promotion companies in England). And in a place where the average person doesn’t learn to take care of themselves until they leave home at early 30’s, financial responsibility isn’t high on the list for a lot of these kids.
The place plays R&B and Hip Hop. Bumping and grinding seems to be happening in bucketloads over there. And because you are dealing with the level of society that can afford (or at least tries to look like they can afford) to look great, all the close body contact its not such bad thing to watch. The place does get crowded over the weekend and I have a feeling its shut on Sunday. With the economy the way it is, I imagine that its empty during the week although I’m sure that there are few die hards in there (especially over the summer).
Would I recommend it? Yes, over summer, when the cute girls come back to spawn….sorry, rest… Otherwise, its one of those places to be seen and to be shown. I reckon its the Cafe de Paris of Hong Kong. Exclusive but open to many posers.
The Green Parrot
Okay, in contrast to the C Club, there is a place just further up the hill in LKF. It actually has a more local flavour to it although it is styled into an American sports bar. The clientele is mostly Cantonese and they have live music most evenings. The band is strangely enough Thai and they usually work on 6-month rotation. Apparently, the manager puts together the band in Thailand and then exports them here and then well, sends them back as far as I know. Seems a strange arrangement but I haven’t really pryed too much into it.
The place gets packed over the weekend, summer or not. The sounds of popular drinking games - such as Sap Ng Yi Sap, Di Wah Sik and Hang Won Sik- can be heard and add a vibrant charm to the place. The music is often lively and the band plays a mixture of English and Cantonese songs, which of course appeal to the mainly Cantonese clientele there. The singers, at the moment, two lovely Thai ladies, Vicky and Oom, come out and get the audience to sing, often making it an impromptu karaoke session. And they do most requests.
The drinks aren’t the cheapest but the place, like so many bars, is plagued with promotion girls with the latest discounts. If they haven’t accosted you before you’ve had a chance to sat down, call one over and ask what the promotions are.
For those celebrity hunters amongst you, I did see Edison there once but have no idea whether its a regular venue. He looks more gay in person than in the pictures.
Drop
Okay, swinging back to other side of the spectrum, we’re back at exclusivity but this time away from LKF. In fact, this next place promises to be a little more exclusive than C Club. I have a feeling that it is a private members club. I’ve been twice to Drop and the one time with a member and the other with somebody who had booked a table in another name. So I’m not too sure on the nature of the place.
Drop seems to be a place that people make their way to later in the night (or earlier in the morning) and it seems catch the Liquid leftovers who are still keen to party. It’s located behind some shops in between Hollywood Road and Lyndhurst Terrace and besides several bouncers, you wouldn’t realise the place was there.
Once you’re in the place, it’s actually quite small. It’s probably one of the smaller night clubs in HK with the exception maybe of Pillows. This means that a lot of people can be crammed into a really small area space….and the music seems louder. Plenty of seats but most are adorned with the standard Reserved sign. I enjoyed myself less at Drop than I did at C Club. Maybe its because I was spoiled on the quality of women at C Club that, considering the smaller sample size (due to the space limitations), I wasn’t a happy bunny. Also, maybe because both times I went, I was tired and really just wanted to go home.
It’s nice place to go to after you’ve been to other places and you still want to lose some energy after they have shut. For a more chilled out time, I recommend…
Home
No, not home but Home. Actually, I think it’s called Homebase but everyone refers to it as Home. This place is located on Hollywood Road, just opposite the police station. It’s on the third floor of this building that is next to Pacific Coffee. To be honest, avoid this place early in the evening. Go there about 1 am in the morning. Things start to kick off then. The reason for this is that it serves as point to really end the evening. People will often filter from LKF, Alibi and so on to Home.
One of the unique propositions to Home are these ridiculously large sofa’s that are actually beds. It’s hard to describe but it is reminiscent of the Arabic style of entertaining. There are only two of these bays and so, high demand for them. It’s a great way to just sit and chill with friends. Recommend it, but price tage to suit.
At the moment, I don’t have the addresses of these places…but they will be following soon.
