The Fennel LoungeSee Address

Fennel Lounge is an exciting opening because it's run by the folks behind Anar and, let's face it, before it closed, who didn’t like Anar? The much-loved Xingfu Lu stalwart was a go-to pre-club lounge with an open-minded approach to music and a young, casual atmosphere. With two rooms, it was always the buzzy front of house that found the most favour with the bar’s devotees, a mix of monied destination drinkers and left-of-field types on loan from nearby DADA. Most of them, though, were indifferent to the bar’s back room.

The Core, later rebooted as Anar Lounge, was never altogether convincing and seemed to miss the point of Anar's allure. Its move upmarket, though, suggested the owners fancied themselves up there with the city’s haute cocktail dens. And, with Fennel Lounge, they've moved headlong in that direction – Anar, as you know and love it, has not been resurrected on Zhenning Lu.

This new opening is more grown-up, preened and postured. Attractive brown- and copper-coloured decor and restored wood floors have the feel of a fin-de-siecle antique shop. There are three rooms: a restaurant with a familiar roll call of Italian staples (nothing to get excited about), a central space with a raised stage for live music and the main room which cleverly marries a low-set, Japanese-style sitting bar concept with a roomy lounge area.
All the furnishings are new but some things have survived the move. As with Anar Lounge, the cocktail list here is underwhelming. There isn’t the science and wizardry of, say, Alchemist (or, for that matter, the finesse: cocktails are made super quick and service doesn’t exactly crackle). From the sweet and sour menu, the tall Jasper (68RMB), with coriander-infused gin, Ricard, alores yoghurt, honey and cucumber syrup, is a failure. Mild and flat, the foamy texture soon becomes watery and the cucumber does all the talking.

Better, but still only so-so, is the frothy, off-pink Rose (78RMB). Basically a steal on the cosmopolitan, vodka and Cointreau combine, but instead of cranberry it’s lemon juice and rose syrup. Ketel One offers some boozy temperature but still, taste-wise, nothing really moving. We retreat to the classics: an aviation (gin, lemon juice and marashino liqueur, 68RMB) is off-balance and too citrusy without the creme de violette (to be fair, this criticism applies to this cocktail citywide, we’ve yet to find it properly rendered). Our Manhattan (68RMB) was more convincing but a bit on the small side.

Food was impressive: from a decent list of bar snacks, mussels with herb sauce (68RMB) and a cold meats platter (78RMB) were more than passable. But, as a cocktail bar, this place falters in the same way as its previous incarnation. That said, it’s not, by any means, a lost cause: it's a hugely attractive-looking bar, there's Vedett (55RMB) and Marsdens (55RMB) on draught and a changing roster of DJs headed up by UDance's Mia will attempt to restore some of the clubby atmosphere of the old address. Perhaps it’s just that Fennel Lounge articulates something we'd quietly hoped it wouldn't: rest in peace Anar.

Alexander Barlow