Brown Sugar
Bldg 15, Xintiandi North Block, Lane 181 Taicang Lu ,
Xintiandi
near Huangpi Nan Lu, Metro Line 1 Huangpi Nan Lu Station
太仓路181弄新天地北里15号
近黄陂南路，地铁1号线黄陂南路站
5382-8998
www.brownsugarlive.com
service.shanghai@brownsugarlive.com
Open dinner 6pm-8:30pm; show time 9:30pm-1am
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- City Weekend says
This high-end jazz club and restaurant located at Xintiandi has all the elements of a good night out: food, drinks, music and dancing. Look for a mature crowd that's more interested in good tunes than getting their moves on. Avoid the table minimum by sitting at the bar while you enjoy well-mixed cocktails made with top-shelf liquors.
- Contributor Description
Located in the former ARK Live House building, this club brand originally made it's name for live jazz in Taipei and now hopes to make waves on the mainland with the frequent one-off events and the Brown Sugar All Stars.
Contributed by jessy1533
3 years, 5 months ago
Reviews
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Went to enjoy the live music , great guitarist , and key board, singing very inconsistent based on the singers booked. Non creativity in the songs song, repitition on what is song, bores the customer. Went 3 times heard the same ole same ole. Wait staff uniform lack the same excitement as the venue, to traditional black and white staff uniforms , doesn't blend well with decor. Staff attention to consumers is seriously lacking , and consistent hand waving is required to get the smallest of gin tonics refilled on a timely manner . One wine guy runs the floor with. A standard , rest of team falls far behind.
I went for Ladies Night which wasn't suppose to end for another 1hr but they stopped serving the champagne and just to get a Beer was 80RMB waaaay too much. The music was so so. When the band stuck to more traditional RMB or Jazz like music was better but when they tried to do Lady Gaga was not soo good
Being a fan of this club's original location in Taipei, I was delighted when they opened this Shanghai venue. The first 6 months was great - the place was not too crowded, the music consistently excellent, and then success and good business brought straight downhill sinve then. We are still getting friendly reception just because the staff & manager recognize us, but the service noticeably got worse and worse. The place gets too crowded and noisy, to the point on weekends there is no place to stand to enjoy the drink or the music. They raised the minimum and becoming really arrogant. The band while still is great, is less friendly and don't come out and mix with the customers anymore. Overall it has become a quite disappointment companred to before. I still stop by once a while on week days to catch some good music but definitely no longer on my favorate list. Oh, the worst thing - what is that terrible club music they now play between the sessions!!! Being supposingly a jazz club, at least get some decent musiv to fill in between! I give a two star only for the merit of the band.
Catering to the mid- to upper management expat crowd, Brown Sugar can leave a dent in your wallet. That said, few places in Shanghai offer better Live Music. Be sure to book a table beforehand as this spot is extremely popular on the weekends. For an above the scenes look, book a table upstairs where you can enjoy the montage of people and activities below. With Carlton J. Smith headlining last night, many people found themselves dancing the night away. Last night the staff were a bit rigid and often got our orders wrong but speaking to a manager always resolved the problem with little fuss. Great place to take clients, friends, or that special someone. Just hit up the ATM beforehand.
How do you people have a good time there?the stuff is arrogant and need intensive training, and anytime i come absolutely packed,no place to stand and enjoy a drink, not space to dance and enjoy live music.
Have to agree with margaretha and fabie77, their female waitress service was just as terrible as nightmare, seriously need a training foreal!!
Couple of my friends in town last week so we went dinner at xintiandi then ended up a drink at Brown sugar, didnt expect a 5star service from them but whats wrong with that smokey eye waitress being as arrogant as she could be, giving an attitude while serving us and even rolled her eyes when we requested a photo shoot from her for us ppl re-union...wtf??? We kno it wasnt supposed to be part of ur job but taking a photo for ppl aint hurt, besides the fact that we spent lots money on the drink...plus 15% of service fee automatically charged out of my Amex, yes dear???
Overall that is a nice venue with good performance, but dont get ppl upset just bcoz of the female service, where's that attitude coming from btw??? To have ppl coming back all the time, ya definitely need a upgrade of that training.
WORST EXPERIENCE EVER ! WORST STAFF EVER !!!!! Last night I came with 5 friends, to enjoy a lady night ! As soon as we enter the bar the 3 girls (why 3?) at the entrance don't say hello, laughing at us...good start ! Upstairs, same : they are like 20 waiters but nobody came to us.. We try to take a seat but immediately one waiter takes care and say NO IT'S 1500 rmb... like we can't afford that...We decide to seat at the bar which is the only place free, even if the bar empty... Drink really too expensive + service charge like we were in USA And nobody speak english... I also recommend not to go to this venue, and any in xintiandi... !
i,ve been there many times,i did have fun..about table,min spent 500,i think it is ok,coz if u come with few friends,it is just worth it!!!ONLY...THE SERVER.so terible giving service,so arogant specially the woman,bah,..they need more training how to served the customer,not worth it to keep the girls waitress there!!u pay expensive worth it for everything but girl waitress,u better get lost!!!or training them more,please!!
If you have read my previous review on the Mojito at Brown Sugar then I guess you might be convulsively looking for your cell phone to dial their number and get a table reserved. To make you more excited about possible experience you will get there I have to say that management at Brown Sugar have achieved astonishing results in training floor stuff to be successfully arrogant and completely ignorant to guests’ needs. And I would probably win a prize for a best bar’s picture if I could capture the moment of bartender giving me a change from a 100 RMB bill – you need hard training to make a small wet greasy pile out of a banknote, receipt and some coins. Be sure to take your camera next time !
WOW!!! After all those years of stubborn belief that a Mojito is done using lime and at least some amount of alcohol liquid called rum, bartender magicians at Brown Sugar successfully proved last night that this divine drink could exist in a form of small glass half-filled with crushed ice and big chunks of fresh orange as the other half. These skillful guys also managed to blend Mojito in a way that you almost don’t sense any presence of rum. And only sugar taste and few mint leaves kindly reminded me that I paid 86 RMB for a Mojito, which is relatively cheap considering the amount of innovative information you get about authentic Cuban drink that is served in Brown Sugar.
Element fresh’s jazz nights left me with an insatiable hunger for better jazz performances, so when I heard that my friends were heading to brown sugar, I immediately leapt at the chance. Che’s performance that night was superb. She had a great stage presence & that totally rocked!
As I reckon that the jazz performance was going to be boisterous, so I skipped my cocktail for orange juice (Y48). I would have preferred to save my cocktail for a quieter setting, where I can just focus on the taste & leave no room for distractions.
Nevertheless, I had to console myself by saying that the juice was absolutely unadulterated; only fresh squeezed goodness. If you’re looking for a great jazz scene, brown sugar will not disappoint, it’s definitely charming, witty & sexy in all sense.
not my idea of a jazz club - more of a Chinese bar playing jazz. No atmosphere, no privacy, no subtleness, no personal service - just loud and annoying. Real fans of jazz clubs will know what I am talking about. Stay away unless you want to pretend to be a jazz fan.
Great music every night. This is definitely the perfect place to bring your friends from out of town. The house band plays every night and has great singers. Very entertaining. For those who complain about a minmum charge, just think of it this way. You're paying for the entertainment as well as the drinks. If you bring a date here, you won't fail to show her a good time. It's worth it.
The service was quick, but after we enjoyed some happy hour drinks, we were told to be quiet because we laughed at a joke. Sorry, but the next time I want to go to a library to meet my friends for a drink, I'll reserve a table. Will not be going again.
Impressed by the high end atmosphere and service, awesome décor and great jazz and blues live music at the beginning of the night, but not by their ridiculously high minimum charge policy to have the right to sit. Around midnight, the music turns soul and R'n'B. Since you don't sit, you might as well dance ! Their themed evenings (reggae, latin...) seem to be worth checking.
Tables were def too expensive, so we sat at the bar and enjoyed the music from their. A classy joint and you pay for the experience.
Went there last night with a group of friends. Good music if a bit loud and nice place but incredibly arrogant staff. No enough room for all 9 of us at the bar so we were told "you can go there" - pointing to a very small table. We asked about the upstairs section, only to be told "No". Why not? "Closed". Finally we moved towards a large, available table at the back of the club, only to be confronted by a man whose first word was "No!", followed by "This table has a minimum charge of 2000RMB". We left, and the only member of staff who so much as smiled at us throughout was the young lady at the door. I recommend not going to this venue.
I made a phone reservation for a table for two…no problem. Got a call back though! Why? To tell me my 9:00 reservation had been changed to 9:30, no big deal. BUT there was also a minimum 400RMB table charge. They didn’t say this before!!! Furthermore, in a very condescending tone, I was told “if you think it’s too expense you can sit at the bar!!” Let see if the music is worth the treatment?
Nice convenient location in xintiandi, upstairs is more of a lounge while downstairs is more of a bar/club. Went there on a Friday and they had a live band that was pretty good. Good environment as well.