O.k., its Saturday night and I get a call to go clubbing at M1nt. I just got back from New York and have not seen the club in almost 3 months in Shanghai. I take a cab towards the bund and then find the club is actually off of the bund by 4 blocks. I walk to front door and see lots of people outside. That usually is a good sign for a club in New York. In Shanghai, it usually means the there is a door charge or some reason they want money to get in.

First a little back ground on the Club M1nt. It’s a member’s only club. Yes, members only. That usually works in H.K. and Singapore but does not work in Shanghai. Hey maybe I’m wrong. It did work for me ah ha-ha! For those interested in the web site it’s http://www.m1nt.com.cn/ for those who are to lazy to go to the site!

M1NT Shanghai - Opening Hours

Lounge:
Monday to Friday - 11.30 am till late
Saturday - 6:00pm till late

Club:
Thursday to Saturday - 10 pm till late

Restaurant:
Monday to Thursday - Lunch: 11.30 am to 2:30pm - Dinner :6:00 pm to 12:00am
Friday - Lunch: 11.30 am to 2:30pm- Dinner: 6:00 pm to 2:00am
Saturday - Lunch: Closed - Dinner: 6:00 pm to 2:00am
Sunday - Private Bookings Only

For table reservation, contact 6391 2811or call bookings@m1nt.com.cn

I heard a little about the club before I went. Everyone gave the shark tank big thumbs up! It suppose to larger than life and a place you can throw your girlfriend to be eaten by the sharks.

So I enter to the lobby to see 2 groups of people in line. As usual the first person you see is the clubs door bitch. So I walk up and ask which line I’m suppose to be in if I have a table. The door bitch points to the inner line. The priority line she said. I look at the line and being a person that follows the club rules get in line. Then I see Uncle Benny and he’s in line. I ask him how long he’s waited and he said 10 minutes already. I usually won’t even bother to go to a club where I have to get in a line. Especially if you have a table.

I wait ten minutes and I ask the guy/bouncer/manger/ dude in a suit. I tell him not ask but tell him I have a table and how much longer it will be. He turns to me and says everyone in this line has a table. Now as I look around at the people in the priority line, my mind wander. Let’s see 2 guys’ jeans t-shirt and one guy with a wife beaters tank top on. 3 guys and a girl, 1 guy ¾ cut of jeans and the other in Bahamas mama shorts. The large girl was wearing a tank top with really really tight jeans. I won’t even go into the guys behind me. Are they going to spend 6,000-10,000 RMB tonight? Are they members???? Hmmm!!. I’m not a member but had a friend that was an invited member. I wanted to leave but hell I got all the way to the bund area and its 1, not like I’m going to make another jump to another club. I finally get in and U.B and I take the elevator up.

In my mind I figure the place is packed to the hill like Bar Rouge is on the weekends. I waited 15 minutes, U.B waited 25 minutes total. I walk out the elevator and it’s not packed to the hill, maybe the club is and the hall ways are not. I walked to the left and it’s like a bar/lounge area. The bar had about 15 people and they had 5 tables by the window of which only 2 were taken. We saw grandfather Shanghai D.J. Chris Lee at the decks. Then they had another area that was nice had 4-6 big booths but only 1 table was taken. The music was good, lounge tunes not to loud. It’s a good place to chat and see the view.

The other section was the restaurant that was huge and closed. The open kitchen looked good, but the kitchen was closed, only finger foods. So, I headed towards the club. The music was loud and the bar was long and sort packed. The booths on the other hand were taken but not packed. So I see a few friends and they invite me to the table. I tell them I have a table and they say that we should stay. U.B ordered a round of drinks and when I saw the bill I could only laugh. The club makes money off the drinks and not the bottles. The drinks are between 100-120 rmb a drink. That works out to $15 a drink to $18 a drink. That’s more expensive than New York. So we ordered a bottle of Grey Goose and started drinking. The booths are pretty big and comfortable. The club is a little to dark and they have no real lighting in the booths. Well, that can help if the girl is not that great looking.

The music is very unique for a club, actually its 80’s and 90’s music that you would hear in dive bars and commercial clubs. The sing along kind of songs seem very popular in the club. They even threw some rock and roll in. The table next to had 10 people and they drank 1 bottle of champagne in 3 hours. The other table across from us had 15-20 people and they had standard drinks. The so called beer warmer! around 2:30 the drink takers start on the table. Those are people not willing to buy any more drinks and they come to the table and take drinks.

The great shark tank, it’s really beautiful. It’s about 60 feet long and looks great. They have about 20 sharks in the tank swimming around. They also had the Dom Champagne V.I.P area behind the shark tanks. That’s about 5 big booths that were empty.

Next stop was the roof a.k.a the share holder roof. We walked to the door and yet again a bouncer; I must say this is one of the best and nicest big bouncers in town. We waited in line again, this time 5 minutes. We walk up the stairs to see a beautiful view of Shanghai. The roof is huge and had about 50 people having drinks and sitting. They had tables but they were empty.

Oh all in our table bought 7 bottles champagne 3 bottles of vodka. I think just that is about 10,00 RMB night. Oh and I had to wait in line for that.

I definelty will not be getting in line anytime soon for this members only place. Oh yea pictures to follow hahahah. Wait till you see them.!