Beergrdn

The outdoor patio space at Urbn Hotel on Jiaozhou Lu in Jingan district has turned into a new ale-focused venue. Awkwardly entitled Beergrdn, it takes up the ground floor space of the chic hotel and an equally large outside area (with translucent covering, handy as the toe-numbing Shanghai winter is closing in). The area is 'Asia's first beer garden' according to the organizers, Hong Kong's Cachet Hotel Group and New York's Invest Hospitality. We're not quite sure what their criteria are for judging a beer garden, but some might argue they're not even the first in Jingan, let alone on the continent.

As the name suggests, beer is the order of the evening. They've partnered with a brewer in Chengdu (who they refuse to name, oddly) and the house-brewed GRDN Busty Wheat and GRDN IPA (both 40RMB/half pint) are strong - in both senses of the word - efforts. There's also an extensive range of import bottles - Beergrdn say this will eventually rise to over 50 - including oddball selections such as Belgium's Scotch Silly (65RMB) and the increasingly-popular Rogue Dead Guy Ale (55RMB), from the States. The wine and cocktail lists are limited, but if you're after a high-end classic cocktail binge we'll wager you won't head to a venue with a name such as this.

The place is primed for eating, too, with a busy kitchen serving paninis (60-65RMB), pizza (75-115RMB) and cheesy offerings from the mozza bar such as gorgonzola Dolce (90RMB) and a mixed cheese platter (110RMB).

Shortly after opening, BeerGRDN is a relaxing, expansive place to sink a few pints and when people catch on and the place gets buzzing it could become a real Shanghai hot spot.