Bubbly Nation

New factories-based Champagne bar in Jingan

Inside, the design of Bubbly Nation, while perhaps not to all tastes, is well executed. The low-lit space features leather, chrome and snake skin in the decor, which meld together well and the large corner bar helps transition the space easily from lounge to club. In the evenings, Fashion TV clips (think svelte models in bikinis parading about on the beach) are projected onto a slate wall, perhaps in the hopes of beckoning the in-crowd.

As the name suggests, the focus here is on Champagne. The bar offers more than 20 different varieties with prices by the glass starting from a reasonable 75RMB. That said, only three types of Champagne are available this way, with most of the menu reserved for full bottles with costs spiralling to thousands of RMB (topping out at 5,580RMB for Armand de Brignac).

The cocktails make liberal use of bubbles too. The Classic Champagne Cocktail (85RMB) sounds like little more than a glorified glass of Laurent-Perrier, but the dash of bitters and sugar cube give it a pretty pink hue and extra fizz. Unfortunately the flavours fail to mix evenly throughout the glass and when we reach the bottom half of the drink the intense mix of bitters and sugar is overwhelming.

The Strawberry Bourbon Lemonade (85RMB) also lacks balance. The mixture of Prosecco, bourbon whisky, strawberry puree, cinnamon and bitters is an intriguing one, but it doesn't hit the mark texturally due to the jarring bubbles and puree combo.

The inconsistency of the drinks may be symptomatic of Bubbly Nation's attempts to be many things to many people. By day they offer Western gourmet fare (a jumbo shrimp cocktail is 188RMB, a beef tenderloin 198RMB) and specialty teas; by night they're pushing Champagne and caviar.

On the food side, the late night snack menu is reasonably affordable with dishes such as hand cut potato chips and dips priced at 48RMB. Alas, this dish consisted of a small bucket of undercooked potato slices. The charcuterie board (118RMB) offers decent slices of ham and mortadella but these are accompanied by almost inedible prosciutto and salami. Both dishes seem to lack real care and attention.

Bubbly Nation will no doubt appeal to a certain 'see and be seen' crowd at weekends, but the food and cocktails still leave a lot to be desired.