Honestly, excluding the Sangria Lounge at our hotel, we went to one bar during our visit to Hong Kong. After reading so much about the lively HK bar and club scene, I was anticipating some crazy, late nights out on the town. It just didn’t shake down like that, though. After wandering around the area all day, doing as much as we possibly could, by the time 11pm rolled around, we were ready to stone-cold crash. A few beers or a bottle of wine back at the Newton, casually watching some bowling on the Asian version of ESPN. . .that’s how the majority of our evenings ended up (which was totally cool). It was actually a pretty soothing end to the day—these bowling broadcasts were devoid of announcers, so all you could hear was the roll of the ball, the knocking of the pins, and the applause of the crowd. Sometimes I think Al Michaels wishes it were that peaceful during his Monday Night Football broadcasts with John Madden, king of redundancy.
Ha-ha-ha. . .Brecht’s Circle. Right. Sorry. We only had one drink here apiece, so I must be stalling. There isn’t much to say about the only bar we checked out. We couldn’t find anywhere to eat before stopping by here, and had to actually settle for french fries and Oreo shakes at McDonald’s. Yes, I am ashamed of myself for giving the McDonald’s corporation some of my money, but we had to get some food. This was an especially creepy McDonald’s, too—there was one older female employee in an oversized shirt and pants who looked bloodthirsty, and the girl behind the cash register had plain-as-day bite marks near her wrist and lower arm. Did I mention she was insanely skinny?
Where was I? Oh yes, Brecht’s Circle. We wanted to check it out after reading about its controversial history in Time Out Hong Kong, and left feeling rather indifferent about it. The bartender was amused to serve some tourists instead of the locals that seem to frequent the joint, and got a kick out of it when I couldn’t find the projection screen that was billed in the guidebook (it was right above my head).
Brecht’s is relatively small, with around six tables, and validates its hip status by rocking those chill downtempo beats. We had a bowl of nuts and wasabi peas to snack on, and the kitchen is open until 1am during the week, 2am on the weekends, if you’re looking for more substantial eats. Large beers of Hoegarden Erdinger will run you HK$55, and try to catch the two-for-one Happy Hour specials.