(That's Shanghai)
Updated: 2007-10-16 10:29

Great cities are full of hidden surprises, and Shanghai is certainly no exception.

We were skeptical, to say the least, when we discovered that the Ru Yi Club, a cigar and brandy lounge, was located on the fourth floor of a rather down-market shopping plaza. A Pudong food court is surely an unlikely place for this get-away, but once inside the charmingly overstuffed drawing room, rich with the smells of fragrant tobacco, we forgot our incongruous location.

Ru Yi offers an impressive cigar list, including a range of Cohibas (RMB 115-440) as well as some more affordable offerings. We settled for a pleasant Partagas Super Corona (RMB 70) with a well-mixed whiskey sour (RMB 55) and brandy (RMB 65).

The owner is on hand to lend you books on cigars from his on-site library. There are still some rough edges (including the waitresses' curious fur-accented uniforms), but nothing a nice smoke can't smooth over.

Ru Yi Club 
Location: 4F, 601 Zhangyang Lu, Laoshan Xi Lu
Tel: 021-51379718
Open: Daily 2pm-2am.