I lost count last night of how many times friends came up and whispered to me, “Don’t write about this place, OK?” This is a conundrum all CW Editors face regardless of what sections they cover. If we tell everyone about the perfect neighborhood bar that we found, it often means that this new place gets cozy quickly with exponentially more bodies filling the space. My friends’ request for silence came at the end of a night on, strangely enough, Taikang Lu.

After finishing a delicious Thai dinner at Alyssa and drinks at the tiny but fabulous Japanese bar downstairs, Hiro, (which will open full time after CNY) we were content and not quite ready to leave the area. Since half of our party was Aussie, we meandered over to see Luke at Kommune. Not the busiest place on a Friday night, but it’s cozy with low lighting and good drinks, and once filled friends, that’s all you need to make it a party. Once Luke was, “over this [his own] place” he suggested a local (tiny) Aussie-run watering hole, The Shed. This is the place I’m not supposed to tell anyone about, but I realized that if you found it yourself, you probably wouldn’t believe it was a bar anyway, so our secret is safe.

The Shed is actually the office of www.justbeer.cn. These guys deliver well, beer (and some wine and meet pies) to your home as well as restaurants, bars and hotels during the day and turn the office into a cozy (mates) bar at night. Since they have a lot of stock on hand, as long as you’re a beer fan there’s going to be something good to drink. We were able to enjoy Crowns for about RMB15 and there were Strongarms and VB (Victoria Bitters) all around as well. The place was decorated like one you would only invite friends to--the people who won’t judge your taste. The only decorations (other than the bar which take up half the room) were the TV that served as the home for the iTunes play list dictated by the group’s cheers (or boos), the couches covered with everyone’s bags, jackets and Luke’s toothbrush, and a square of plywood on the wall with a random collection of tools on it, the only nod to the name of the place “The [tool] Shed.”

This place is never going to be a scene stealer, but in a city of anonymous bar and clubs, but this tiny bar is seemingly made for you and your friends. Don't pass up an invitation to The Shed and one you might want to hunt for if you’re ever in the area.