★★★✩✩

Taikang Lu has a plush new venue beneath 288 Melting Pot. Head down a broad flight of stairs into a Moroccan-themed interior lined with red sofas and trimmed with north African doodads.

A large central bar dispenses the booze (beers start from ¥35, ¥45 and up for spirit mixers and there’s an extensive cocktail with drinks around ¥55). The thick, well-designed menu emphasizes bottle service, which gives us a clue to the expected clientele. That said, there’s a dancing area and, on the night we visited, DJ Nicole (a long-term regular at LOgO who often spins DnB at Dada was behind the decks, which bodes well for the joint’s future music policy.

For now, the tables are free with no minimum charge, though that will probably change once U Too starts to fill up. But the stylish, ethnic vibe might make a cozy spot once the winter rolls in, and certainly makes a change from the chrome-and-lasers look still adored by most new swanky bars.