Ah… I have to sort of agree with the original poster. In my definition, bars, pubs, all-you-can-drink spots, and establishments that offer ladies’ nights/wings/video games of any kind do not fall into the category of “finer clubs” in the way I reckon he means it.
I intend no offense to any proprietors of such places who may read this; I love a good pub night with my mates, or a noisy fun bar now and then, not to mention wings, yum! But there are options that cost more, look prettier and invariably have a different sort of clientele. I think this demographic is overlooked on these forums, for whatever reason. Maybe, as suggested earlier, “those people” simply have too much champagne-drinking and cigar-smoking to do to leave any time for discussion boards.
Anyway. I don’t know whether they match your definition of “finer”, but in the recent past I have enjoyed a night or two at Primo and at Mint… (note that both have dress codes and door regulations… bring models or a fat wallet to help ease entry)
Primo: ZhongHsiao E. Rd. Sec. 5, #297, 2Fl. club-primo.com
New this year; I’ve only been 2-3 times but I quite like the vibe and the general design of this 2-floor lounge-cum-nightclub. It gets pretty packed on Fridays, I hear. International DJs are regularly booked as are local favourites. Youngish mixed local-foreigner crowd, minimum charge to book tables of course… models and socialites aplenty, usually decent house music or terribly commercial hip-hop (welcome to Taiwan - even the supposed finer joints play bad music).
Mint: Taipei 101 Mall, 45 Shifu Rd, Sec 4, Taipei
A truly varied crowd when I’ve visited - older whisky-drinking mellow types at the side tables, young professionals by the bar, “kids” on the dancefloor keeping things sexy… Unless you hate the music (usually fairly commercial stuff, nothing horrible, nothing spectacular) you can probably have a good night here. Drinks are not cheap, I am told. I like the design/look of this place. It has been used for many a photo shoot and music video.
Additionally:
This poster from another thread has some great leads on upscale lounges - most of which I have visited and liked, and which tend to have a more ‘discerning’ clientele, if you will:
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