Shebang!

A lounge where you can actually talk and listen

A A A Comments By Keisha Franklin Tuesday, Jan 13 2004

For many of us, the bar/club experience usually involves straining to hear what a sloshed friend is saying while smiling and feigning comprehension as bad house-music blares on dull speakers. Enter candlelit lounge Shebeen. Not only does this place make boisterous talk audible, it also has quality sounds like progressive hip-hop, set-the-mood riddims, and even alternative rock for a mélange of twentysomething conversationalists dying for a little drunken tête-à-tête. Owned by two South African women—hence the name, which was used in South Africa to describe mixed-race speakeasies frequented during apartheid—the white-walled lounge has six wooden columns, two cream-colored sofas and a leather-bound table (for friends that want to chat en masse), and a long purple banquette with wooden tables and matching ottomans. The chill-out pad offers creative cocktails like a pulpy, melon-flavored cucumber sake martini (fresh cucumber, sake, Korean vodka, $9) and a lip-smackingly decadent banana mocha martini (banana puree, vodka, crème de banana, chocolate syrup, and chocolate rim, $9). As they're deceptively strong, you may want to savor these drinks—especially if you care to remember who said what the next morning.

photo: Tania Savayan

Bartender James creates an energy-boosting banana mocha martini.

Details

Shebeen
202 Mott Street
212.625.1105

More About

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Weekly Newsletter: (Sent out every Thursday) Our weekly feature stories, movie reviews, calendar picks and more - minus the newsprint and sent directly to your inbox.

bars@villagevoice.com

Check out this week's featured ad for News