You won’t stumble inside the Nippon Bottle Company by accident.
In fact, you won’t even know it’s there until someone shows you where it is — so let me tell you a secret.
This new nightlife venue has no branding, no front door at all. It’s hidden behind a fake bookcase, off the lobby of the Dusit Thani Dubai (take a left from the main entrance).
Visit once and you might be invited to become a member. Members will be given a code, allowing them to slip in and out directly off the street through a secret side door.
Nippon Bottle Company is clearly inspired by the recent “speakeasy” craze, in New York and other trendsetting cities, for prohibition-inspired venues hidden from sight.
(I visited NYC last month and discovered one venue hidden at the back of a fully functioning barbershop. A second was found behind a locked door inside a fast food takeaway. Old hat for the East Village, perhaps — but for the UAE, this is a first.)
After pulling the bookcase open, guests are greeted by a tiny room of mirrors, affectionately dubbed “the selfie room”. A small arrow on the wall indicates where to push through to the main bar area.
A smallish, intimate space, the venue is a heady clash of Japanese influences old and new — traditional, monochrome parchment paintings hang on the wall, while exposed yellow light bulbs radiate a side street, market feel. But elsewhere dynamic sped-up videos of Tokyo life flicker on the walls, while the DJ drops eclectic party tunes.
There’s joy in this dichotomy; this is one hip space for sure. But the true thrill is that vague sense of being in an illicit, after-hours hot-spot, off the casual consumers’ radar. Surely it’s just a matter of time until the word gets out (sorry!) – and I’ve heard talk of other “speakeasy” venues to open in Dubai soon — but right now, the Nippon Bottle Company is something genuinely unique.
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rgarratt@thenational.ae
