Heating up the bar scene this October is a new red (literally) hot entry from Makati Shangri-La Hotel: a pop-up bar called The Den. This new hideout is a Prohibition era-inspired bar/lounge decked iin red and Chinois touches.

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The Den most likely suits those who prefer a relatively private bar to unwind with a drink or two. It’s also a good choice as a new venue for a quick catch up with friends while waiting for the usual Makati rush hour traffic to ease up. One must-order snack is the sinfully addicting fried egg fish skin covered in salted egg called Dragon’s Skin.

At the helm of this new bar is Shangri-La Makati’s new Beverage Manager, Clayton Mumar, who has been very hands on in preparing The Den’s line of signature cocktails. Early crowd favorites are a chili-infused gin-based drink with bitter gourd or ampalaya called Jade Dragon, plus a dessert-ish vodka-based coconut cocktail called Night and Day that you can drink alternately with a side of coffee jelly or coconut pandan jelly for a completely different experience.

Joining Mumar during The Den’s two-month-only stint (open only until December 7, 2019) is Agimat Bar’s Liquido Maestro Kalel Demetrio, who prepared his own line-up of bespoke cocktail creations just for The Den. His Violet Lotus is made with SIP’s Double Gold awardee Sirena Blue Pea Gin, elderflower, rosemary, lime, and blue pea flowers. Another dessert-like cocktail is China Town, which is surprisingly not cloyingly sweet, considering that it is made with Kanto salted caramel vodka (that tastes like my childhood favorite butterball candy!), osmanthus, soya milk, and grass jelly.

The DEN is now open from Wednesdays to Saturdays, 6 pm to midnight. For details, you can follow @TheDen.Makati on Instagram or call (02) 8814-2580.