Majong – The cabbage bar
Last updated: Aug 28th, 2009 | By: Rafael Vieira
Easily recognizable by the cabbage hanging at the ceiling. Probably just a few people know the real name of this trendy spot, one of the oldest bars in Bairro Alto. It’s also one of the more constant as it is always open. The extravagant decoration makes it of the fav meeting places for the noctivagus crowd when entering the district. It was once a Chinese restaurant frequented by artists and writers for their intellectual gatherings.
Majong is one of my favorite places in the district because of the decoration as alongside with the cabbages (are they fake, are they real?) there are Chinese characters (some say its Japanese, creating one of the city urban myths) in the walls, a long stone balcony and a few extremely comfortable kinda of low sofas. The programming goes from Djing to Vjing – the latter usually on Thursdays and on the big screen behind the counter and also on a silicone screen placed at one of the windows an eclectic selection of movies is always on display, from silent to horror, from animation to the classics of the B genre.
The music goes all the way from techno to minimal to electro-clash to rock and nu rave and some of the Djs also act in other bars like the Purex Club (check the Purex club article). Ask the guys about the vegetables in the ceiling, that is always a nice topic to start a cool conversation with this friendly bunch.
Details about this spot :
Majong | Bars, Music | beer € 2.00
Rua da atalaia 3 | Bairro Alto (area map) | +351213421039
Mon – Thu 22:00 – 02:00, Fri – Sat 22:00 – 3:00, Sun 22:00 – 2:00