Portal-Work & Play

Most hotels have a «public» bar that you can just walk into, and The Langham Hotel in Mong Kok is no exception. Up on the 5^th floor of the hotel, is «Portal Work & Play» (yes, ridiculous name I know, but perhaps it translates well into Chinese?), a sort of business lounge/​bar, full of post work suits who can’t afford to stay on the Island.
It is a funny little place, with a bar down one side, and oyster station in the middle, and another seating area to the right, which feels a bit like an airport business lounge. To complete the business feel, there is a ticker of up-​of-​date news running across the top of the bar.
The bar area is a little more intimate, so try to sit there. However, this fills quickly, so you may find yourself sitting at the «business lounge» side, which lacks soft furnishings, so the noise can rattle around bit and become quite deafening.
The drinks are pleasant enough, but really, how hard is it to mix spirits with ice and soda. They do have a great happy hour, which is 2−4−1 drinks, but not shared, i.e. I can’t buy a drink and offer my second 2−4−1 to Mrs L. We both have to have our own two drinks — whoop, whoop! Double do count, so get a double G&T, and get charged for one measure only. However, that single measure is not cheap to start with, so drink slow! They also offer big bowls of snacks, so you can get your fill of wasabi nuts and crisps.
The DJ music is a bit incongruous, especially when they start banging out Pharrell to the abundant suits discussing offshore tax havens, but it is quite amusing watching a Chinese Ronnie Corbet jigging to Happy — yes, that has happened!