Douglas Williams/Shanghai Daily news

First things first — I have to confess to a certain partiality as far as the following bar review goes.

A view from within the bustling boozer. — Steve Moonan

Whilst I appreciate that this opening statement may have slashed my already meager readership, I’m hopeful that those remaining will appreciate my candor. The thing is that Big Bamboo does not require any help from me to draw in any more punters — it’s generally pretty busy pretty much all of the time. However, of all the purveyors of liquor in this fair city it’s to the BB that I’m drawn to more than most when seeking a little R’n’R.
Big Bamboo is located at 132 Nanyang Road (behind the Portman Ritz-Carlton) and though it’s not the greatest boozer in the history of boozers it sure ticks a lot of the right boxes.
So is it a bar or a pub and what’s the difference? Well, I like to think of bars as the little brothers of pubs and what bar doesn’t aspire to be a pub.
Some may disagree. Of course, there’s something of a geographical element to this debate: North Americans almost exclusively prefer bars while the drinkers in Britain and the Antipodes go for the pub feeling.
BB, owned by Canadian Bryce Jenner, looks for all the world like your quintessential bar but I submit that it’s very nearly vaulted into the public house domain by virtue of the service it provides to the public.
In BB there’s a lot of sport (“That’s bar territory,” I hear my reader cry out), there are different areas depending on what patrons are after (pub territory), but importantly it provides a certain community spirit and a welcoming, open, fiendliness and familiarity normally reserved for your good old-fashioned public house. A sports bar then but with pub characteristics.

Bryce Jenner, proprietor and creator of Big Bamboo — sanctuary to many. — DW

“It’s basically my dream bar,” says straight-shooting Jenner. “I’ve spent a lot of time in bars, I know what I like and this is it — lots of games, lots of sport, good music, good value, decent service, unpretentious and with cute barmaids.” And I can report unreservedly that BB comfortably delivers on all these fronts.
The service in BB is actually extremely “decent.” Drinks are fetched for you, tables cleaned and ashtrays emptied with military efficiency by smiling, friendly staff. That’s not surprising since Jenner’s background — albeit some time ago — was in fine dining back in Whistler, Canada. “I get angry when I go to other bars where I’ve got to clean up after previous customers because the staff aren’t doing it right,” says Jenner. “I hate dirty tables, in fact I’m very fussy about service all round.” Service box hastily ticked.
What do we look for in our bars and pubs? Many things but perhaps above all it’s escape and not purely in terms of drink. Escape to familiar and comfortable surroundings where we can relax and where the troubles of the day (or life) melt away like butter on hot toast. Somewhere we can be stimulated but not taxed.
Despite BB’s usual busyness it’s rare not to be able to find a seat in this capacious hostelry. Several television screens — I say several because I’m not sure exactly how many there are — are on different channels usually with starkly contrasting sports taking place on each.
Always sport.
The variety of channels can lead be a little confusion. Big Bamboo’s improbably named manager, Noah Wise, goes to Herculean efforts in scouring worldwide sports listings to ensure all noteworthy sporting occasions are telecast.
There are two pool tables, a fuze ball game, table football and a darts board all offering stimulation aplenty. 
“Worn-out pool tables really get my goat,” says Jenner. “Ours are good and they’re well maintained. Everything in this bar is top quality. It’s the details that make the place.”
BB is the sponsor of several sports teams in Shanghai.
Musically BB has more highs than lows, generally playing a good variety of contemporary and classic rock though it does occasionally confuse its bar status with that of club to the detriment of all present. That aside, we can tick the “relaxed stimulation” box.
During his 13-year sojourn back in Whistler, Jenner learnt how to build houses Canadian style and this he put into practice in BB after he acquired it last summer, redesigning and refurbishing the property himself. It has a good, solid, wood feel and there is not the slightest trace of pretentiousness.
Tick.
BB is undeniably a “blokes bar”though the testosterone levels are tempered by a good smattering of female customers. There is the odd “tut” when dancers take to the tables or bar upstairs and a chap takes a little prompting to answer the question he’s just been asked three times.
It is very much a sort of straight from work, tie ripped off and stuffed in pocket, “be home soon love” sort of place. Many of the straight-from-work crowd are still there at midnight and ever-so-slightly the worse for it though the foreign language teachers thin out when the happy hour finishes at 8pm. What a happy hour it is too — six actually, from 2pm till 8pm, making delightful afternoon sessions at 20 yuan (US$2.47) a drink a perilously tempting option. Tick good value.
The food is fine — if one can’t be bothered going anywhere else. Jenner concludes: “I’ve done things my own way, people like it and they keep coming back. We deserve our customers because we know how to treat them.” And as one of his customers said: “You offer us sanctuary.” Quite. Hats off. Tick.
Now, dear reader, if you’re still there, a small development. You will find at the bottom of this article my email address. This is for you, yes you, to send me stories, articles, suggestions (steady!), jokes, anecdotes, news, criticism (if you must), funnies and more jokes that you feel might entertain readers of the Shanghai Daily. Publishable in a family newspaper being the crucial caveat. I’m quietly confident that by Christmas we may even be able to make a half-page from your contributions but my editor thinks I’m being wildly optimistic. Do prove him wrong.
douglaswilliams@shanghaidaily.com