Bar Review: Hapu

Not far from the TV Tower and a great little pool hall (which we will get into later), we arrive at Hapu Cocktail Bar. Now, there will of course be people reading this who are probably thinking, durr/yeah/newsflash/thanks for the tip, we´ve known about this place for years, but I hope there will also be a few more reading this that are hearing about this place for the first time. Upon walking into Hapu, you can almost be excused for thinking you have walked into a private party in someone´s living room, with low-slung sofas, sideboards, bookshelves, and art prints on every wall. You step down into the bar and find yourself automatically slumped in one of the comfy sofas with a cocktail menu in your hand. It’s these cocktails that make Hapu stand out from the crowd.

If you are in the vicinity of Prague 3 or Prague 2, or even if you´re in Prague 18, then this is the place to come for a cocktail. There are many cocktail bars of course in Prague, but the majority of them fall foul to the shiny, glitzy look; this may be appealing to some, but will be too flashy and ‘blingy´ to others who just wish to enjoy a decent cocktail in a nice friendly bar. The prices for the cocktails start at about 100 CZK and there are cocktails for every taste. From Mother´s Milk, a gin and cream extravaganza, to the very good but very dangerous (after 3) Long Island Iced Tea.

I started with this, and whilst watching my friends work their way through creamier cocktails, I was thinking maybe I should have opted for one of those, too. To get the ball rolling. But the Long Island Iced Tea was everything it should be – strong and tasty.

A friend went for the Coriander; I pointed out to him one of the interesting paintings, and whilst he was turned I tried some of the drink. The Coriander consists of fresh cilantro, lime, rum and sugar, oh, and maybe some coriander was chucked in there also. My friend described this as a ‘Mexican fiesta in your mouth.’ It had a chili kick to it, which did bring it alive, though I’m not sure about the fiesta 🙂 Later, he also opted for a Starburst; although it’s a virgin cocktail (no alcohol), he asked to have it spiced up with a shot of rum. So if you find a non-alcoholic cocktail you like the sound of, you can ask to have your favorite poison added to it. The cocktail menu contains of over 50 different cocktails to whet your whistle, but BE WARNED, you can begin working your way though the menu like a kid in a candy shop, and before you know it it´s 2 in the morning, you´ve got 7 cocktails working their way around your system, and you have to remember your address to tell the taxi driver. Not an easy task, let me tell you.

One other thing to note is that where we were sitting there were a number of small, empty notepads on the shelf behind us. There is a different design for everyone but they will cost you upwards of 80 CZK. I did think maybe these were free for all patrons, but after asking the friendly barmaid if this was true, was sadly disappointed. Lastly, a note about the amount of photos we have here in this article. Apologies; these are a bit limited, and we don´t have many of the actual cocktails. But as you´ll discover for yourself if you go to Hapu, there are too many nice cocktails to be enjoying instead of taking photos of them.