Just what the doctor ordered

After a shiteous day at work, I had a pretty awesome Thursday night. I had a "date" with my friend Kathryn for dinner and drinks in Chinatown. We were craving some soup dumplings, and I was dying to try a bar tucked away in Chinatown's bowels so we had a pretty solid evening planned out.

I had some time to kill before dinner so I raided a grocery store in Chinatown for Filipino kitchen essentials like Datu Puti vinegar. I scored the jackpot when I discovered salted duck eggs, which I've been craving for the last 2 1/2 years that I've been in New York. Sounds strange, but have it with tomatoes cut into cubes ... YUM.

At 7:30, we sat down for dinner at Joe's Shanghai and devoured the delicious soup dumplings. Heavenly, just heavenly.

After dinner, we walked round the corner to Doyers Street and under the only clean awning that deceptively says "Gold Flower Restaurant" to discover our new favorite cocktail lounge: Apotheke. This former opium den is tucked into one of old Chinatown's deadliest, gang-infested streets. Obviously, it's a lot safer these days. To me, it's just a great place to continue on after having a great dinner at Joe's Shanghai. A lot of people are throwing fits over how this has ruined one of the last "authentically" New York neighborhoods, but give me a break. Can we please stop taking ourselves so freakin seriously?

Kathryn and I fell in love with this place the instant we walked in. It's a lot darker than the picture above, just reeking with sexiness. We could not get a table, but that turned out to be a good thing because we got to know the bartender, Esteban, pretty well.

Forgive me but I can't remember the actual names of the cocktails as I am a little buzzed. The most popular one is definitely this drink incorporating muddled starfruit and champagne, which I must have seen served up over 20 times. Kathryn and I had one each and enjoyed it immensely. Definitely a nice fresh cocktail to start off the night with. We also tried an amazing buttered rum, which you must order if only to see the spectacle of the preparation. Lots of fire and sparkles involved. Totally worth $15.

So that's the downside, by the way. Cocktails are $15 apiece, which is not cheap but hey no one's forcing you to go if you're on a budget right? (In any case, it all balances out if you start the night with an uber cheapo Chinatown dinner) If you can afford it though, the imaginative cocktails are worth it. Milk & Honey still serves up the best cocktails in my book, but since I have no way of obtaining that elusive ever-changing reservation number, I'll take Apotheke. If there's one thing you MUST NOT do, please please pleeeeeease do not go all the way there to order a vodka-cran. It's almost insulting. When I asked the highly skilled bartender if anyone orders vodka-crans, I meant it as a joke. But sure enough, 2 minutes later, someone DID order a vodka cran and I seriously almost spat out my ginger-lemongrass sour in laughter. Come on. It's like going to Katz's Deli and then asking for a grilled cheese sandwich.

Ok I am babbling so I need to end this post. But that's good evidence of how strong a few cocktails in this place are right?

Where: Apotheke is located at 9 Doyers St., New York between Bowery and Pell