I just got in a couple of days ago and headed to my favorite bar with a plan to review it has my first controbituion here. I was shocked to see it closed and even more shocked to see signs in Korean. 

This truly is a sign of the times.  The new Angeles is turning Korean.  This bar is in the middle of Fields and they do not have a word of English on it.  Wonder is non Koreans will be welcome in the new place when it opens.

There have been changes to Nifty and Club Rio. In fact in name they do not exist anymore. The new bar is called Xenum Night Bar Club. On the inside there is no real change. The old Nifty bar recently got a complete make over but the still operate as two separate bars with two separate entrances. As before you can still go between them via the back of the bar.

I suspect this name change is to reduce costs. Having separate bars probably means double fees and bribes. The door girls still compete to entice people to go into “Nifty’s” or “Rio” as if they were separate. In fact when i asked they seemed unaware of the name change and when i pointed to the bar name they were in denial and continued to use the old names.

When out barhopping I occasionally drink one of those new SM flavoured beers. They come in Lemon an Apple. I would warn against ordering them at Xenum Nigh Bar Club (Nifty or Rio) as they load the price up to 85 pesos. THe regular SM beers are only 60 pesos. To my knowledge they are the only bar that charge me more for flavoured beer. No surprise really given this is a Filipino owned and operated bar these days as the foreign husband of the owner that setup the bar died a couple of years ago.

Another improvement is a new concrete road curtsy of the new Boomerang hotel that recently opened just down the road.

What does this sing actually mean…

Is this just National Pride?

It seems to be taking some high moral ground implying that those activities it does not permit are allowed in the “foreign” owned or operated bars

As i understand there is no such thing as a foreign owned bar anyway. Under Philippines law all business require a majority Filipino owner.

Here are some other interpretations of what a Filipino owned and operated establishment might mean…

It might mean this bar will never get raided?

It often means the beers will never be cold

It often means the sound system will be distorted and hurt your ears

It often means management will work work with staff to shaft the customer and always take the girls side in any dispute

Have you ever been on a bar hop and decided to go to McDo in the early hours only to be confronted by the breakfast menu when its a Big Mac you really feel like?  Anyone that saw the movie Falling Down knows what I am talking about…

The good news is McDonalds in Balibago will still serve the full menu during the breakfast period.  There are no signs to tell you this and you are not going to find out unless you ask.  They will advise you that you will have to wait 5 minutes or so while they cook it.  Now you know!

We were waiting to see which bar re-opened first.   Would it be the One Eyed Wench or Treasure Island.

We know now that the One Eyed Wench beat Treasure Island by a week.  They had a soft opening on Friday night and the one thing i can report is that they beat One Eyed Wench in terms of serving ice cold beer.  The new location is in Santos street opposite the Wild Orchid in part of what used to be the Honky Tonk bar. The line up was a little older with most girls in their mid to late 20s and almost all having had rug rats.

It will be interesting to see how the new Treasure Island bar develops.  It used to be a wild fun bar years ago in fields but with all the clamp downs it had changed.  Now its located in Santos street the question is will it attempt to be a Fields Ave bar in Santos or will it become more of a Santos street bar.  I hope it does become more of a Santos bar but with dancers.

There are a number of smaller bars and clubs in the side streets around Balibago and recently one called the Yacht Club was brought to my attention by a couple of Americans of African decent.  The color of their skin has minor relevance to the story so its gets a mention.   Was talking to them near the Rumpa Restaurant in Surla street where they have a vegetable and fruit market every Friday at 11am.

Close by is the Yacht Club Family KTV.  Walked passed it many times but they have no appeal to me.  All good because it turns out I would not be welcome.  The two guys had at different times attempt to go in and have a look only to be asked to leave by the management.  Wondering if it was some sort of discrimination a “white” guy went in to check it out and knowing that Koreans are big on appearance he dressed up for the occasion.   He also was asked to leave.

It turns out the place does discriminate but not skin colour but against all non Koreans.   This is a Korean only establishment and others are not welcome.   I do not know if their laws about this in the Philippines and I guess they are smart enough to allow in any wealthy Filipinos so even if their was they could probably get away with it.

I do not know of any Western run establishments that exclude Koreans and Koreans certainly do like to frequent “our” bars.   It seems they don’t want them going to “their” bars.  Not sure if i really care anyway but its all part of the Korean take over of Angeles.

Attended the Grand Reopening party on Saturday 14th of April of the One Eyed Wench in its new location having taken over the old Treasure Island. The Grand opening promotion repeats the claim on the website having Gold Grog, Warm Wenches but that was not our experience.

The preceding week the One Eyed Wench has been handing out “One Free Local Drink” promotions with serial numbers on them.  We handed these over and were immediately informed that it is a buy one take one deal.  The ticket does not say anything about having to buy a drink but  I have been in Angeles long enough to simply accept this and without hesitation we agreed to purchase our first drinks.

When our beer arrived it was actually warm.  I mean warmer than the average Filipino karaoke warm.  When we complained to the waitress she offered to bring ice.  We explained that we don’t want ice we want cold beer.  She said that is the coldest beer they had.  We are trying to tell her we don’t want it and to bring the manager but the retard walks of and ignores us.  After a while we realised no one was coming so we left the money for the drinks and walked out – no idea why the price is but we left 200 pesos and walked out.

I do realise this was a big party night and yes they might have trouble keeping up with demand but we were not there late in the evening.  It was still very early.  There was no excuse except poor planning and a very low level of care.

Because we did not stay there long our review is limited but here are some impressions.

The new venue is simple and has very little to do with the pirate theme.  Whoever designed it had no imagination but most guys will not care anyway. The new bar area is the old Treasure Island combined with the old One Eyed Wench creating a long narrow bar with a dance stage extending almost the full length of the bar.

The mirrors are behind the girls which can be a problem in some bars as the girls are usually more interested in looking at themselves than customers.  The long narrow design of the bars means that the girls are forced to look forward and this is a good thing. Suspect it was more luck than a design consideration. The line seemed OK but we were not there long.

Walking up perimeter a few days ago I noticed something different when i looked down towards Eruption bar. It looked different…something was missing. The sign for one of my favorite restaurants in Angeles.The Prince of India was gone. I inquired and was told that John the English guy that setup the restaurant had closed up and gone to Thailand.

The restaurant was located inside the building that housed the Eruption bar and Dr Holmes bar and was some of the best Kashmir Indian food i have tasted. John imported all the spices and would make it to order. Many times I sat in the Eruptions bar drinking a beer while my meal was prepared and John would come out with a small bowl and spoon for me to taste to get to my level of spicy.

Why do most of the best restaurants that open in Angeles City close so fast?

Two bars are one the move. They are Treasure Island bar and One Eyed Wench bar. Treasure Island has already been closed for a couple of months as it was not able to extend it rental agreement in its Fields Avenue location. It seems that One Eyed Wench which was located behind Treasure Island was able to negotiate the space and will now have a real Fields Avenue entrance. Previously access was via a very narrow passage way to the immediate left of Treasure Island.

Treasure Island has found a new home in Santos street opposite the Wild Orchid in part of what used to be the Honky Tonk bar. Renovations are underway for the re-opening of both bars and will interesting to see which opens first.

The new Treasure Island under construction

The girl is standing in front of the old entrance to One Eyed Wench.
The new entrance and main bar will occupy what was Treasure Island
Wonder what they are doing upstairs – used to be home to the famous shower shows

Visit the Official Websites for more information:

Treasure Island Website

One Eyed Wench Website

The food is not spicy by my standards but then again i like it really spicy.  I found it to be just right and did not feel the need add any extra spice.  Sometimes you can just enjoy the taste without the spice.

The Kings Head have a free wifi and the password will make many chuckle.  See if you can guess.

Where should a King put his head?  Answer.   between the   _ _ _ _ _ _    _ _ _ _ _

“Next Award Winning”    I will have to try to remember to ask what award it has won but i suspect its the same category as all the claims of “Home Cooked” food the prepared in half the restaurants in Angeles.

The Kings Head Pub is an English Style Pub in Raymond street down past Las Vegas bar and Strawberry Fields bar.