Ulysse Jouanneaud was the man behind Shangri-La Fort’s stellar cocktail program (particularly, High Street, Raging Bull and Backroom) for the past three years. Recently, the Parisian ventured out on his own, and put up a cocktail bar in Poblacion, Makati– Buccaneers— with partners, Vincent Landais and Simon Cote (the folks behind the popular wine bar, Dr. Wine).
Buccaneers, which soft-opened on May 3, 2019, is located on the corner of Kalayaan Ave. and Don Pedro Street. It is essentially “an old ship that crashed in Poblacion and was never discovered until three buccaneers found it and made it a rum tavern,” hence, the interiors of the 120-seater space is peppered with wood, rope ladders, barrels and a heavy anchor. They have over 150 rums from all over– Jamaica, Venezuela (Santa Teresa 1796 is a favorite! And Ulysse’s as well!), Barbados (Habitation Velier Last Ward 2009 is a stunner), the Philippines, etc. “Rum will be the new trend,” Ulysse predicts.
Cocktail prices begin at P200 (for a basic rum coke) and go up to P450. Signatures include La Batanga (P250), La Sayona (P400) and Lugarhou (P350).
The reputation of (a lot of) bars in Poblacion is that their cocktails are headache-inducing even before halfway through the drink (naturally, of course because of cheap liquors and mixers) hence, Buccaneers is a breath of fresh air. If you have ever even had one of Uly’s cocktails at Shangri-La Fort, you KNOW his drinks are not only quality but also really well-balanced. No nasty hangovers here– only a really good time! PS They will be serving food within the next couple of weeks, too, and according to Simon, there will be a kitchen window along their entrance on Don Pedro Street so you can even get the bar chow to go!
Buccaneers is located at 8459 Kalayaan Ave. (next to L&B Suites) cor. Don Pedro Street, Poblacion, Makati, Philippines. It is open Monday to Saturday from 6 PM to 2AM. Follow them on Instagram at buccaneers_ph.
