The perfect bar is barely lit and a bit too crowded. Where all practical concerns for the sober mind dissolve with one drink after another causing live melancholic music to become the emotional equivalent of nuclear fusion for human joy. A place where time gets lost. You might have a place like that in your own life, and if so, you’ll love Bar Fun Fun.
From the outside Bar Fun Fun in Montevideo, Uruguay, is an unassuming brick hole with tightly packed tables – some come for the evening, others stay for the night – serving a variety of appetizers and its signature drink made on site, uvita. Fermented grapes, sugar, and other undisclosed ingredients it tastes something of a toxic fruit punch. There’s a number of snacks as well, heavy bar foods to prepare you for one uvita too many.
Reserve Your Spot
Weekends are busy so you’ll need to reserve a spot to make sure you’re not in the unofficial standing room of anywhere there’s space. Plenty of tourists have found out about Bar Fun Fun but there aren’t too many in Montevideo to begin with, so you don’t feel like you’re in alcoholic Disneyland.
At the entrance there are the local regulars catching a smoke. Around the tiny stage several seniors whose wrinkles are lit up in red or purple reflections of the neon lights. Shows usually start at Fun Fun with some music and comedy, with enough breaks in between acts for everyone to continue their conversations.
Tango The Night Away
Bar Fun Fun opens at 9pm and once the lighter music has concluded, it’s time to tango. The tango at Fun Fun is intense, precise and calculated, with plenty of emotion to spare for the crowd. The schedule of these shows vary throughout the week, Thursdays are particularly nice since it’s not as packed a house as the weekend. (Bar Fun Fun is closed on Sunday and Mondays).
The magic in the dance is how captivate the audience is, well on to their third, fourth, and fifth rounds of wine, beer, or uvita. The waitstaff also seem more relaxed at this point, as food service ends and they can slow down a bit to focus on just serving drinks. Did I mention the staff are warmly edgy? All adding to the ambiance of familiarity you’ve immediately fallen into.
Fun Fun Not For Everyone
Bar Fun Fun will feel an uninspiring experience for those who dip their toes in what’s a pretty popular recommendation on TripAdvisor. Travelers who don’t like late nights and aren’t willing to stay into the later hours of tango, will miss the best part afterward: the voice of Ricardo Olivera.
By this time in the night, the crowd at Bar Fun Fun has become a collective consciousness, being lead where the music takes them. Much like in Turkey, where the best accompaniment to raki is good conversation, friends sing and cheers, embracing the fact the next morning will be a bit rougher than normal. Chances are if you’ve read this far or your fondness for such places has been peaked, Bar Fun Fun in Montevideo will endear itself to you as well. Salud.