The Workshop: A quirky place in Da Nang with some really cool people

Da Nang has a lot of places in it to hang out; some would say that especially now with tourism being almost completely halted, that there are way too many places. There are also too many restaurants that all sell essentially exactly the same food. There are some exceptions to this rule though and today I am going to highlight a place that feels less like a restaurant - which it is, and also feels less like a pub - which it also is, and feels more like a place to hang out and make some friends that just happens to have food and drinks for sale.

When you first approach this place it is kind of difficult to even be able to determine exactly what it is. It simply appears to be someone's house and they decided to put a marquis on the front gate, when you enter the place, it still kind of seems that way as the areas inside look like a living room and the downstairs bathroom has a tub in it and wasn't renovated to accommodate massive amounts of guests.

The only part of the entire establishment that really even feels like it might be a business in the back garden but even then you quickly realize that this is not your typical establishment because the patrons will be playing board games and the welcome you to come and play with them right when you come in.

I actually got asked to come into this place one night by someone else for a pub quiz night and it was one of the more informal quizzes that i had ever been to. The people in the crowd were friendly, the questions were silly, and there wasn't a tremendous amount of cut-throat competition going on. It was just a really laid back experience. Now, the questions were also pretty open ended as well in that there was more than one correct answer and other than myself everyone in the place already seemed to know one another and were pals. I can now say that after just one day of being a part of this crew that they readily accepted me as one of their own and everyone was really cool

I found out a couple of other things about this place on that night and that is that they regularly host rather unusual events that you wont find anywhere else such as an Improv Night where if you want to take part in the acting, you can do so, and if you don't you can hang in the back and have a laugh.

They also have open mic nights where if you do play an instrument or are a decent singer, you can get up and play in front of others. They also have a strict "no heckling" rule in place during these things, which is kind of nice, especially if you aren't terribly talented.

I wouldn't say there is anything particularly amazing about their food but it doesn't suck... and in a city where most places just are carbon copies of the next with varying prices, this doesn't really matter all that much. They aren't going to win any Michelin stars any time soon, but it's passable and the attitude of the staff and people that go there more than make up for this. Drinks also cost next to nothing if you enjoy a beer.

The name The Workshop comes from the fact that they regularly have classes or meetings where people who are kind of experts in their various fields will come in and teach others the basics of whatever that talent might be, for free and it's totally up to you if you even want to buy anything while you are there. They have writing workshops lead by professional copywriters, painting workshops by people who make money doing that sort of thing, and even bicycle maintenance workshops done by people who own bicycle shops. You never really know what you are going to get when you check their upcoming events.

_{It changes weekly although some events are semi-permanent}

This isn't exactly a bar or a restaurant, it is more like a gathering place and the owners don't really seem all that concerned about whether or not they make a profit. It is more like a place that the two guys who run it determined that they wanted to have friends over every day, encourage people to be nice to one another, and also create an environment where if you want to, you can actually learn something as well. I have never seen a place like this anywhere that I have traveled in Asia and I think that it is pretty darn great.

They are easy enough to find in Da Nang if you happen to already be there as they are very close to the beach area that as a tourist or even a foreign resident, you are probably going to be staying near anyway. If you need your hand held in order to find anything here is the map location anyway.

I've only been there a couple of times but I have had a blast both of those times. Extroverted or Introverted, this no pressure environment is a great place to hang out and make some friends. I know I'll be back.