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Round

Round is a new space in Kensington Market that hosts a variety of events and themed nights and also operates as a restaurant during dinner hours. It takes over for the Augusta House at the lower end of Augusta Ave.

I visited Round on an electronic music night. The bar is up a flight of stairs that opens into a large space with a bar, a dance floor and a seating area (which is a little like the neighbouring Boat , at least in terms of the upstairs layout). The walls have minimalist paintings of houses with London street lamps lining the interior. The dance floor takes up half the venue with seats on one side against the windowed wall which overlooks Augusta, perfect for those of us who can't dance very long before taking a break to play Candy Crush.

There is a pool table on the other side of the dance floor, perfect for those of us who can't dance very long before getting that sweaty, dried saliva-mouthed look of a person who needs to constantly gamble to retain their self worth.

As it was electronic music night, Round had tons of lasers and a postmodern-esque video playing on the wall. Initially, I scoffed at the laser show ("um, I've been to a MuchMusic Video Dance Party. I know lasers") but was quickly blown away by the complexity and intensity of the show.

On a scale of laser eye surgery (only cool because it involves lasers and vision correction) to Laser Quest (very cool because it involves lasers and pretend combat), this show was laser cats (even better than Laser Quest because it is lasers, nature's sassiest animals and also I am a pacifist).

Round has two beers on tap (currently Augusta Ale and Flying Monkey) that change every so often. They also offer around ten beers in cans and bottles, including some specials. I had a tallboy of PBR, as it was on special ($5) and a chocolate mousse shot ($4), as I'm a naive child of the Sex and the City generation who believes that flavoured alcohol is the equivalent to being a fun-loving lady in a big city.

As the night went on, the venue began to fill up. Some people were dancing, but a lot of people were just sitting and chilling out. It was nice to go to a place that had such a relaxed atmosphere (possibly leftover vibes from the aromatherapy workshop earlier that week?).

The feel of Round is bound to change with every event, since each one is so different, but the decor, cool bartenders and relatively cheap beer make it a fun place to hang out. It's definitely a place I can see myself coming back to - with or without the lasers.


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