City bar hosts drunken search (9)
I believe the answer is:
bucharest
'city' is the definition.
(Bucharest is an example)
'bar hosts drunken search' is the wordplay.
'bar' becomes 'but' (both can mean 'except for').
'hosts' is an insertion indicator (inserted letters are welcomed or hosted).
'drunken' indicates anagramming the letters.
'search' anagrammed gives 'chares'.
'but' going around 'chares' is 'BUCHAREST'.
(Other definitions for bucharest that I've seen before include "European city" , "Capital of Romania" , "Romanian capital" , "Balkan city" , "European capital" .)