Singapore’s de facto Little Korea town in Tanjong Pagar has gotten an effervescent, Gangnam-inspired hit with the newly opened Bae’s Cocktail Club, where curated K-centric drinks meet groovy beats spun by live DJs all the way into the early hours of the morning.
It’s the perfect hangout spot for post-Korean barbeque revelry, fuelled by a litany of 12 signature cocktails crafted by co-founder Vijay Mudaliar (also of locavore Native and sustainability-focused Analogue) and served in a setting equal parts electric and eclectic.
The curated cocktail menu wears its Korean influences on its sleeves, with a great many libations playfully riffing on the motherland’s rich culinary culture.
These include the Kimchi Margarita, featuring gently smoky Codigo Mezcal against roasted bell pepper, lime and kimchi; the Soju Basil Smash, where Bombay Sapphire Premier Cru gin, soju, St Germain and basil intermingle; and the Pepero Martini, a play on a popular Korean snack of chocolate-covered biscuit sticks comprising Belvedere vodka, soju, cold brew coffee and chestnuts.
This influence extends to the wider beverage programme as well, which features a medley of spirits and bubblies both well-loved and appreciated in South Korea, though surprisingly underrated here in Singapore.
There are Korean firsts in Buja Gin, the first gin to be produced there, scented by locally sourced organic botanicals, as well as KI One, Korea’s first single malt whiskey borne out of a distillery in the Namyangji mountains northeast of Seoul. There’s also sojus uplifted by star power, as in Won Soju backed by Korean celebrity Jay Park, as well as Andong Soju produced in the city of the same name by K-food grandmaster Cho Ok Hwa.
Food comes by way of breezy bar bites like corndogs, chilli crab tteokbokki and sliders with larger steak or fried chicken plates to go around the table. That’s assuming, of course, you’re seated at a table in the lounge or private living room instead of tearing it up on the dance floor. Just in case you’re wondering, live DJs will spin a hip-hop and rap-centric set every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday until 3am.
Bae’s Cocktail Club is at 21 Tanjong Pagar Road, Singapore 088444.
