Whether you’re super stoked about taking your main squeeze to a V-Day blow-out or rue the day capitalism injected its marketing potion into romantic love (ie you are single), a drink or two, preferably alcoholic, are in order. That’s where we come in, to tell you all the new places in Singapore where you can do that in February. Who knows, you might even find a kindred spirit on the bar stool next to you.
This new bar on Tanjong Pagar pairs whisky with sumiyaki
Adding on to the burgeoning list of watering holes in Tanjong Pagar is The Wall, an establishment that pairs whisky with delicious sumiyaki dishes. Housed in a gorgeous two-storey conservation shop house along the main stretch of Tanjong Pagar Road, The Wall features exposed brick walls, part of the original early 1900s construction and serves an extensive sumiyaki menu. On the drinks front, they’ve separated them into different kinds of whiskies hailing from various parts of the world for easy browsing. For more on The Wall, click here.
Siloso Beach gets a Hawaiian-themed beach club
There’s now a casual alternative to the fancytown beach clubs of Tanjong Beach, and it’s on Siloso. Just a short walk from Coastes beach bar at the space formerly occupied by Azurra, stylish Hawaiian-themed (and owned) restaurant and beach club Ola a twin focus on good food and drinks as well as exciting water sports. With a large boathouse, an elegant second-floor dining room, a casual sandy lounge on the first floor and not to mention their own launch jetty, Ola is also serving a Hawaiian-leaning menu that is different but not entirely unpredictable, compared to the other surrounding beach bars doing usual burgers, pizzas and fish n’ chips. On the boozy side of things, the bar, run by Alex Ng, who cuts his teeth at Loof, Bar Stories and most recently Tess Bar & Kitchen, shakes up tropical signature cocktails. More on Ola Beach Club here.
The Proof Flat is every craft spirit aficionado’s dream
If you’re always staring admiringly at the craft spirit collection at your favorite cocktail bars, well, there’s a one-stop shop for building a similar collection at home, brought to you by none other than The Proof & Company Spirits, the consultants behind pretty much every other cocktail bar that you love. Just down the street from 28 HongKong Street, The Proof Flat is a gorgeous little retail shop stocking everything you need to have a world-class bar at home. Browse through hundreds of bottles, good small-batch stuff curated over years of travelling and meeting producers. Highlights include Willet Pot Still Reserve Bourbon, Stiggins’ Fancy Pineapple Rum and Fuenteseca Tequila. More deets on The Proof Flat here.
A new bar with a bold, all-Asian concept is now on Amoy Street
Getting a lot of attention for a signature cocktail involving ants, Native is a cool new bar tucked away on a second floor space on Amoy Street, with a focus not on exhaustive inventories of fancy craft spirits, but rather individually sourced sakes, whiskies, gins and arracks from around South, Southeast and East Asia, a long list of locally foraged ingredients (betel leaves, curry leaves, starfruit flowers, etc) and some inventive mixology. At the helm is former Operation Dagger man Vijay Mudaliar, and his list of signatures is short and focused, with base spirits like Thailand’s Chalong Bay rum and Singapore’s Paper Lantern Sichuan Pepper Gin. Read about our recent visit to Native here.
The 28 HongKong Street people just opened a new restaurant and bar
Enjoy some feel-good nosh and fresh cocktails throughout the day at Crackerjack, a new restaurant opened by the guys responsible for 28 HongKong Street and Proof & Company Spirits. It’s all decked out in playful aesthetics of green, red and yellow, featuring a beehive-looking wall cabinet lining the cocktail bar and artworks by artist and founder of Kult, Mojoko, accompanied by large communal blonde teak tables and full-length windows. As for the drinks, you can count on Peter Chua and Zachary de Git, award-winning bartenders who came from two of Singapore’s best drinking venues to keep your thirst quenched with a selection of highballs that use a combination of natural and housemade syrups with soda and craft spirits in their repertoire. Try exotic blends like Mojoko’s Psycho Tropics Sour, or Fro-Zay, a slushie version of frozen rose wine from Provence. There’s American food, too, prepared by former chef at Meatsmith, Alysia Chan. More on Crackerjack here.
There are three different bars to check out at JW Marriott
The South Beach stretch has probably been one of the hottest openings of 2016, with its exciting bars, restaurants and a glam club. The attached hotel, The South Beach, which is managed by the JW Marriott, is the first property of the hotel chain in Singapore, and it comes with three bars.
The Court Martial Bar, which gets its name from the historical background of the building, is a specialty cocktail bar with homemade infusions and a range of “barrel-aged classics”. Under Navin Raj, the drinks menu is broken up into three different categories, with signatures like the Heritage Sling, their take on the classic Singapore Sling, and South Beach Sour, a reinterpretation of a whisky sour with a local spin; and reinvented classics like the Bloody Maria and French 75 and tipples with spirits that have been rested in American Oak Barrels between two-four weeks, like the Negroni and Rum Ol’ Fashioned.
It’s a little more casual over at Media Bar, a gastropub with contemporary takes on local favorites and bar bites with an international selection of beer and wine, as well as spirits and cocktails. Apart from familiar snacks like wings and ribs, they also have a Beef Rendang Bun and a roti prata roll with curried chicken to go along with pints of Singapore Blonde and Summer IPA from local brewery Archipelago or highballs like the Vodka Cooler and Navy Punch.
And then there’s Tonic, which, as the name suggests, is a specialty gin bar near the hotel lobby. Here, you can find pairings of East Imperial tonic and soda with specialty gins for G&T concoctions like the classic London Dry Gin & Soda, Highland Gin & Yuzu Tonic and Black Forest Gin & Burma Tonic. There’s also a list of gin-based cocktails called “Tonic Secrets”, with lofty options like Misty (Beefeater, Maraschino and fresh lemon juice) and Luxury (Bombay Sapphire, Triple Sec, pineapple juice, grenadine syrup and egg white).
Have a cuppa at the coffee chain featured on Korean drama Descendants of the Sun
Dal.komm Coffee is a Korean coffee chain that focuses on enhancing coffee experiences with music, a first in their home country. They are following through this concept in Singapore, by hosting “Veranda Live” events for local singers to promote their albums and organize fan meets; and open mic sessions for budding singers to perform. Customers will also be given a music card with QR code where they can stream the cafe’s pick of a musician, which changes every month. The cafe decor is full of black, white and wooden tables and accessorized with elements related to music like records and speakers. They’re offering a range of beverages like coffee, juices, tea and even popular Korean dessert, bingsu.
Melbourne’s famed T2 Tea has arrived in Singapore
There’s a decent number of teahouses in Singapore, but none is as interesting as T2 Tea, which flung open its doors at 313@Somerset earlier this month, following the closure of the EpiCentre store (probably because of the Singapore’s first Apple Store at Knightsbridge, whose opening was postponed to this year). T2’s wild interpretation and spin on the traditional art of tea has brought them from a small, humble store on Brunswick Street, Fitzroy (Melbourne’s stretch of hipster bars, cafes and stores in the lively inner-city suburb) to known brand with 75 stores around the world. On the menu, staples like the English Breakfast Earl Grey are available while their signature Melbourne Breakfast (loose leaf flavored black tea with hints of vanilla) or French Earl Grey (medium-bodied black tea with notes of bergamot) really take the cake.
