From Scandinavian bridges to horses, these six new bars and bar menus for October are redefining what cocktails aspire to be in Singapore.
In new bars, the 1-Group people have opened 1-Altitude Coast, a concept mirroring the former 1-Altitude but set on Sentosa. Ex-Fung Kee Hot Dogs founder has returned to his roots for Hemlig, a Scandinavian restaurant and bar that serves cocktails named after the region’s bridges, and Farrer Horse takes inspiration from Farrer Road’s equestrian past for similarly-themed drinks.
Bringing a refreshed menu is 28 Hongkong Street. The craft cocktail dame has imagined what it would be like if it opened four different bars, with drinks based around those ideas. Gibson, another stalwart of Singapore’s bar scene, manages to tame disparate elements into a brilliantly cohesive new menu, and Flow Bar ups their playful and inventive approach with new cocktails.
(Hero and featured image credit: 28 Hongkong Street)
This story first appeared on Lifestyle Asia Singapore
6 new bars and bar menus in Singapore in October 2022
Fans of the now-closed 1-Altitude can take heart in 1-Altitude Coast, a similar concept based in Sentosa. With views of the Singapore Straits, the rooftop bar and day club serves tropical-inspired cocktails like Smokey Sea Monkey with fig-infused peated whisky and smoked maple syrup, as well as Skylar Calabria, a fizzy riff on Tommy’s Margarita with blue agave, soursop, and blood orange soda. The venue is also slated to open Sol & Ora in October, a sister outlet to Sol & Luna that offers wines from Italy, France, Spain, and Greece, as well as cocktails inspired by the Mediterranean.
Mondays – Thursdays, 11am – 10pm
Fridays and Saturdays, 11am – 2am
Sundays, 11am – midnight
Ten years is a long time for one of Singapore’s pioneering craft cocktail bars, but 28 Hongkong Street shows it’s still in the game with a refreshed menu. Rather than sections, the venue developed four concepts to showcase what a bar crawl would be like under one roof. Sin & Misery at the Oldham is their rendition of a hotel bar, exemplified by the savoury Brick Lane Martini, while Brenda’s Bad Hand reimagines the dive bar through the Pickleback Sour with rye whiskey, cucumber, and dill. Halogen takes drinkers to a 90’s nightclub through Cllub Caffe, an Espresso Martini emboldened with Sichuan peppercorns, then it’s back to 28HKS for the new Guava Spicy Margarita bristling with Carolina reaper pepper.
Mondays – Wednesdays, 6am – midnight
Thursdays – Saturdays, 6pm – 2am
Taking cues from the area’s horse-racing past, Farrer Horse is a gastro-cocktail spot that takes up two stories of a Jalan Sultan shophouse. On the first floor is the Dining Room, which serves modern Asian dishes like Nyonya Kueh Pie Tee presented DIY-style, and Otah Ravioli. Upstairs is the Stable, a bar offers six equestrian-themed cocktails like Rocket Man, named after Singapore’s most famous horse and presented as an umami cocktail with Peruvian grape brandy and horseradish syrup. For something unsuspectingly boozy, the Inferno surprises as an iced peach and passionfruit tea spiked with Plantation Original Dark Rum.
Tuesdays and Sundays, 12pm – 10.30pm
Wednesdays – Saturdays, 12pm – midnight
A year after they opened, Flow Bar has revamped itself with new cocktails. The drinks menu now has a new section called Office, which offers boozy serves like Patina (Monkey Shoulder whiskey, Drambuie, Averna bitter liqueur, and cacao), while older sections Playground, Living Room, and Gardens have new drinks added to them. She So Shiso, for instance, joins rock melon juice with shiso syrup and bitters, while Peach remixes the Tom Collins with peach gin and rosemary syrup. Head bartender Ricky Paiva also utilises hibiscus for his floral rendition of a Cosmopolitan, with hibiscus ginger juice, gin, and lime.
Tuesdays – Saturdays, 5pm – midnight
Gibson’s revamped cocktail menu Chimera points to the diverse and disparate Asian ingredients they shoehorn into classic cocktails, but they work seamlessly together. The new Sugarcane Spritz sees the bar teaming up with local biotechnology company Starter Culture to ferment the grass into a wine, then invigorated with cachaça and olive brine. Another collaboration with Starter Culture resulted in Amazake Bellini, which transforms the Italian cocktail into a nigori sake-like drink with fermented rice. Urban Farmer No.4 continues Gibson’s partnership with local agriculture collective Edible Garden City through a bright, tart drink with cranberry hibiscus and granny smith apple.
Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, 6pm – midnight
Fridays and Saturdays, 6pm – 2am
Hemlig, which is Swedish for “secret”, is a Scandinavian restaurant and bar by Knut Randhem. Formerly of Fung Kee Hot Dogs, Ce La Vi, and Butcher Boy, the Swedish native calls his cuisine “grandmother’s food served by the grandson,” which encompasses gravlax, pickled herring with rye bread, and homemade meatballs. Cocktails are named after Scandinavian bridges, ranging from a cloudberry daiquiri called Storeseisundet to the Margarita-like Tjörn with elderflower and lingonberry. Randhem also has a deft hand with the Negroni, serving the classic red version with aquavit instead of gin, and a White Negroni with armagnac.
Wednesdays – Fridays, 12pm – 3pm, 6pm – midnight
Saturdays, 6pm – midnight
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