Ah, springtime. Or maybe Slingtime? When one’s heart turns back to traveling the world. Or at least ours did as we decided to take a chance and get the hell out of Hong Kong for a while. The rest of the world is opening back up after more than two years of Covid, and we’re on a mission to see as much of it as we can! First stop, Singapore.
Those of you who know Singapore already know of this city’s incredible cocktail scene. But for those of you who don’t, I’ve decided to put together a rundown of some of the spots we hit up while we were in town. This is far from a comprehensive list of all of the amazing spots on this equatorial island, but you have to start somewhere, right?
Bars in this post:
That’s not all, though. There are too many great bars in Singapore for one post, so I’ll be back later with more!
Check out Part 2 here.
Mallow
This was a lucky find for us. We had only been in Singapore for 24 hours when we stumbled across this delightful joint. Located upstairs in the Intercontinental Hotel at Robertson Quay, it was a little tricky for us to find at first. But we were happy to mosey on in on a lovely Sunday afternoon for a special event going on at bars all around town that week: Fuck Putin and His Stupid Fucking War—a sentiment I still stand behind.
This spot just recently opened, and you can tell that it’s a solid addition to the Singapore cocktail scene. Started by Sash Wijidessa and Christina Rasmussen—two veterans of the restaurant and cocktail world—Mallow features food and drink focused on plants and their flavor. We sampled everything on the Fuck Putin menu, along with a few other drinks and snacks there.
Notably, they feature a couple of spirits from Empirical, a Copenhagen-based spirits company—sorry, flavor company. This was our first time trying these, and the cocktails made great use of the Ayuuk and The Plum I Suppose. Beyond those, of course, were all sorts of other interesting flavors. Sasha is no slouch when it comes to making unique flavor creations.
Nutmeg & Clove
Getting a bit closer to the more central parts of Singapore, and not far from the world-famous Raffles Hotel, our next stop brought us to Nutmeg & Clove.
First thing I noticed as we sat down is that they have a fun and clever menu; I’m a sucker for a clever menu. I like a good story with my drinks. They’re perhaps a bit kitschy, sure, but I love them anyways.
Nutmeg & Clove is, I think it’s safe to say, a Singaporean cocktail institution at this point. They’ve appeared often on the Asia’s 50 Best Bars list, and founder Colin Chia received the Industry Icon award at this year’s ceremony. And it’s not hard to see why.
We visited on a Monday night. Despite it being a slow weeknight, we still received excellent cocktails and top-notch service. The menu is full of fun variations on classics and other clever concoctions, and includes many standards and hall-of-famers as well. And since it was slow, we didn’t feel too bad about ordering their twist on a Ramos Gin Fizz. I figure that way, we’re helping prevent the bar staff from getting bored.
Atlas
Now, it’s time to get fancy. Self-described as a grand lobby & bar, I can tell you that Atlas is definitely nothing if not GRAND; it has all the over the top, epic decor needed to take grand to a whole new level.
Even if you’ve never been here, you may have seen it in a TV show. Atlas made an appearance in Season 3 of “Westworld” and they made grand use of its decor to set the scene. Given the cinematic nature of this place, the only surprise is that it hasn’t made an appearance on screen more often.
So, grand in appearance, but how’s the menu? Well, that is no less grand. Contained within, you’ll find many delicious cocktails as well as the opportunity to try some truly rare things. Among their offerings are gins from every decade going back over 100 years! Yes, you can get a martini made with 100 year old gin (though, if I’m being honest, the inside info is that it’s not any different from the modern stuff—gin doesn’t really age in the barrel—still, it’s neat).
And for us, this was a good excuse to get dressed up. We love any chance to bust out the nice clothes. I have so many cufflinks and so little chance to wear them, but I love how they look next to a coupe in my hand. Really, there are few bars fancier, so this is a place you can really go for it.
Manhattan
A bar named after one of my favorite drinks, how could I not? Tucked away inside the Regent Hotel is a swanky place with a chill vibe serving some funky drinks called Manhattan. Just click that link and hit up the website. I guarantee you’ll be entertained.
As I mentioned, I love a clever menu. And they have it, as you can see from the photos below. Excellent classics (as you’d expect) as well as many inventions fill the menu, and everything is on theme. The drinks are also some of the prettiest and most photogenic cocktails in town, as you can tell from the abundance of pics below.
This is a great place to lounge and sip on some tasty drinks. The only I could wish for would be a live jazz trio in the corner to add some atmosphere, but alas live music was still not allowed when we visited. Even without, I still greatly enjoyed leaning back in a comfy chair to wax philosophical while sipping on these tasty beverages.
I’m going to wrap up for now to prevent rambling for too long right now (I know, I know, too late). But I have much more about Singapore to write, so stay tuned for the next entry!
