Perched atop National Gallery Singapore, Smoke & Mirrors boasts epic views of the city (Photo: Smoke & Mirrors)
Any day drinkers out there? No one is going to judge at No Sleep Club. After all, the usual coffee by day, cocktails by night concept is blurred here, so it is perfectly fine to enjoy a tequila-based Espresso Martini any time at all.
Helmed by Juan Yi Jun, who ran the iconic but now-defunct Operation Dagger, and Jessica Hutchinson, previously of 28 HongKong Street, No Sleep Club is the sort of establishment whose name is often strung together with compliments about modern European fare, great drinks and good vibes. The bar has come a long way since its four-seater pop-up days at Club Street. Its current home at Keong Saik Road is a common haunt for those who want to unwind in a relaxed space, preferably with a crafted cocktail or a glass of natural wine in hand.
They often host collabs to keep things interesting. Melbourne’s Byrdi, which distils its own spirits with native Australian ingredients, did a guest shift recently and its Watermelone (carbonated watermelon, last summer’s berries and karkalla) was truly exquisite. But if you are here on a regular day, we heard rave reviews about No Sleep Club’s Reverse Harvard, which combines vermouth from organic wine producer Frederic Brouca and cognac with kombu, aged oolong and pacotised Kyoho grapes.
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20 Keong Saik Road. Tues-Sat: 4pm-midnight; Sun: noon-7pm. (65) 8838 0188.
What is a sundowner without a view? Over at Smoke & Mirrors, both are equally spectacular. After a long day of playing critic and inspecting the work of some of Southeast Asia’s most prominent artists at National Gallery Singapore, head to the bar for a well-deserved drink or two and soak up the final moments of daylight before the city’s shimmering lights take over the skyline.
Smoke & Mirrors has a programme with the museum that allows guests to join guided tours to learn more about the artworks that inspired some of the drinks on its latest menu. For example, the tender relationship elicited from Ng Eng Teng’s Mother and Child (1996) — a bronze sculpture installed in front of the gallery facing the Padang — is the muse for Heartstrings, a mild yet complex cocktail made up of Roku Gin, Junmai saké, distilled coffee, Haku Vodka, Giffard Strawberry Liqueur, citrus and lactose. It is topped with a strawberry wafer stick and served on a music box that plays You Are My Sunshine when wound, both of which are playful reminders of childhood.
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06-01 National Gallery Singapore, 1 St Andrew’s Road. Mon-Wed: 6pm-midnight; Thurs-Sat: 6pm-1am; Sun: 5pm-midnight. (65) 8380 6811.
Hotel bars are a dime a dozen but few take the mixology game seriously. The Ritz-Carlton’s Republic Bar has quickly become one of the city’s best despite opening merely two years ago. The swanky cocktail bar takes after the hotel’s splendour, but ushers guests into a portal to the 1960s, arguably the decade of freedom, expression and individuality.
An extensive menu presents liquid snapshots of the era through four themes: Art, Cinema, Fashion and Music. They explore social and political movements, larger-than-life characters that dominated the big screen, fashion icons and the evolution of rock and roll.
Space Odyssey, an eccentric drink from the Cinema section, pays tribute to the science fiction epic that inspired a generation of filmmakers. It is a combination of Glenfiddich 12YO Whisky, berries, honey, lemon shrub, Telmont champagne and London Essence Soda Water. A sprinkle of glitter and a block of ice, carved to look like a spaceship, gives it an otherworldly touch.
If you are hosting a soirée here, the punch bowls are an easy way to encourage communal drinking. The selections were developed in collaboration with David Wondrich, hailed as one the world’s foremost authorities on cocktails and its history.
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Level 3, The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore, 7 Raffles Avenue. Sun-Thurs: 9am-midnight; Fri-Sat: 9am-1am. (65) 6434 5289.
Shake your tail feather at Offtrack, an unpretentious hideout conceptualised by the co-founders of local music collectives Darker Than Wax and Ice Cream Sundays. The music bar-cum-restaurant serves up a sweet selection of cult classic cocktails alongside hearty Pan-Asian food and mean desserts. We heard the banana cake, served charcoal grilled à la otak-otak, is to-die-for.
Vinyl covers decorate the walls of this warm and homely space, where the music programmes focus on providing local and regional DJs and record collectors the opportunity to curate setlists that you do not normally hear at traditional clubs or restaurants. The line-up varies every Thursday, Friday and Saturday, so look forward to exploring a diverse range of music styles at the end of the week.
For a refreshing tipple with a hint of holiday spirit (Christmas is around the corner anyway), go for the Gala Highball. Zesty and oh-so-fresh, it is concocted with Naked Malt Whisky, smoked apple, cinnamon and red apple soda. Now, go look for a dance partner.
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34 North Canal Road. Mon-Sat: 5pm-midnight. (65) 8748 0408.
The new kid on the block is the talk of the town and the whispers include the likes of jellyfish martinis and locust garum. The brainchild of Christina Rasmussen (previously head forager at Rene Redzepi’s three-Michelin-starred Noma in Copenhagen) and Sasha Wijidessa (who worked at Danish distillery Empirical), Fura is an experimental cocktail bar that seeks to change the way we eat and drink by embracing “the future of food”.
The bar explores the wider scope of sustainability, extending beyond operational practices to conscious sourcing. It makes use of invasive ingredients, such as jellyfish that proliferate in excess and locusts that devastate farmlands, in its drinks and dishes and is keeping things fluid to evolve alongside the environment.
Fura is eco, yes, but not in a shove-it-down-your-throat kind of way. Instead, it walks the talk when it comes to making conscious choices and is open to conversation if you are, perhaps over an order of Funk Flex, made with red capsicum fermented for 70 days, physalis, pineapple and raspberry. Plus, with its eccentric menu, one cannot help but ask, “Why the heck are there mealworms in the margarita?”
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74A Amoy Street. Tues-Sat: 5pm-midnight. (65) 8406 8899.
This article first appeared on Oct 30, 2023 in The Edge Malaysia.
