Champagne, punches and sake-infused cocktails: New bars in Singapore

The first quarter of 2024 saw four new bars, all of which are located in hotels. If you have always liked to keep your dining and drinking options all under one roof for your staycation, check out these bars before you make that next booking.

AMARA HOTEL SINGAPORE, LOBBY BAR

Perhaps feeling left out of the cocktail trend that has turned our city into one of the hottest destinations for bar lovers, many Singapore hotels have been playing catch-up, revamping their staid lobby bars into hip cocktail dens. Amara Hotel Singapore has taken a different approach for its Lobby Bar, though. After a four-month refurbishment, it is now a cosy wine bar.

Partnering with wine importer Grand Vin, the Lobby Bar is out to woo oenophiles with a discerning wine list. Chief among the wine offerings is the extensive collection of Champagne Louis Roederer bubblies — the largest ever selection available in a wine bar in Singapore. The Louis Roederer maison is known for its elegant champagnes, with its Cristal cuvees being some of the most highly prized bubblies among wine lovers.

Other top picks on the list include a Domaine Faiveley Charmes Chambertin Grand Cru 2018 (S$405/bottle) and a Pio Cesare Barbaresco 2019 (S$173/bottle). Pair the vinous sips with bar bites like Crispy Pork Belly (S$18) and Charcuterie and Cheese Platter (S$38).

165 Tanjong Pagar Road. Visit Amara Singapore 

The Japanese-themed bar trend shows no signs of abating: Tucked in Pullman Singapore Hill Street hotel, Moga — a Japanese slang and amalgamation of the words of ‘modern girls’ — is a bar serving up cocktails, Japanese whiskies and sake.

LED graphics and funky artwork on the walls give Moga a fun atmosphere, a departure from the sombre elegance of the other Japanese cocktail bars in the city. The drinks are dreamed up by head mixologist Marcus Liow and bar consultant Dario Knox of Knox Beverage consulting. Liow is also an expert in sake, incorporating the Japanese tipple into a few of the cocktails such as the Haru No Shinju “Pearls of Spring” (S$24), a lychee martini with a genmaicha-infused sake.

“The clean and dry characteristics [of the honjozo sake] provide a canvas for the genmaicha’s flavour to shine through. The nutty tones pair well with the delicate sweetness of the lychee,” said Liow, on his unique lychee martini. “[Sake] can be paired with all types of base spirits and ingredients; the possibilities are endless.”

If you are a fan of kinako (roasted soya bean), try the Lost in Translation (S$24), an enticing potion of Nikka Coffey malt whisky, Smokey Monkey Shoulder whisky, kinako flour, miso, honey, and ginger.

1 Hill Street. Visit Pullman Singapore Hill Street 

PUNCH ROOM

The Punch Room bar in The Singapore Edition hotel is the local outpost of the first Punch Room bar that opened in The London Edition hotel in 2013. The London joint injected a dose of cool into punch — a drink long relegated to cheap mixes of juice and alcohol for Christmas parties — by updating its recipes for the modern drinker.

Punch is believed to have been introduced to England from India in the 17th century, when sailors of the East India Company jazzed up an Indian drink of arrack and lime juice by adding other ingredients they had obtained along their trading route. The name “punch” was probably adapted from the Sanskrit word “panc” or “five”, a reference to the drink’s five ingredients: Spirits from Europe and the British colonies; spices and citrus from Africa and the East; teas from China and India; and sugar from the Indies.

In today’s eclectic mixology scene, many of Punch Room’s tipples would actually qualify as cocktails — and that is Punch Room’s statement, that modern punches can hold their own against the colourful libations shaken up by bartenders.

Like other Punch Rooms across the world, the Singapore outlet showcases tipples made with ingredients from the region, in this case, Southeast Asia. Sarawak pepper, for example, finds its way into the Emporium Punch (S$27), a mix of Remy Martin cognac, Bruichladdich whisky, apricot, lime, and green tea. The punches are served in antique silver bowls sourced from L&P Silversmiths in London, and some of them evoke a nostalgic effect. For instance, the sweet and fragrant Kusu Island punch (S$27) — a mix of gin, sparkling sake, pandan, lemongrass, and sencha tea — looks like a bowl of local dessert your grandmother would rustle up.

Kudos to the copywriters behind the menu: The list makes for an interesting read as each punch is tied to anecdotes and legends from Singapore’s past.

38 Cuscaden Road. Visit The Singapore Edition 

SLATE

Located in Mondrian Singapore Duxton hotel, Slate is the first bar concept from the Ebb & Flow Group, the people behind restaurants like Willow and Cafe Natsu. The loungey bar focuses on sips with Asian flavours, shaking up what it calls sustainable “eco-conscious” drinks: The cocktails are made with in-house infusions and syrups as well as cooked by-products and off-cuts from Tribal, an Asian restaurant and sibling concept next door.

Mixologist Lafiama ‘Krego’ Wright’s stirs up some hip concoctions, such as It’s Raining Melon (S$25), a mix of Tanqueray gin, honeydew, and pandan gomme syrup made with melon peels and rinds, and Straight out of Bangkok (S$25), a creative Tom Yum martini made with Thai-spiced vodka, citrus oleo, and Tom Yum foam on the side (so you have a choice of making the drink clear or cloudy, as you would with the actual dish).

For teetotallers, there’s a Zero Proof section with mocktails (all S$16) like Goji Ginger, a brew of goji chrysanthemum syrup with ginger tea, and Preserved Plum Earl Grey, a tangy mix of calamansi sour plum and cold brew earl grey.

If you are feeling peckish, order some of the Japanese bites, such as Shiro Ebi (S$18), morsels of yuzu-cured sweet prawns on fried brioche, and Miso-cured Hamachi (S$16) served with tomato ponzu and rice crackers.

83 Neil Road. Visit Slate