Singapore Is One of the World’s Most Exciting Cocktail Destinations—Here’s Where to Drink, According to One of Its Pioneer Bartenders

On any given night time in Singapore, Peter Chua is at Evening Hawk watching a visitor debate between a rum cocktail with shiitake mushroom Campari and a gin-and-mezcal cocktail with fortified wine and pickled beetroot. A decade in the past, that very same buyer would have been selecting between three variations of a mojito.

Few know this scene higher than Chua, co-owner of Evening Hawk and bartender of almost twenty years. Chua is usually credited as one of many pioneers of contemporary mixology in Singapore.

Again when he began, Chua mentioned easy cocktails dominated menus, and there was a really completely different demographic of clientele. “The cocktails that we made again then had been a number of variations of mojitos, and many of the company who had been ingesting cocktails simply wished one thing straightforward, approachable, and with the energy to get intoxicated as rapidly as doable,” he advised Journey + Leisure.

With 11 Singaporean bars touchdown on Asia’s 50 Greatest Bars checklist in 2024 (and Chua’s personal Evening Hawk touchdown at No. 16), the transformation is plain. The demand for artistic craft cocktails displays the town’s quiet climb to one of many world’s cocktail capitals, with bars recurrently pulling in accolades and awards.

“Virtually like how a blended martial artist blends completely different preventing kinds into one thing violently potent,” Chua mentioned. “The bartenders right here mix the most effective data and methods from each the Western and Asian worlds into one thing of our personal.”

That fusion has created a bar scene that feels each cosmopolitan and distinctly Singaporean.

If You Solely Have One Evening

“Selecting a bar for somebody I’ve simply met is tough, as bars are like taste profiles, it’s subjective and distinctive to the person,” Chua advised T+L. As a substitute, he mentioned if he had been to construct a one-night bar hopping expertise, it could give folks a style of the completely different bar scenes Singapore has to supply.

His perfect night begins virtually: dinner and cocktails at Facet Door. “Your journey forward requires you to be effectively fed,” he mentioned. Subsequent, cross the road to Evening Hawk for “a comfortable after dinner cocktail”—although Chua admitted bias right here, including, “when you come later than 8 p.m., you won’t have the ability to get a seat, as we’re tiny.”

From there, the night time builds momentum. Hit Jigger & Pony to “get your Asia’s 50 Greatest Bar bingo card checked,” then stroll to Native to expertise their distinctive fermentations and closely Asian-influenced menu. Their tackle Vietnamese phở in a cocktail consists of rice gin with roasted ginger and Thai basil. “Sing alongside to a few of your favorite nostalgic tunes” at Workers Solely, and when you nonetheless have vitality, or “head right down to Bae’s to occasion away and even Marquee if a mega membership is extra your cup of tea.”

The Underrated Record

Past the award winners and social media darlings, Chua has his personal checklist of underrated spots value looking for out.

Tucked contained in the Voco Lodge, The Backdrop tops his lineup. “Created by Dario Know (one other O.G. of the SG bar scene), The Backdrop is a speakeasy hidden within the foyer of the Voco Lodge in Orchard Highway,” Chua mentioned. “It has a masquerade-like theme with a posh and intensive cocktail menu, together with a spread of ‘percolated’ cocktails that Dario describes as ‘a cocktail that regardless of the way you combine it up, you’ll by no means make a nasty one.'”

The West-African-inspired Tamba presents one thing fully completely different. “Functioning as extra of an African restaurant, Tamba hosts a complete menu that’s impressed by each African and Asian cultures. Joma Rivera has created an approachable but attention-grabbing menu that showcases lesser-known African merchandise into scrumptious cocktails.”

For one thing extra informal, Chua advisable Puffy Bois. “It has wonderful pizzas with a deceptively humble but scrumptious cocktail menu,” he mentioned. “Sammy Ng, the ex-head bartender of The Black Pearl in Melbourne, takes all of the methods and expertise that he honed within the Australian bar scene and compacted it into an unpretentious and attractive menu. You may as well discover an amazing choice of pure wines there, too.”

Important Singapore Ingesting Experiences

Some experiences transcend the craft cocktail circuit and faucet into Singapore’s broader ingesting traditions. For a extra low-key taste, Chua advisable heading to a hawker middle. “Order a bunch of meals whereas getting some Tiger beer into you,” he mentioned, or seize a pitcher of margaritas and take them to the seashores of Sentosa.

And naturally, no Singapore ingesting tour is full with out the town’s most recognizable cocktail. “Verify off your bucket checklist by getting an costly Singapore Sling on the Lengthy Bar at Raffles Singapore, the place the long-lasting cocktail was created,” Chua famous.

To finish the night, he urged grabbing beers by the bridge at Clarke Quay and admiring the Singapore skyline.

Regardless of the way you discover the scene, Chua inspired ordering boldly quite than searching down a single “must-try” drink. “I’d strongly advocate the Anthony Bourdain methodology: strive something that has one thing you’re unfamiliar with,” he mentioned. “In relation to drinks and cocktails, have a look at the menu and if there’s something that reads bizarre to you, strive it. It is most likely impressed by one thing native.”

As for his personal go-tos, Chua retains issues easy: a Sloe Gin Fizz, a scotch highball, or a freezing pint of Guinness.