01| Stay Gold Flamingo
Mixologists Jerrold Khoo and Bai JiaWei have struck out with their own irreverent take on a cafe/bar. Hidden behind velvet drapes that open into a neon-lit space, Stay Gold oozes mystery without the seedy intrigue of The Viper Room. The bar – named after the wistful Stevie Wonder song from 80s film The Outsiders – marries the theatrical flair of American bartending with the precision of Japanese cocktail crafting. Try fun libations such as Twiggy (Brass Lion Gin, Oloroso sherry, blackberry liqueur and Umeshu plum wine) and Absinthe (absinthe, earl grey and carbonated coconut water). If the inner sanctum’s Asian street food inspired menu including crispy pig ears with tau kwa and pickled cabbage is a little too bold for your liking, nosh on a Shiso Chicken Sandwich at Flamingo, the all-day cafe that fronts the bar till 5pm.
69 Amoy St
02| Thirty Six Brewlab & Smokehouse
Punters with a hearty appetite for experimental brews and barbecue will like local craft brewery Lion Brewery Co’s latest brainchild – a 120-seat micro-brewery and restaurant with a focus on flavour-forward food grilled over an open flame. Kissed with smoky umami are dishes such as their Sticky Pork Ribs and Wood-fired Cauliflower, which is jazzed up with cashew nut butter, miso leek puree and kale. The onsite 500-litre microbrewery produces original creations including the butterfly pea-infused Violet No-Regard. Head brewer Greg Brown and his team collaborate with local and regional counterparts to win over jaded zythopiles. Yes, that’s an over-the-top term for a hophead.
36 Club Street
03 | Janice Wong Pure Imagination
Singapore’s “30 by 30” food security ambitions have gotten a serotonin-inducing boost from dessert queen Janice Wong, who is beavering away at planting 1,000 cacao trees around the island, together with community partners including Gardens by The Bay and Spectra Secondary School. The latter is a school for Normal Technical students with a practice-based curriculum. Fruit borne from these trees will be turned into artisanal chocolate at Pure Imagination, a new concept at Great World City with a full-scale chocolate production facility. Sign up for their Degustation Experience, where you can learn about the chocolate-making process by touching and smelling raw cacao, tasting the pulp and witnessing the roasting process.
#B1-K110, Great World City
04 | Singapore Cocktail Festival 2021
Contrary to the Beastie Boys’ refrain, there’s no need to fight for your right to party. Taste the Lion City’s most inventive tipples at this year’s edition of Singapore Cocktail Festival (12 Nov – 12 Dec), which promises more than 60 events, including boozy cocktail brunches, bar crawls and an inaugural collaboration with London Cocktail Week. This year, 36 participating bars – including Employees Only Singapore and Ah Sam Cold Drink Stall – will present cocktails that embody the theme “Music”, in the absence of live music at F&B establishments. And if you haven’t had the chance to book your ticket to the British capital under the new vaccinated travel lane, snag a spot at The Taste of London Bar Crawl, where you can quaff some of the city’s best libations. The bar crawl features three bars per itinerary.
05 | NAE:UM’s New Menu
Chef Louis Han’s new menu (from Nov 2) for cult favourite NAE:UM is the antithesis of Squid Game’s utilitarian bento boxes. The evocatively named Mountain Lodge is a nod to the chef’s grandmother’s idyllic home at the foot of Mount Cheonggye. Expect a soul-warming six-course menu with two supplementary dishes, including a cold dish of tender slow-cooked French chicken and Jeju abalone braised in a chilli dashi that’s accompanied by a fermented bean paste, caramelised baby carrot, puffed millet, Korean herbs, chimichurri and creamy soybean sauce. There’s also the delicate yet deeply umami Japanese Spanish mackerel that’s slow-roasted with ‘doenjang’ brown butter and served with five mushroom varieties seasoned with a charred leek dressing, alongside slow-simmered daikon, and mushroom broth. As always, these are executed with the creative flair the restaurant majors in.
161 Telok Ayer Street
06 | Firangi Superstar
Celebrate the festival of lights with Firangi Superstar’s special Diwali menu, available Nov 1 – 6. Highlights include The Runner Duck, a foie gras torchon paired with a green apple chutney, and spiced with chat masala; and Prized Pincers – crab cutlets served with a rich masala sauce, and caviar, and a piquant crab rasam on the side. The Diwali menu will be available for a la carte orders during lunch, while there’s also a dinner set menu. Mains are paired with a Rangers Valley Côte de Boeuf, though you may also have your pick of a cocktail and wine pairing list. The restaurant will be donating 10 per cent of proceeds from lunch and dinner sales from the same week to Solar Buddy, which designs solar light solutions for impoverished children.
20 Craig Rd, #01-03
07 | Kilo Singapore
Turning 10 this year is Kilo Collective, which just reopened the doors to its flagship outlet at Duxton Road. Here, you can select your own seafood from a display. Their Latin American influenced menu includes Kilo Ceviche, a zesty dish of tuna chunks, seabass and red prawns, and – for the carnivores – T-Bone Wagyu, Australian Angus Rib Eye, New Zealand Lamb Racks. Complement these with tapas options such as Classic Steak Tartare on Confit Potato and Signature Kilo Squid Ink Rice with Crispy Calamari. Natural wine takes centrestage on their wine list, with drops from temperate South Australia and Spain, as well as the French valleys.
97 Duxton Road