28 HongKong Street

The 2011 speakeasy that put Singapore on the global cocktail map. World's 50 Best Bars alumnus across nearly every year of the list since. Long bar, low ceilings, no signage, classic technique behind everything. Best for an after-work drink when you want to be in a serious cocktail bar without being seen at one.

Order: well-executed classic cocktails.

Jigger & Pony

World's 50 Best Bars 2025, inside the Amara Hotel in Tanjong Pagar. Head bartender Uno Jang won the Bartender's Bartender Award 2025. The program runs on a magazine-format seasonal menu (literally a printed magazine, with editorial features about each cocktail). Best for an unhurried evening with someone who reads menus carefully.

Order: from whatever the current menu issue is built around.

Atlas

The Art Deco gin palace inside Parkview Square, Bencoolen, where the gin tower at the back wall is the spectacle and the Champagne program is one of Asia's deepest. World's 50 Best Bars perennial since 2018. The room feels like the lobby of a 1930s ocean liner. Best for a martini before dinner, dressed appropriately; the dress code is enforced.

Order: a martini with whichever gin the bartender recommends from the tower.

Manhattan

At the Regent Singapore in Orchard, the 1920s Manhattan-themed hotel bar that won World's #1 in 2017 and has stayed on the list nearly every year since. Banker's-bar aesthetic, rye-led American classics, and a deep barrel-aging program in-house. Best for a power drink before dinner or a Sunday brunch with the rolling bar cart.

Order: the Rebellion 2.0. A Manhattan, of course.

Candlenut

The world's first Michelin-starred Peranakan restaurant. At Como Dempsey, Malcolm Lee's program runs through Nyonya cooking from his family's tradition: buah keluak (the black-nut stew that defines the cuisine), kueh pie tee, beef rendang, and a thoughtful wine pairing approach to Southeast Asian flavors. Perfect for a deep dive into heritage flavors with anyone ready to discover the refined soul of Nyonya cuisine.

Thevar

One Michelin star. Mano Thevar's modern Indian on Keong Saik, charcoal-grilled, family-tradition technique with a deep cocktail program at the bar. One of the most-discussed Singapore restaurants of the last five years. Best for a celebratory dinner that runs long, with cocktails before and after.

Raffles Singapore

World's 50 Best Hotels #5 in 2025. On Beach Road since 1887, the colonial-grand-hotel tradition still lived in. White colonial architecture, butler service, Sikh doormen, the Long Bar (where the Singapore Sling was made in 1915), and a guest book that runs through the entire literary 20th century (Kipling, Maugham, Hemingway). Currently the highest-ranked Asian hotel after Rosewood Hong Kong.

Mandarin Oriental, Singapore

On Marina Bay, reopened late 2023 after a multi-year top-to-bottom renovation that refreshed every guest room, the lobby, the public spaces, and the spa. MO Bar pours one of Asia's most decorated hotel-bar programs. The views over the marina and Gardens by the Bay, especially from the upper-floor suites, anchor the contemporary counterpoint to Raffles.