Singapore finds itself

Singapore’s burgeoning nightlife and dining scene, evinced in a coast-to-coast collection of seriously good gourmet haunts, subdued tropical cocktail hideaways, and scores of round-the-clock refuelling stops for the inebriated masses, reflects a slow but steady coming into its own.

Making the move
At the height of Bangkok’s ‘early closing times’ crisis a couple of years back – when that city’s law-abiding carousers couldn’t scarf down a mojito past midnight – rumours circulated that Q Bar was considering a move to Singapore. The possibility of one of Bangkok’s most successful and trendsetting clubs jumping ship was a great loss of face for a city once famed for its nocturnal life.

This also contradicted many of the stereotypes and labels fixed to Singapore: ‘squeaky clean’ and ‘nanny state’, in reference to orderliness and social engineering, while citations for spitting or chewing gum coined the pun, ‘a fine city’. “The knock on Singapore is way overdone,” wrote The New York Times columnist R.W. Apple of the foodie haven that Singapore’s become. Other high profile writers, like Pico Ayer, have pointing out that such perceptions of the city as sterile are themselves quite stale.

Slick and sophisticated, Q Bar Singapore is an example of the changes in party allegiances over the years. With many trends and brands pioneered in Bangkok being re-adapted elsewhere, Singapore is now showing what it has to offer, and – literally – raising the bar to new levels.

Outdoor living
Despite being nicknamed ‘The Garden City’, Singapore offered, up until recently, few choices for knocking back a few cold ones in verdant oases. That was the kind of thing you had to go to Bali or Bangkok for.

Enter the al fresco wining and dining haven Tanglin Village (also known as Dempsey Rd). A subdued, serene spot easily reached from Orchard Rd, this cluster of small bar/café/eateries makes full use of the tropical outdoors. With a soft-lit patio garden and lofty, open-air bar, gorgeous The Hacienda has a stellar selection of wines, cocktails made with fresh-squeezed juices, draught beers (Hoegaarden, Boddingtons, Stella Artois, and Newcastle, among others), and some of the best drink prices in town.

Adjacent is PS Café, a handsome, lofty building overlooking a grassy field that serves an assortment of coffees, cakes and tantalising yet healthy foods – get there early, as the popular Sunday brunch is first come first served. In the likely event you don’t have your own garden to retire to – or are too lazy to picnic in the nearby Botanical Gardens – premium wines at store prices are sold at Wine Network.

The eating and drinking spot du jour is Rochester Park, where the newly-built, colonial-style One Rochester claims to offer Singapore’s first ‘gastrobar’ experience. Set amidst a large garden, the house-like compound is set in five ‘zones’: library, living room, bar, play room. The homey architecture is duplicated in a range of East-meets-West comfort foods like crab cakes, chicken skewers and ‘sinful’ pork crackles, with chilli, garlic chips and spring onions. Choose from over 260 wines, 30 beers and a head-spinning array of cocktails.

By Stirling Siliphant

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Courtesy of lifestyleandtravel.com