Singapore is not only home to the courageous Merlion, but is also a reputably safe country to go drinking in. Like many big cities in Asia, Singapore has no shortage of unique night life places to explore until the early hours of the morning. The plus is that almost everyone in this country speaks English among other languages and are generally helpful and willing to talk to you. Most bars and clubs usually stay open until 1am-4am depending on the day. Essentially whatever you’re in the mood for you’ll probably find here!
A lot of people enjoy drinking in the upscale Clarke Quay district near the heart of the city, but I did my best to venture off the beaten path and into the bars with unique themes and original cocktails. Here are my top picks:
Nineteen80
When I was researching bars online, the name and theme of this one caught my attention right away. Who doesn’t love a Nintendo-themed bar?! Not only that, but they also have a number of Midway Arcade machines available to play, a worthy collection of cartridges displayed on the wall, and an original hand-drawn menu (my favorite was the shooters page). There are also DJs that frequently play a handful of genres depending on the event. I came during oldies night which wasn’t really my taste, but I still enjoyed the atmosphere of the bar. Seeing “It’s on like Donkey Kong” written in the Sega font IRL in a foreign country was surreal.
The downside was the crowd was mostly drunken expats, and the music was loud so it was difficult to hear anyone. Nineteen80 is definitely a “get up and dance” bar when they have weekend parties, so be sure to come here when you have properly pre-gamed (fortunately I had). The cover fee was around 18 SD, but that included one drink so it wasn’t bad. If the music was more my type, I’m sure I would have stayed here a lot longer.
This bar is situated near Chinatown, and is also in the gay district so there are a lot of interesting bars nearby. I would recommend getting here before your main destination on your barhopping journey.
Platform 1904
As someone who’s been a Harry Potter fan for more than half of their life, I could not pass up the opportunity to go to this magically themed cafe. They not only brew magical potions filled with booze, but also have a full food menu with delicately crafted desserts. I had previously gone to the Wizarding Worlds Cafe in Tokyo and had a great experience, so I wanted to see how this place measured up. Platform 1904 has a more extensive menu and less of a wait time since it’s a permanent establishment (as compared to the pop-up cafe that I went to). I enjoyed ordering a golden snitch cake and the Flaming Brew Cocktail because the presentation was very elaborate:
In addition to the golden snitch cake, there are many other colorful pastries for sale that all beautifully capture the Harry Potter theme:
The only downside of this cafe was the price. I could buy a lot more food for a cheaper price at most restaurants around this area, but I came here once again for the experience. One dish and one dessert are pretty filling, plus I mastered the art of potions class and took some neat photos in the process!
This restaurant is located Serangoon Road where many of the hostels are, so I was able to walk here.
Don’t Tell Mama
First of all, I love the name of this restaurant–it truly stands out for being a Korean bistro. Second of all, I love the shochu cocktails here. They are absolutely gigantic and craftily tipped into a glass of margarita mix to create a wonderful flavor. Though I’ve been to Korea twice, I’ve never seen a cocktail like this before:
In addition to this crazy concoction, they also have a ton of westernized Korean food available. The kimchi fries caught my eye, but the downside of this bar was that all of the portion sizes were too huge for one person to finish. Though I very much enjoyed my shochu cocktail, I was only able to get through half of it. I looked around and nobody else at the bar was able to finish it either! Though in this case it was worth the money, I wish they sold their food and drinks in smaller portion sizes so it wouldn’t get wasted.
This bar is located near Chinatown not far from Nineteen80. I recommend getting only one drink here, else you will easily get full.
Overall I was extremely happy with my bar choices, because I had the chance to try so many crazy things that I’ll always remember. I hope that those traveling through Singapore find my experiences helpful!