Japanese-style bartending is like a Japanese tea ceremony and comes with its own rituals, says Mr Shinya Koba of Japanese speakeasy Cache.
In Japanese cocktails, you’ll find, for example, crystal-clear ice cubes made from filtered water that is first heated up to 40 deg C and then frozen, hand-cut and, finally, stirred vigorously with a spoon to round their edges so that they melt more slowly.
Fancy schmancy. Check these bars out!
You’ll have to be in the know to find this speakeasy bar — it’s not only tucked away at the back of izakaya restaurant Izy, but is also concealed by a full-length mirror paneled door.
After all, “cache” means hidden in French.
Beers, wines and sake aside, popular cocktails include the Sakura, a concoction of maraschino cherry liquor, shiso ume liquor and sherry, with sakura flower floating on top. Alternatively, you can get the Yuzu Spark, which is a blend of yuzu liquor, gin, lemon and prosecco topped with yuzu foam.
27 Club Street
JiBiru’s convenient location right outside 313@Somerset makes it great for people watching.
With a beer in hand, of course — meaning “local beer” in Japanese, the craft beer bar brings Japan’s exciting artisinal beer experience to Singapore, with a wide range of hand-crafted brews as well as unique, hard-to-find brands, from chocolate beer to melon sake.
#01-26, 313 @Somerset, 313 Orchard Road
Also run by the team behind JiBiru is Takumi Craft Beer Bar.
General manager Hirose Norihito’s pride: beers which have been aged in whisky-and bourbon-infused barrels in Japanese distilleries.
Plus, 20 labels of Japanese craft beer, some exclusive to Takumi Craft Beer Bar.
Level 5, Mandarin Orchard Hotel, 333 Orchard Road
This tapas and sake gastrobar is all about “Modern Shudo”. “Shu-do” literally translates to “sake-way” — a contemporary way of appreciating sake paired with — you guessed it — Japanese-inspired Spanish morsels.
The menus change fortnightly — and sometimes even weekly! — in line with the finest, freshest ingredients, while star dishes like roasted suckling pig, prawn pasta la plancha in butter sake sauce, and kampong egg with baby sotong and chorizo are almost classic mainstays.
38 Tras Street
Japan-imported fruits like Kyoho grapes and musk melons comes with extravagant price tags, and for good reason.
At Bar Nippon,cocktails are concocted with a focus on one fruit in each cocktail so as to bring out its unadulterated flavours and fragrance.
The drinks menu changes every three to four months according to the produce of the season.
4F Wisma Atria, 435 Orchard Road
This Singaporean offshoot of the well-known Japanese liquor store cum standing sake bar is the place to go for sake, umeshu (Japanese plum liquor), and other specialty Japanese liquors.
It’s also located together with their yakitori restaurant (Japanese barbecued skewers), Shirokane Toritama.
#01-02, Robertson Walk, 11 Unity Street