Tatler Best 20 bars in Singapore for 2025

When Keirin Buck, the mastermind behind Le Bon Funk, decides to have a go at Singapore’s bar scene, you best pay attention. This spanking new auditory and gustatory playground presents highly experimental tipples and reworked classics. Come hungry too, as Buck’s creamy frittelles and mortadella baloney sandwich are certified irresistible. 

This grungy cocktail lair is home to Singapore’s best margarita. Helmed by bar veterans Gabriel Lowe and Jesse Vida, it boasts Singapore’s largest library of agave and rice spirits. The passion for agave is palpable and inclusive, with effortless charisma and proper expertise, resulting in a rock-solid cocktail menu filled with inventive twists to agave-based classics. 

Nestled in the vibrant Manhattan is East47, a progressive cocktail bar that pays tribute to the iconic American artist Andy Warhol. The cocktail programme is about pushing the limits of creativity and exploring new methods such as distillation, fermentation, and complex flavour extractions. Art lovers, keep your eyes peeled for an original Warhol.

In Singapore’s bar scene, Christina Rasmussen and Sasha Wijidessa champion sustainability like no other. Their collaborative approach to Fura’s operations and design goes beyond merely following trends, taking a more pioneering and innovative direction. Expect inventive takes such as jellyfish martinis, enhanced with aromatic kombu; and the refreshing Caviar Papi which features Rasmussen’s black garlic caviar.

The moody stained glass back bar and Louis Poulsen pendant lamps at Gibson are certainly eye-catching, but it is the sharply dressed bartenders and expertly crafted modern cocktails that truly elevate the experience. The industry favourite’s winning formula is embodied by the flawlessly executed Gibson martini, which goes down as smoothly as silk.

A shining beacon in Singapore’s cocktail scene, Jigger & Pony’s impact is undeniable. Its secret sauce? The consistent promise of innovative tipples and world-class hospitality—one that cocktail fans grew familiar with after more than a decade. Founders Indra Kantono and Gan Guoyi are sticklers for craftsmanship, orchestrating a talented troop of bartenders that present original cocktails neatly edited for modern taste buds.

This cocktail shrine loosely inspired by Ian Fleming’s 1964 novel, You Only Live Twice, is pure class. In the flesh, it is a Ginza-inspired modern Japanese speakeasy with a neatly edited drinks menu. The main card is the Live Twice, a stiff Vesper martini that enjoys legendary status equivalent to James Bond himself. 

Resurrecting a Prohibition-era cocktail is no easy feat but naming a bar after one takes real guts, and Colin Chia of Nutmeg & Clove fame is certain it will work. This minimalist Japanese-inspired hideout presents its headlining signature as the Last Word, a boozy number that seduces with tart and herbaceous layers, and a finish of candied cherries.

Shaking up Singapore’s cocktail scene for over a decade, Manhattan is a liquid time machine transporting you to the glitz and glamour of old New York. The 34-strong Broadway-themed cocktail menu, masterminded by head bartender Zana Möhlmann, does enough to impress discerning imbibers. Otherwise, its greatest hits such as the signature Manhattan and the solera-aged negroni won’t disappoint.

The brainchild of industry veteran Colin Chia, Nutmeg & Clove presents a progressive cocktail menu that celebrates Singapore’s locality and heritage. Joining hands with famed bartender-turned-group director Shelley Tai, the latest menu pays a heartfelt tribute to the local community where every drink is a history lesson you would gladly stay back for.

Inspired by the 20th-century Edward Hopper painting of the same name, Night Hawk exudes a retro metropolitan vibe, capturing the essence of the 1940s to ’70s. The 22-seater speakeasy is known for its progressive waste-less approach to modern drinking. Founder and bar veteran Peter Chua pays homage to Hopper’s iconic painting with an elevated espresso martini.

A preferred hangout of discerning imbibers is forward-thinking cocktail theatre Origin Bar, nestled within Shangri-La Singapore. Comprising both classy and edgy cocktails that exercise the brain and palate, the latest 18-strong cocktail menu titled Infinity, is a barfly’s pipe dream. The bar also doubles as a rum haven, stocking one of the largest collections of rums in Singapore.

Walk past the dingy karaoke bar and head upstairs to Puffy Bois, where founders Sam Ng and Zul Zaba serve piping hot slices of pizza with gimmick-free cocktails. Ng—whose bartending resume reads like a decorated veteran—brings his warm and infectious charm behind the bar, where drinks are deceptively simple but never compromising on taste and quality. 

The Swinging Sixties come alive at the Republic bar. Art, cinema, fashion and music lend inspiration to both the ritzy interiors and the expansive cocktail menu; where the third edition celebrates the progressiveness of the period. If you can afford to swing it, go the Bond way with a vintage gin martini.

Cocktail sorceress and award-winning South Korean bartender Bannie Kang is one half of the husband-and-wife duo behind this cosy living room bar, Side Door. Her invigorating takes on classic cocktails are deceptively simple yet complex and original. Ugly Duckling, a tropical negroni laced with passionfruit and espresso, arrives with a crisp potato fingerling, sandwiching velvety truffle-infused foie gras mousse.

Don’t arrive at Sago House expecting run-of-the-mill cocktails, as the drink menu evolves faster than Singapore’s erratic weather. No two drinks are the same; general manager Naz Zurmi’s bartending philosophy challenges the notion of creativity and tradition, anchoring to six classic cocktail styles that are deceptively contemporary. What remains are constants of high-energy bartending, friendly hospitality and eclectic playlists.

A mild-mannered coffee joint that turns into an absolute rock star unit of a cocktail bar that even Mick Jagger would approve—but first, you will have to shimmy past the velvet drapes. Founded by bartending veterans Jerrold Khoo and Bai JiaWei, this split-personality watering hole serves up American- and Japanese-inspired libations with a side of high-octane hospitality. 

The cocktail menu at The Elephant Room is a distillation of hawkers and commodity traders who played a part in keeping Little India’s rich culture alive. These sights, scents and sounds all lend themselves to the inventive tipples that showcase finesse between cocktail and culinary alchemy.

This novel multi-concept establishment founded by Bai JiaWei of Stay Gold Flamingo is known for its cocktail innovation and versatility. Housed within a four-storey heritage shophouse, it features four distinct concepts: a casual highball bar on the ground floor; an intimate and sophisticated cocktail bar on the second; a private event space on the third; and a laid-back bar on the rooftop.