What to imbibe: St. John, Onion Gum, Rikyu, Gomashio

It’s true that Operation Dagger has always taken the road less travelled, as if being hidden away in a basement has guarded them from the noise outside, allowing them to produce cocktails that are truly singular in perspective. Using their signature culinary approach, the menu may seem discombobulating at first (“are these the cocktails or snacks?”), and even esoteric, but if you take an intrepid step in Luke Whearty and his team’s direction, you will discover an unabashedly complex realm of flavour and nuanced taste sensations that seem to unfold in waves. The idea of gestalt plays out in each item here—bold and unexpected elements become more than the sum of their parts: bone marrow gin with parsley and capers; a re-distilled gin infused with goat cheese, fermented pineapple and honey, fino sherry, and vermouth; or caramelised leek gin, herb vermouth, shallot crisp and pickled onion. Go in with an open mind; we promise it’ll all make sense.

"Inventive, surprising and unexpected cocktails crafted from a culinary point of view and with lots of umami goodness." — Singapore Tatler Editors