For one, it’s remarkably handsome—mahogany on white with Peranakan tiles and art deco-esque lattices. You get a bonus history lesson too: that Singapore had a short-lived dalliance with rum-making in the 1830s, led by US consul Joseph Balestier who ran a sugarcane plantation and rum distillery; the site of the hotel was once home to the Balestiers.
Aptly, The Bar has even worked with Plantation Rum to launch their own bottling—a Sauternes cask-finished Guadeloupe rum that’s rather beginnersfriendly, with treacle notes and an easy finish. With over 160 rums (from $12 for a 45ml shot), The Bar carries one of the city’s largest selections. There are tasting flights too (from $27 for three samplers), including a trio of navy strength rums to showcase the big and bold, and an aged agrichole series to encourage reconsideration of those famously hard-to-love herbaceous sips.
Naturally, rum dominates the cocktails list. Darker Than Stormy ($22) makes a good refreshing starting point. Cocktails with local elements often exaggerate sweet and/or spicy elements, but thankfully, the Peranakan Old Fashion ($22) bucks the trend, using house-made falernum to register subtle pandan notes and gula melaka complexity. Alternatively, pick a rum and have Lim fix that into a cocktail for a supplementary $6 over the shot price. Lobby level, The Capitol Kempinski Hotel Singapore, 15 Stamford Road. Tel: 6715 6871.
Embracing terroir
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة September - October 2019 من WINE&DINE.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة September - October 2019 من WINE&DINE.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
New Blood
The next-generation is breathing new life into the forgotten art of spice-mixing, peppering the traditional trade with renewed ideas and fresh perspectives.
Sharing Is Caring
Compared to its flagship at Serene Centre, Fat Belly Social at Boon Tat Street is a classier and bolder affair, in more than one sense.
Nutmeg's Role In Singapore's History
From tales of it being used to ward off the plague in mid-1300s Europe to one of the ingredients in dessert, we have all known, tasted, or at least heard of nutmeg. But not many know of the spice’s role in Singapore’s history.
New And Improved
The ever-profound chef-owner Kenjiro ‘Hatch’ Hashida finds more room, three to be exact, to express a Ha Ri philosophy at Hashida Singapore’s new location at Amoy Street.
Pairing Spice-Driven Cuisines With Wine
Pairing spice-driven cuisines with wine has long been a challenge but with a little imagination, it doesn’t have to be.
Let Land Grow Wild
Niew Tai-Ran has worn many hats: aeronautical engineering major, investment banker, avid surfer, and, for the last 14 years, winemaker. Discover how this Malaysia-born, Singapore-native is championing the “do-nothing farming” philosophy at his vineyard in Oregon.
The South Asian Misnomer
Incredibly diverse and varied than most know, Indian food is far more intriguing than butter chicken or thosai. Here is a crash course on the extensive cuisine from region to region, recognisable for the seemingly infinite ways of using spices.
Keepers Of The Spice Trade
From its glory days along trade routes to pantry staples all over the world, spices have become so commonplace that we’ve taken them for granted. For these three trailblazers, however, spice is their livelihood and motivation: Langit Collective working with indigenous rural farming communities in Malaysia; IDH’s Sustainable Spice Initiative; and chef Nak’s one-woman mission to share forgotten Khmer cuisine.
Sugar, Spice And Everything Nice
Like food, spices bring vibrancy and variety to alcoholic beverages. Surfacing in unexpected ways on the palate, find everything from cumin to tamarind, cloves to cardamom enriching these drinks.
Building Blocks From The Archipelago
For the smorgasbord of dishes found in Indonesian cuisine, it is a little known secret that the modest bumbu, in all its variants, is the bedrock of such flavourful fare.