[ad_1]
The pandemic has not been kind to Club Street. Once a watering hole on par with Clarke Quay and Boat Quay, the old Club Street closed every weekend for the row of bars offering competitive happy hour prices to have tables and chairs on the road to soak up in the open air.
With Covid-19 came lockdown and regulation (only establishments with food licenses could open and then a 10:30 p.m. curfew for alcohol consumption which is still in effect to this day), which has closed businesses ranging from restaurants to bars.
Now that late night drinking no longer seems possible, new tenants have popped up along Club Street and its surrounding little alleys, signaling a change in what consumers are looking for these days. Not that we mind a good happy hour, yet.
Cure Concepts Chef Andrew Walsh is unstoppable, even in the face of a pandemic. Responsible for butcher boy, Catfish (just down the road), and To cure, this chic wine bar is the latest addition to the family. And he’s gone a long way to make sure it’s not your average wine bar.
Head sommelier and director of operations, Amir Solay, takes the lead. Affable and charismatic, he has concocted an eccentric wine list stretching from the Basque Country to Lebanon. He’s not afraid to let you know he’s a bit of a daredevil, a trait he may share with Walsh, and that he’s throwing out of the Marine Age (Sea Soul No. 4 is aged for 15 months in the bay of Plentzia) and aged wine amphora (Chateau Kefraya Collection Amphora 2018) in the mix.
Solay is more than willing to share his recommendations, as are the warm and friendly staff, but ask for a flight of wine for three off-menu glasses if you’re a foodie and want a bit of each.
We could continue on the wine list, but the food, led by chef Ho Jun Yip, is worth returning on its own. The same techniques and care for the products make it look like they’ve been transplanted here from Cure, making for a restaurant-quality menu, even though it’s presented as raised bar bites.
Instead of the ubiquitous truffle fries, there’s a carefully sliced ​​Hasselback potato with black garlic and Parmesan cheese that’s pickled and deep-fried for a crisp without frying. While the beef tartare is served on a toast with scallop and shrimp mousse accompanied by a black ponzu vinegar sauce with a singular candied egg yolk intended to be mixed. Mushrooms that can only be ordered with the whole Guinea Fowl Confit. We have been told that many diners have requested that the pie be sold on its own, so our fingers crossed.
87 Club Street, Singapore 069455. Tel. : 6970 0190
From the people who brought you Sago House (Joe Haywood and George Abhishek join Desiree Jane and Jay Gray for the business), this cocktail bar is on a mission to reinvent the tired and sometimes dangerously close definition of cultural appropriation of “Tiki bar”. . Keeping the very creative concoctions they’re known for in Chinatown, the drinks take on ironic names such as Sambal (S) Ting-wray which is a spicy shake with grapefruit and two kinds of rum.
Delighted with the location since laying eyes on it, Gray, CEO and co-founder, has divided the space into two bar areas; one serves the open-air area named Top Side serving platters of sharing Southeast Asian dishes made by chef Ray Yeow, while the other is in the basement and lives up to its name. The Cave and serves firmer cocktails. Like its sister bar, pre-mixed drinks are also available to take away in cans.
98 Club Street, Singapore 069467. Tel. : 8952 1145.
Argentinian steak arrived thanks to boCHINche’s move from Amoy Street next door. Spa Esprit Group Creative Director Jerry Sparks outfitted the new steakhouse home with a modern take on Soviet design using lots of wood and marble elements.
Chef Fabrice Mergalet also tweaked the menu, introducing complementary side dishes such as Argentinian spring rolls stuffed with pork ears, jalapeño, piquillo, shallots and cilantro. While keeping favorites like this trio of beef, chicken, sweet corn, and smoked ham empanadas with provolone cheese, you can’t do without them.
Cattle still reign supreme here, cooked over cherry, apple and jarrah wood and over a charcoal grill. A mandatory dry aging refrigerator for a dramatic effect slowly ages cuts of Argentine, Australian, New Zealand, American and Japanese beef. The in-house drying method typically takes 35-38 days, with hanging or sitting cups in shades of brown serving as a decoration as well.
Argentine wines also feature prominently in the wine program with up to 30 labels, mostly from Mendoza, a province that produces almost two-thirds of the country’s wine. Part of the wine list is reserved for Drunken Farmer’s natural wines, also in the Spa Esprit portfolio, which will give diners more funk to choose from.
27 Club Street, Singapore 069413. Tel. : 6235 4990
A craft beer place with lots of character, both in the people who make it and in its location, Bunkerbunker leaves behind its former home of shipping containers for Emerald Garden. Taking over Maxi Coffee, it won the award for the smallest craft beer store in Singapore, meaning it ran out of seating and focused more on take-out and deliveries. Or as some do, you can also BYOC (bring your own chair).
Their little, easy-to-miss nook houses up to 120 different labels of craft beer and a few natural wines, stored in three fridges lined up against the wall. There’s also a coffee maker for a quick dose of caffeine before you roll out the beers.
31 Club Street, 01-02 Emerald Garden, Singapore 069468.
Lion Brewery Co keeps the flame alive for Club Street’s own microbrewery as it takes over the space from Little Creatures. Using the same 500 liter tanks and some of the same staff, the Brewlab is the full time project of Head Brewer Greg Brown where he freestyle with beer profiles.
On the 23 taps are a mix of Brown’s beers and Lion Brewery Co beers such as Thirty Six Brewlab Old Greg Session IPA which has a light but pleasant note of cocoa and Lion Brewery Co Kaiser Kolsch Pale Ale. Part of Brewlab’s sustainable efforts is to plant a tree with every keg sold in partnership with Group of green steps, where each tree is geolocated and monitored.
Most beers descend relatively easily, especially on a hot sunny day or with Executive Chef Kwek Xiu Rong’s flame-grilled dishes. After all, there’s no better way to enjoy a beer than with a barbie.
The grill makes char grilled tiger prawn skewers, spicy pork belly satay, cauliflower steak marinated for 24 hours then steamed before touching the flames, and sticky BBQ pork chops glazed with kicap manis, chipotle and rice vinegar. We also appreciate the attention to detail such as the charred lime for the crusted squid, which lends a smoky spot to the squid.
36 Club Street, Singapore 069469. Tel. : 6239 0350
A little further down the street (or early depending on where you’re from) is Gemmill Lane, where you’ll find the island’s first gourmet pizza sold by the share (surprising considering how many pizzerias are coming these days. -this) . Definitely more accessible than the sister sit-down restaurant, Lucali BYGB, this take-out restaurant offers the same thin crust pizzas and calzones with a few tables standing in the alleyway.
Rounding out the common New York pizza experience, the counter is also stocked with other variations of the Lucali magic dough formula, such as strombolis, garlic knots, and a calzone stuffed with ricotta and Nutella. .
110 Amoy Street (entrance via Gemmill Lane), Singapore 069930.
[ad_2]
