Beach Road has long been known as the access point for the thriving cultural hot spot of Arab Street, a favourite night out for many a local expat or tourist. Now there is a new and much classier affair to check out in the Beach Road enclave – Club 5, the resident luxe cocktail bar at the PARKROYAL on Beach Rd.
This establishment – with it’s glorious 34 year old history as a fashionable after 5 dance club has been tastefully reborn into a destination cocktail bar straight out of the roaring 20s.
With its plush velvet interiors, ambient lighting and art deco inspired design it exudes opulence, grace and good old-fashioned glamour. Club 5 represents the magic number 5 on the clock – when busy city workers can (hopefully) switch off for the day and retreat for a much needed evening of indulgence.
Our experience begins bar side where we are introduced to the dashing young head bartender Ong Jun Han. He’s clearly passionate about his craft and regales us with his insatiable knowledge of spirits, cocktails and avant-garde techniques – including letting us sample his own rendition of spiced Rum and infused Tequila.
We peruse the beautiful art deco menu and notice how the cocktail journey pays homage to the local neighbourhood with signature cocktails taking inspiration from the rich and diverse history of Beach Road, Arab Street and Bugis Junction.
Our journey starts at Beach Road - one of Singapore’s earliest roads and, as the name implies, it used to run along Singapore’s southern coast. This selection of cocktails reminisces on the history of the road and Singapore’s infancy – so it’s no surprise that our first cocktail is a gin and tonic.
Named the 20 Houses Tonic, this blend combines aromatic gin, cardamom, fresh citrus and classic tonic – a refreshing cool drink to unwind from the heat of the day. It is so named because Stamford Raffle’s town plan of 1822 for Singapore had twenty large houses set aside for European merchants.
Next we turn to Arab Street and it’s a Nasi Lema’rgarita - a margarita with all the flavours of the popular local breakfast - nasi lemak. Mixing coconut tequila, citrus, aromatic pandan, dry curacao, cucumber and served with ikan bilis and peanut on the side – I was surprised how this was one of my favourites of the evening given I am not a big fan of tequila.
A testament to the blending and expertise Jun Han brings to his mixology. Sticking with Arab Street, we move onto the Merchant’s Old-Fashioned – Club 5’s own spiced rum, dry curacao, burnt orange and vanilla with aromatic bitters – this drink features spices that were heavily traded in Singapore’s open air markets.
Rounding out our evening we head down to Bugis Street – which from the 1950s to the 1980s, was the place for entertainment, flowing alcohol and endless debauchery. These cocktails are inspired by ones you may have seen in old ‘Boogie Street’ – depicting a bit of the raucous behaviour the area was infamous for.
We try two cocktails – Boogie Street (London dry gin, mezcal, citrus, apricot brandy, agave and violette) and Paper Flames (rye, Venezuelan rum, Alpine amaro, Vermouth Rosso, Islay scotch and grapefruit bitter).
Boogie Street comes served on a sparkling disco coaster with it’s very own disco ice ball inside – with its subtle pink tone it’s a veritable party in a glass. Paper Planes is a smoky Manhattan riff complete with flame techniques that enjoys a cheeky little back story (you’ll have to ask about this).
For the teetotallers among us there is a wide range of professionally blended high-class mocktails. Calm Waters with its mix of pineapple, citrus, galangal and Thai ginger beer reminds one of a refreshing non-alcoholic dark n’ stormy with subtle tropical spicy notes.
Of course the experience is not complete without some suitably local bar bites to match. Executive Chef Vincent Aw takes inspiration from the rich flavours and spices of the region and delivers a modern interpretation of classic heritage fare including such favourites as Chicken Kuih Pie Tee with
Buah Keluak Dressing, Deep-Fried Soft Shell Crabs with Singapore Chilli Crab Sauce and Homemade Wagyu Satay with Hazelnut Dip. All delicious and crave-worthy – you’ll be quickly asking for more.
It is never easy being a newcomer to the competitive Singapore cocktail bar scene – and while Club 5 is not really new – it is an entirely reinvented experience worthy of a place amongst Singapore’s best bars. Perfect for date nights, intimate drinks with friends or even to impress clients and colleagues, your visit to Club 5 will be memorable for all the right reasons.
Rebecca Assice is the Founder and Director of Virtual Room in Asia Pacific. The future of entertainment is now here with Virtual Room – the world’s best team-based virtual reality experience located right in the heart of Chinatown, Singapore. Expat Choice readers enjoy a 15% discount when you book Virtual Room experiences with code EXPATCHOICE15 and receive a 15% automatic discount when booked online at HERE
