Hot New Japanese Bars In Singapore To Check Out

The Japanese bar scene here is in high spirits. More watering holes are serving Nippon-style tipples featuring Japanese ingredients such as sakura, yuzu and fermented red rice shaken into cocktails and infused in craft beers.

Over the past three months, at least three Japanese bars have opened. There is Bar Nippon in Wisma Atria's Japan Food Town, which opened in July and specialises in cocktails made with seasonal fruit from Japan; and Takumi Craft Beer Bar in Mandarin Orchard Hotel that brings in rare craft beers and barrel-aged craft beers from Japan. There is also Cache, a speakeasy bar in Club Street that recently shifted its focus to bespoke Japanese cocktails.

These new entrants join a growing number of Japanese bars such as Coffee Bar K in UE Square that was set up in 2006; JiBiru Craft Beer Bar in 313@Somerset that opened in 2011; and D.Bespoke, a Ginza-style lounge in Bukit Pasoh Road that started in 2014. But unlike the new bars coming onto the scene, these older ones are better known for classic drinks. Information technology consultant Nelson Wee, 25, who visited Bar Nippon last week for the first time, says: "I wanted to try the fruit-based cocktails. They were a change from drinking sake in Japanese bars."

Other curious drinkers are drawn to try experimental tipples incorporating unusual ingredients such as fermented red rice and dashi syrup. Some established bartenders are also coming up with more innovative drinks to keep up with the game. Mr Aki Eguchi, 35, bar programme director of the Jigger & Pony group, which runs five bars here, says he is focusing on "cocktails with creative concepts".

For example, some of the cocktails at Gibson in Bukit Pasoh Road, one of the bars that he helms, are inspired by places in Singapore such as the Botanic Gardens. The nature-themed drink is made with gin, bee pollen, fermented honey and green apple juice. He says: "We want to push the boundaries of cocktail-making to the next level."