Cocktail-centric gastrobar Side Door on Neil Road offers immaculately-composed cocktail tipples perfectly matched with flirty little bites.
Entering Side Door feels like entering someone’s home. Which it pretty much is; first opened by chef-and-bartender couple Tryson Quek and Bannie Kang as a private dining concept in their own home back in 2022, they officially transitioned into new and proper digs on Neil Road to present their playful cocktail and food pairings.
If you’ve been long enough in local dining and cocktail circles you would have heard of both Bannie Kang and Tryson Quek. A multi- award-winning bartender with many accolades, Kang is best known for emerging as Diageo World Class Global Winner back in 2019. Quek too is also lauded for his whimsical work in the kitchen, concocting some of the most progressive dishes to pair with Kang’s cocktail creations.
The couple first met as head bartender and head chef respectively at Fairmont Singapore’s lobby bar Anti:dote, before moving to Taipei to start cocktail bistro MU:Taipei. They shuttered that during the pandemic to return to Singapore, and conceptualising Side Door as their own unique approach to hospitality.
You’ll get a sense of their style when you first enter. Despite the urban industrial-inspired minimalist bare walls and cement screed floors, Side Door feels homely and cosy. There’s warm lighting shines down in the right places, while cleverly positioned indoor plants and quaint log-like seats provide contrast and character.
Speaking of contrast. Kang is the more stoic and intense of the two, brows furrowed in concentration as she meticulously crafts your drinks. Quek on the other hand is jovial and amiable, equally comfortable at consummate hospitality as he is handy with his ladle and kitchen tweezers.
The best way to experience Side Door is their paired cocktails, each of which appear with a tapas-style gourmet bite. Here the couple’s incongruent personalities comes through, every pair working on both complementary and contrasting flavours to accentuate the other.
There’s Great TO MA TO, offering savoury, sweet and tangy notes of tomato and plum that work fabulously with the scallop and caviar from Tartlet, for example. Then there’s the earthiness of truffle and umami of foie gras of Quek’s Ugly Duckling that’s beautifully cut through by the fruity bitterness of Campari-based Tropical from Kang.
Fans of the dirty Martini will delight in World Class, the gin-based concoction laced with smoked salt and olive brine that’s perked up with some mezcal. It’s a divine match with the briny Oyster, whose pickled wakame and dill giving even dirtier vibes to the palate.
There are other bar snacks and proper dishes too, if one needs more filling up. Highly recommended is FRIEday, which are chicken wings done la zi ji style, and Handmade Gnocchi, the little potato parcels doused in a delectable butter cream sauce.
On the way out I opted for One For The Road from their signature cocktail list. Kang’s twist on the classic Manhattan with a touch of plum and espresso that helped round out the pepperiness of its rye whiskey base.
They are a formidable duo, Kang and Quek. Truly you’d be hard-pressed to find cocktail and food pairings as immaculate or intricate as theirs, their work literally exemplifying the intimacy of their relationship. They are exceedingly cute to witness at work too; that side glance, the curt approving nod, and even the silence in between laden with meaning that only they understand.
I’m fully expecting more great things to come.
Oh, and pro tip: Use the front door of Side Door to enter. And don’t be that other couple.
Side Door
Address 3 Neil Rd, #01-01, Singapore 088805 (Google Maps link)
Opening Hours 3pm to 12am Tuesdays to Saturdays; closed on Sundays and Mondays
Tel (65) 9639 5914
Instagram @sidedoor_sg
Reservations book here
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