In the most unlikely of places — behind the handbags at Coach’s Keong Saik boutique — lies The Coach Bar, a speakeasy that proves fashion brands can mix cocktails with as much swagger as they do leather.
Keong Saik has always been the sort of neighbourhood where you half expect the walls to peel back and reveal yet another “concept”. And now they have — though this time it’s inside a handbag shop. Yes, Coach, the American luxury fashion house better known for flogging leather totes, has decided it wants in on the nightlife game. And so, through the racks of accessories and upmarket Americana branding, there’s now a bar.
Of course there is.
The Coach Bar occupies a heritage shophouse on Keong Saik Road — unashamedly named the Coach Play Singapore Shophouse — which has been restored within an inch of its life to a blend of cutesy and quaint, its interiors striking a balance between vintage nostalgia and contemporary polish.
Up front and upstairs it’s all retail — handbags, wallets, the aspirational whiff of Fifth Avenue. Slide open an unassuming door, however, and you’re suddenly transported in a parallel universe where cassette tapes line the shelves, 70s funk and 90s hip-hop pulsate in the background, and the lighting is warm enough to flatter even the most overworked of faces. It is, in short, Coach’s idea of New York chic and swagger reimagined for a Singapore crowd that love its drinks in a totally unexpected space.
Still, the drinks are rather good.
A Grey Goose Espresso Martini does the job of both a slap and a hug. The Tabby Disco Tea, with its logo-shaped citrus ice cube, is engineered for Instagram and not ashamed of it. There’s a Cosmopolitan which might as well arrive with its own Carrie Bradshaw voiceover, and a Manhattan given a faint whiff of peat because, why not.
The pièce de résistance, though, is the Spicy Margarita Royale. This comes with brash chilli heat soothed by tequila, then topped with white chocolate and caviar because — well, because Coach. It’s both daft and delicious, and I begrudgingly admire it.
Here’s the shocker: drinking here won’t bankrupt you. The Coach Bar runs a S$12 martini programme all night, which in Singapore is akin to finding a designer bag on the sale rack. It’s deliberate, they say — a way to democratise glamour. And for once, the marketing isn’t entirely hollow.
There’s food too. The elevated bar classics here continue the theme of American comfort dressed in luxury drag with the kind of finger-friendly fare you’d expect at the bar of any good ’90s American steakhouse. The Coach Steak Sandwich is all hearty yet elegant, while the Silver Service Hot Dog is Central Park pushcart fantasy gone all haute because yes, you can have caviar on that too.
So, what is The Coach Bar? A fashion brand’s extracurricular experiment? Yes. A knowing pastiche of New York chic shoehorned into Keong Saik? Also yes. But it’s done with enough charm, a splash of silly fun, and drinks that genuinely land. If you want seriousness, go elsewhere. If you want a bracing martini with a side of caviar hot dog and the vague sense you’ve wandered into a fashionista’s fever dream, this bar’s for you.
The Coach Bar
Address 5 Keong Saik Road, Singapore 089113 (Google Maps link)
Opening Hours 4pm to 12am Thursdays to Mondays; closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays
Website singapore.coach.com/coach-play-singapore-shophouse
Instagram @thecoachbarsg
Reservations book here
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