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Came for the cocktails, stayed for the grub: Singapore bars we’d gladly go for the food

January 28, 2026

From pizza and fried chicken to sandos and izakaya plates, these Singapore cocktail bars serve food worth staying late for.

It wasn’t too long ago that you didn’t think to find proper, quality food at a cocktail bar. Think ubiquitous truffle fries, boring buffalo wings, and messy nachos; these were but a few of the unimaginative eats you’d find at your favourite watering holes.

That era is long over. Even as Singapore’s local cocktail scene evolved its drinks over the years, the more progressive cocktail bars among them have upped their food game to match those creative tipples.

Here we celebrate those establishments where the kitchen quietly steals the show: where pizzas rival Negronis, fried chicken justifies another round, and izakaya plates or sandos make leaving feel premature. These are places you might enter looking a drink — but you stay because the food makes a compelling case for dinner.

Indeed, these are the bars we wouldn’t mind going back just for the nosh.

[Updated 28 January 2026]

ANTO Pizza E Aperitivi

At ANTO Pizza E Apertivi, Italian aperitivo-style cocktails and pizza are, as you probably already guessed from its name, absolutely inseparable. Here you get to pair blistered, well-judged pizzas with one of the city’s most thoughtful Italian aperitivo programmes. Set in a relaxed, trattoria-styled space along Jiak Chuan Road, the concept is anchored by two southern Italians who know their lanes: master pizzaiolo Antonio Brancato at the oven, and Giancarlo Mancino — of Mancino Vermouth fame — who designed the drinks list.

Here the food keeps pace with the incisive cocktails; you’ll find Neapolitan favourites sitting alongside pan-baked teglia, late-night Roman pinsa, and smart vegetarian options that work with your flirtatious spritzes and punchy Negronis.

Must orders: Calamari with lime mayo, Margherita, 4 Formaggi for the turophiles, the veggie-loaded Caponata and Marinara Arrostita.

Bar Somma

Bar Somma may lure you in as a cocktail bar tucked inside New Bahru’s creative warren, but it’s the food firmly anchors the experience. Along with a recently reimagined drinks list is a bar bites lineup that leans confidently into Italian comfort with just enough edge to keep things interesting — designed for sharing, lingering, and ordering one plate more than planned.

Snacks start simply but smartly, from marinated olives to battered oyster mushrooms, before building into more substantial bar plates. Highlights include a finely cut Angus steak tartare, focaccia generously layered with pesto, burrata and mortadella, and fried chicken dressed in a rich cacciatore-style sauce.

Pasta is where the kitchen flexes hardest; expect familiar favourites such as rigatoni carbonara and bucatini alla Nerano, alongside a more indulgent radiatori tossed with river crab.

Must orders: Oyster mushrooms paired with beetroot ketchup, unctuous rigatoni carbonara, and amberjack crudo.

The Coach Bar

Hidden behind racks of leather goods at Coach’s Keong Saik shophouse, The Coach Bar may sell itself on cocktails and spectacle — but it’s the food that quietly seals the deal. Think American bar classics filtered through a fashion-house lens: indulgent, playful, and unapologetically luxe.

The menu leans into elevated comfort rather than culinary seriousness. The Coach steak sandwich is the standout — meaty, indulgent, and properly satisfying — while the silver service hot dog turns a Central Park cliché into something excessive, complete with caviar for those who appreciate irony on a bun. It’s finger food designed for late nights, loud music, and second rounds, executed with just enough polish to feel playful rather than kitsch.

Must orders: Coach steak sandwich, grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup, pastrami poppers, and fried olives.

The Elephant Room

Long celebrated for translating the flavours of India into liquid form, The Elephant Room has quietly become just as compelling a place to eat. Behind the bar’s culture-driven ethos sits a kitchen that present comforting Indian flavours in a contemporary guise without leaning into caricature or gimmickry.

The food menu here offer flavours many Singaporeans recognise — warm spices, tangy sauces, rich gravies — but edited for sharing and to be bar-friendly. Think pizza-inspired oven-fired naan topped with sardine curry, chicken masala or mysore mutton, small plates such as an entire spiced cauliflower roasted to perfection or chicken wings done Kashmiri style. The kicker? A scrumptious fried chicken burger — perked up with pickled onion and slathered in curry aioli — that’s unmistakably Indian in flavour.

Live Twice

We love mid-century Japan-inspired cocktail bar Live Twice for many things, especially their intensely spirit-forward Vesper and its cosy yet elegant vibes. But we’d go back also for their bar bites, particularly their drool-worthy Japanese sandos to help soak up all the booze we’re going to be putting in our system.

We’re looking at a food menu comprising elevated yōshoku dishes that complement the cocktails. Alongside beloved signatures such as its indulgent wagyu katsu sando and tamago katsu sando, two exciting new additions anchor the offerings: potato and leek croquettes stuffed with a trio of cheeses that’s encased in crispy panko, and the pumpkin crème brûlée, which comes as a roasted baby kabocha pumpkin topped with vanilla bean ice cream.

Must orders: Tamago katsu sando, wagyu curry rice bowl, and that dreamy pumpkin crème brûlée

Singapore bars with the best food - MOGĀ pairs flirty story-driven cocktails with Japanese izakaya bites

MOGĀ

MOGĀ at Pullman Singapore Hill Street may frame its latest chapter as a globe-trotting cocktail journey, but the real reason to linger is its sprawling food menu, which leans hard into indulgent izakaya comfort with a playful, modern edge. This is bar food designed to feed an appetite, not merely pad a drink order.

The rolls especially are unapologetically loaded, from the Salmon Overload — aburi and smoked salmon piled with cream cheese, ikura and crunch — to a maximalist Wagyu Beef Roll that layers A4 wagyu with fried beef cheeks, caramelised onion and yakiniku glaze. Sliders come thick and fluffy in shokupan buns, with wagyu, shrimp or fried chicken options that feel more late-night diner than delicate Japanese minimalism.

Expect hot plates such as yakitori-style dishes like beef tongue enriched with smoked goat cheese and yuzu kosho or grilled mochi glossed with truffle teriyaki and cured egg yolk, while the dessert that is soy caramel glazed donuts paired with sea salt gelato offers the kind of sweet-salty finish that lands squarely in “one more bite” territory.

Must orders: The heavily-laden MOGĀ samurai roll, crisp pancake kaiseki, beef tongue yakitori, and the soy caramel glazed donut.

Nutmeg & Clove

In our opinion it’s worth visiting award-winning Singapore-themed Nutmeg & Clove for the cocktails alone, each of which gives specific insight into an aspect of Singapore culture. Its latest drinks menu may be framed around Singlish wordplay and cocktail culture, but the kitchen also ensures you don’t leave hungry.

The bar’s food offering leans unapologetically local, translating familiar Singaporean flavours into bold, bar-friendly plates that anchor long nights at Purvis Street. The headline dish is undoubtedly the chilli crab dip — rich, flavourful and built for sharing, complete with onsen egg and baked mantou that invite reckless double-dipping. Crispy turmeric chicken comes fragrant, crunchy, and impossible to stop picking at. Then there’s a bizarre burger inspired by bak kut teh, featuring a crisp pork patty with aromatic bak kut teh aioli in a toasted brioche bun, served with fries that quietly disappear faster than expected.

This is food that holds its own — comforting, familiar, and deeply Singaporean in spirit. Come for the bar’s reputation, stay because the grub understands exactly how locals like to eat when they’re out late.

Must orders: Chili crap dip, fried ‘carrot’ cake, Chong Qing chicken wings, and a very local ice cream sandwich.

Parliament Bar

Cocktails may be the reason you get through the door at pyschedelic all-American dive bar Parliament, but the food is what keeps you stuck to your seat. Two words: fried chicken.

Originally introduced to mark its second anniversary, The Superior Fried Chicken Collection is a loud, messy, unapologetically greasy celebration of fried chicken in all its glory. The centrepiece is a trio of oversized fried chicken sandwiches that feel engineered for excess — The Original Fried Chicken Burger layers a buttermilk-marinated thigh with Monterey Jack and smoky chipotle aioli, while the Buffalo version leans hard into heat with blue cheese richness to balance. Then there’s General Tso’s Fried Chicken Burger delivers sweet-spicy Americana with a Chinese-takeout wink, sticky sauce and sharp pickles cutting through the crunch.

Beyond the burgers, baskets of wings and bite-sized poppers keep the table busy. Everything is built for sharing, dripping, and repeat orders, with in-house sauces and optional New York hot sauces dialling up the chaos.

This is not refined bar food, nor does it pretend to be. And that’s how we like it.

Must orders: Uh, the whole collection?

POP CITY x Pony

POP CITY X PONY may be conceived as a cocktail-first Japanese mid-century modern “living room”, but its food offering quietly ensures you don’t treat it as a fly-by-night stop. The kitchen — shared with whisky-forward izakaya Barrel Story of Hibiki downstairs — leans into Japanese-inspired comfort, with small, indulgent bites designed to anchor a long, idyllic evening over many rounds of drinks.

You’ll want baskets of mochi cheese nuggets, which arrive crisp and golden, breaking open into molten chew, made richer by a miso curry sauce that taps straight into nostalgic Japanese flavours. The uni and corn croquette pushes things further into umami territory, pairing sweet corn with sea urchin and a luxurious butter sauce that feels more elevated izakaya indulgence than bar snack. Looking for something more substantial? The tonkotsu ramen, the oodly-noodly brainchild by Chef Sho Naganuma of Torasho Ramen & Charcoal Bar fame, ensures you never leave hungry.

These are plates designed to be deliberately crave-able yet comforting, ensuring you stay longer that you intended to.

Must orders: Tonkotsu ramen, mochi cheese nuggets, and chicken karaage.

The pork belly ssam at Stay Gold

Stay Gold

Next generation dual hybrid concept Stay Gold Flamingo’s cocktail persona, Stay Gold, is better known for its edgy drinks. But the bar’s food programme, overseen by head chef Joanne Sakai who has introduced bold flavours that reflect her Filipino heritage as well as drawn from across the rest of Asia, is increasingly gaining its own set of fans.

Pair Stay Gold’s confident and creative cocktails with its playful eats — we loved the scallion pancake elevated with pulled pork and cheese, an incredible loaded beef burger, and the Korean-inspired pork belly ssam.

Must orders: Scallion pancake, mala quail eggs, umami-laden fish tacos spiked with Indonesian sambal matah.

Side Door

If you’ve been long enough in local cocktail circles you would have heard of Bannie Kang and Tryson Quek, the chef-and-bartender couple behind cocktail-centric gastrobar Side Door. While Kang is a multi- award-winning bartender with many accolades, Quek too is also lauded for his whimsical work in the kitchen, concocting some of the most progressive plates to pair with Kang’s cocktail creations.

You can lean into their cocktail pairings, where you get a tapas-style gourmet bite along with your drink. But Side Door also offers a number of excellent a la carte food options, ranging from an elevated, contemporary take on beef tartare to the cheeky fiery Chinese twist to fried chicken wings that is FRIEday.

Must orders: Beef tartare, handmade gnocchi, and FRIEday, because fried chicken.

Side Door | 3 Neil Rd, #01-01, Singapore 088805 (Google Maps link) | 3pm to 12am Tuesdays to Saturdays; closed on Sundays and Mondays | @sidedoor_sg | reservations

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