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Drinkspotting May 2026: The refreshed cocktail menus giving Singapore’s bar scene new life

April 30, 2026

Singapore’s cocktail scene finds fresh momentum as a new wave of menus across the city’s top bars rethinks how — and why — we drink.

There’s a certain rhythm returning to Singapore’s bar scene — not the noisy, festival-driven kind that once defined its peak years, but something more considered. Across the city, a new slate of cocktail menus is beginning to take shape, each one less concerned with spectacle and more focused on identity, narrative, and intent.

From Bar Somma’s savoury-leaning Italian reinterpretations to Republic’s nostalgia-soaked journey through 1960s television, and from Last Word’s disciplined return to the classics to MO Bar’s deeply collaborative take on modern Singaporean culture, the throughline is clear: this is a moment of recalibration. Even Nutmeg & Clove — long the standard bearer for local storytelling — doubles down on its voice with a Singlish-inspired menu that feels as cheeky as it is self-assured.

Whether it’s for a sharper take on the familiar, or a deeper exploration of what defines Singapore’s drinking culture today, these are the bars reminding us that the city’s cocktail scene, while evolving, hasn’t lost its edge.

Bar Somma

Tucked away on the upper reaches of lifestyle hub New Bahru is Bar Somma, where a new cocktail menu leans confidently into Italian drinking culture while nudging it into more savoury, contemporary territory.

Its first menu refresh since opening last year, bar manager Mel Chavez continues to riff on familiar classics with his irreverent twists. The award-winning bartender keeps things intuitive by organising the cocktail list into different sections — Aperitivo, Savoury and Renewed Classics — with early standouts like the Pine Highball built on lapsang souchong-infused gin and his richer, more contemplative take on the Boulevardier Nutty by Nature setting the tone.

But it’s in the Savoury section where the Bar Somma finds its clearest voice. Borrowing on its Italian roots — it is, after all, the bar component of contemporary fine-dining Italian restaurant Somma — you’ll find creations like the celery-infused Amalfi Gimlet and the Bloody Mary twist that is Amatriciana (guanciale-washed vodka with tomato) which tread that fine line between kitchen and bar. Then there’s EVOOtini featuring olive oil-infused gin with kombu Campari, which also neatly captures the menu’s intent: familiar formats, reframed with a distinctly gastronomic slant.

The Renewed Classics round things out with a more textural, sometimes playful touch — from the creamy Torino Velvet to the earthy, mushroom-laced Manhattan that is Taras Fungorum. It’s a fun cocktail programme that balances technical precision with a lot of fun, one that feels cohesive, confident, and just a little bit quirky.

Republic Bar

It’s been a hot minute since we last visited Republic Bar at The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore, but we’re glad we did. The snazzy cocktail lounge recently unveiled its Volume Four menu, one that turns on the nostalgia by framing its drinks as a prime-time journey through 1960s television.

Structured across six broadcast genres — from Film and Drama to Music and Cartoons — the concept could easily veer into caricature, but here it lands with a surprising degree of coherence. Each drink is anchored in a specific cultural moment, translating everything from cinematic glamour to moon landing milestones into liquid form, with 12 cocktails that prioritise storytelling as much as flavour.

The stronger moments come where concept and craft intersect cleanly. In Film and Drama, drinks like La Dolce Vita — a sparkling, peach-laced riff on Italian excess — and Emma Peel, a richer, coconut-and-banana-accented take on the Espresso Martini, balance nostalgia with technical polish. Elsewhere, the menu finds its rhythm in more playful interpretations: the G.O.A.T., a violet-tinted Aviation variation nodding to Muhammad Ali, and Strawberry Fields, a layered whiskey sour that draws on The Beatles’ psychedelic phase, both demonstrating a willingness to stretch flavour without losing clarity.

Here’s a menu that is likely to tug on the heartstrings and memory banks if you hail from that era; if you’re not, these are still immersive drinks that are polished in a way that feels entirely in step with the bar’s grand hotel setting.

Last Word

We’ve always been big fans of this underrated minimalist Japanese-inspired cocktail bar for its love for the classics, and its latest menu drop is exactly the deliberate fixation to fundamentals we go there for.

Organised across six familiar categories from Highball and Sour to Spirit-Forward and Champagne, the programme is built around structure and clarity, inviting drinkers to navigate not by concept, but by preference. It’s a format that feels almost old-fashioned in today’s landscape and therefore all the more refreshing for it.

Execution, as expected, is where the bar holds its ground. The namesake Last Word remains the centrepiece, with the added nuance of choosing between different expressions of Chartreuse, while staples like the Bloody Mary — lifted with wasabi and togarashi — and a fruit-forward Midori Highball demonstrate a measured, detail-driven approach. Across the menu, classics such as the Penicillin, Tommy’s Margarita and Shochu Negroni are presented with minimal intervention, favouring balance and technical precision over wilful reinvention.

This is a menu that resists the need to impress overtly. Instead it proves that simplicity — which remains one of the hardest things to get right in mixology — can be reassuring when done well. And that’s exactly why we love it.

MO Bar

MO Bar at Mandarin Oriental Singapore may just be back to its trailblazing ways with its latest Volume 7 menu drop. ‘Modern Localism: The City of Art’ continues the bar’s long-running fascination with narrative, continuing its inward exploration of Singapore’s creative landscape after its nomadic foragers initiative of previous years.

Spanning 15 cocktails and 11 collaborators — from perfumers to designers — the menu unfolds like a slow wander through the city, where each drink is less a standalone serve and more a snapshot of place, process, and personality. You’re looking at the likes of Sifr Fizz — aromatic and lightly spiced with saffron — and the smoky, contemplative Forest Fire, inspired by Indonesian artist Raden Saleh’s 1849 art piece of the same name, that show off confident handling of both fragrance and depth. Then there’s Kopi Pumptini which lean into familiar local cues of coffee with a touch of pumpkin in Espresso Martini form, while B.T.B, or bean-to-bar, pays homage to local chocolatier Lemuel Chocolate.

Otherwise you have Reclaimed Sling 3.0, a refined take on Singapore’s national cocktail, while Velour Kiss is a floral highball scented with chamomile and bee pollen that reflects the understated elegance of collaborator skincare brand La Dermalogique.

It’s a menu that’s highly conceptual, but look deep enough and you’ll find a thoughtful if unexpected exploration of Singapore’s creative culture in cocktail form.

MO Bar | 5 Raffles Ave., Mandarin Oriental Singapore, Level 3, Singapore 039797 (Google Maps link) | 5pm to 12am Sundays to Thursdays; 5pm to 1am Fridays and Saturdays | www.mandarinoriental.com/en/singapore/marina-bay/dine/mo-bar | 6885 3500 | online reservations

Nutmeg & Clove

And if you’re craving ultimate Singaporeana in your cocktail jaunts, look no further than Nutmeg & Clove. The Singapore-themed cocktail bar’s latest menu, ‘Singapura, Oh Singapura’, doubles down on what the bar has long done best — translating local identity into liquid form — this time through a celebration of Singlish.

Yes, Singlish, the local colloquial language that’s as charming as it can be confusing to regular English speakers. Across 12 cocktails, each anchored to a familiar phrase, the menu leans into humour and cultural shorthand, presenting drinks alongside comic-style narratives that feel as much about storytelling as they are about flavour.

It’s gimmicky, but we love it. Think Dabao, served in a takeaway bag-inspired vessel, layers whisky with calamansi and jasmine tea for a bright, effervescent opener, while Shiok takes a more aromatic turn with sage, sandalwood and citrus in a softly textured sour. Elsewhere, Jialat offers a creamy, mango-laced Ramos-style escape, and Bojio leans into tropical familiarity with a rum-forward, pandan-tinged tiki profile.

It’s unmistakably and unapologetically Singaporean not just in flavour but in tone, delivering a menu that is cheeky, self-aware, yet confident in its craft.

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