If there’s one bar you can always count on to serve up uniquely Singaporean cocktails with  style and creativity, it’s Nutmeg and Clove. The award-winning Nutmeg and Clove, which ranked 36^th on Asia’s 50 Best Bars in 2022, opened nine years ago. Every year since, the bar has a launched a new menu showcasing and gathering inspiration from historical moments, local landmarks or hawker food culture in Singapore.

This year, Nutmeg and Clove recently launched their new 2023 cocktail menu, titled “Singapore Personalities”. The new menu features twelve brand new cocktails, each paying homage to personalities whom Singaporeans have grown up loving or who have put Singapore on the global stage. These personalities – and their corresponding cocktails – range across four categories: Culinary, Music, Television and Radio.

I recently headed down the Nutmeg and Clove to taste the brand new cocktails for myself. And boy, what a nostalgic trip down memory lane it turned out to be…

Cocktail #1: Hu Hu Who?

My evening began with the Hu Hu Who? cocktail, inspired by an old-school Singapore TV character called Liang Po Po. Liang Po Po was a hunchback granny known for her earnest positivity and her trademark phrase “hu hu hu”, portrayed with some degree of camp by actor Jack Neo during the 1990s.

The Hu Hu Who? is a twist on the classic Collins cocktail, made with Hendricks Orbium Gin, buckwheat, fennel pollen, lavender, red apple skin soda and amontillado sherry. Refreshing, fruity and light, I found that it worked great as a starter drink to kick off the night. The spritz of lavender oil on top of the glass and the addition of buckwheat was the team’s cheeky yet accurate way of replicating that classic “Chinese grandma scent” – that of medicinal oil (or “Feng You”) and light muskiness.

In classic Nutmeg & Clove style, no detail is left unfurnished. Even the fennel pollen garnish on the drink was designed to emulate Liang Po Po’s signature floral printed blouse!

Cocktail #2: Fried Rice Paradigm

I next tried the Fried Rice Paradigm, inspired by singer-songwriter-composer Dick Lee whose song “Fried Rice Paradise” was initially banned from broadcast in Singapore due to the inclusion of Singlish (a variation of English spoken in Singapore). The ban has since been lifted, with the song eventually inspiring a musical and a TV show. 

This cocktail was a smokey yet fruity combo of Mezcal with toasted rice, green apple, yoghurt and lime. I found that the mezcal added a nice touch of smokiness that reminds one of the classic “wok hey” flavor you’d get from fried rice at a hawker centre. This smokiness was nicely balanced with the sweetness of the green apple and the creamy texture and earthiness that I imagined came from the toasted rice. It comes garnished with a baby apple, which I’m told to chew first before dropping the attached kaffir leaf back into the glass to let the aromatics further meld into the rest of the cocktail.

This was one of my favourites of the night! And even the glassware was very thoughtfully curated to match the drink. It was shaped like an inverted apple, which added further to the experiential nature of the Fried Rice Paradigm cocktail.

Cocktail #3: Wander-Thirst

Next up, the Wander Thirst. Inspired by Rosalyn Lee (also known as Rozz), a 98FM/Lush95FM radio personality turned professional travel vlogger known for her adventurous spirit and spunk. Rozz is a fan of a martini, and for the Wander Thirst, the team created a cocktail for those who like it strong.

For those looking for the kick of a martini paired with the juiciness of a Greyhound, the Wander Thirst is an aromatic combination of Roku Gin, Empirical Spirits Symphony No. 6, grapefruit, dill and chilli. To make this cocktail, the team distilled dill with the Roku Gin to infuse the cocktail with a gentle herbality. Chilli adds a nice spice while the addition of the Symphony No. 6 adds a touch of citrus-like bitterness.

Cocktail #4: F** Your Banana

Straight from the Culinary section of the new menu, F** Your Banana is a cocktail inspired by Willin Low, a local Singapore restauranteur who’s credited for coining the term “ModSin” cuisine when he started his restaurant Wild Rocket in 2015. I learned that when ideating on the new cocktail, the team asked Willin what’s his comfort food was. To which the chef replied “goreng pisang”. For the uninitiated, goreng pisang is a fried banana dish.

This rum-based cocktail was a winner. Equal parts sweet and deliciously savoury, it featured Bacardi Carta Blanca rum distilled with banana puree by the team themselves, paired with crème de cacao and topped with fried Sago chips I found it to be remarkably well balanced. There was a caramelized and creamy note of banana that reminded me of a banana split, and this tropical flavor helped to accentuate the rum.

The sago chip, balanced delicately on the glass, also carried with it a hint of saltiness and oiliness. Take a bite of it before you sip, and you’ll find that this savoury garnish helps to bring forth even more natural sweetness from the distilled banana. F** Your Banana is truly a cocktail worthy of any chef.

Cocktail #5: Ramos at Home

Last but certainly not the least, I couldn’t leave without trying the Ramos at Home, Nutmeg & Clove’s newest interpretation of the Ramos Gin Fizz. The Ramos At Home was inspired by singer Kit Chan. If you’ve ever lived or worked in Singapore before, you’ll already be used to the annual ritual leading up to National Day in August, when her song “Home” will be repeatedly blared through almost every mall speaker and on every television screen on the island.

I’ve heard the song “Home” before many times, but actually drinking it as a cocktail? Absolutely sublime. This year, the team went bold, creating a Ramos Gin Fizz that also incorporated the flavours of the popular Singapore Sling. The Ramos at Home is a creamy, fruity concoction of Haku vodka, pineapple, cherry liqueur, egg white, cream, lime, grenadine and soda. This was scarily easy to drink, with a nice tropical sweetness and a milkshake-like texture. If you like Pina Coladas, you’ll love this.

Food Menu at Nutmeg & Clove

Naturally, the food menu at Nutmeg & Clove also stays on theme with unmistakably Singaporean accents.

From a Rendang Mac & Cheese to a Chicken Sando with Achar, it’s the kind of fusion food that any local or foreigner alike can get behind. You'll be happy to know that if you head down to Nutmeg and Clove during happy hour (5-7pm daily), they serve complimentary free-flow Chicken Sandos to go with a tipple or two (or five as I did).

I also enjoyed the Carrot Cake, fried to a crisp-outer-and-soft-inner perfection, and garnished with floss, cucumber, and a super "shiok" sambal. The Kraw Pow Pie Tee was also another flavour bomb - with Kurabuta pork, Thai basil, Bird's Eye chilli, and quail egg. 

Final Note

Overall, the new cocktail menu at Nutmeg & Clove is a class-act in tasty tipples and superb storytelling. If you're a local Singaporean trying it out, you'll be guaranteed a nostalgic trip down memory lane. If you're a foreigner visiting the bar, there's still a really good mix of different cocktails across the range of sweet, smokey, savoury and earthy to choose from - and all with a really interesting backstory that would help you discover a little bit more about this little red dot. 

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Founded by industry veteran Colin Chia, Nutmeg & Clove is a restaurant & cocktail bar that pays homage to Singapore’s rich history with their Modern Singapore Cuisine and progressive cocktail program. Taking great pride in Singapore’s history and progression from colonial outpost to modern metropolis, Nutmeg & Clove reinterprets classic dishes and cocktails with a Singaporean inflection. With every taste, visitors will learn or re-visit different elements of Singapore.

8 Purvis Street 

Singapore 188587

Tel: (65) 9389 9301

https://www.nutmegclove.com/

IG: @nutmegandclove

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Happy sipping! 

@lotusroot518