Keong Saik’s The Guild is a convivial wedding for craft beers and fusion bites
A billion nights spent at Keong Saik have taught me one thing: Things will come and go but The Guild? The Guild is forever.
Category: Featured
A billion nights spent at Keong Saik have taught me one thing: Things will come and go but The Guild? The Guild is forever.
The greys of dusk slowly trickle into the nooks and crannies of Tiong Bahru. Its white veneer takes on an increasingly ashen shimmer and the kiss of the golden hour sun waned as we weaved through the motley of low-rise flats, on the lookout for the night’s protagonist, Dirty Supper Club.
Miniscule. From my vantage point at CE LA VI, Singapore resembled a diorama where even buildings were muddled into vague silhouettes.
Continue reading “CE LA VI”
Vietnamese food in Singapore usually adheres to a formula of homey, fuss-free spaces and safely traditional grub. There’s unlimited charm to the tried-and-tested blueprint but we wonder: what if Vietnamese food was reinterpreted with a modern edge?
At 45 Craig Road, a blast of salacious neon rains down on passers-by, dying them in a lusty crimson. To the side hangs a translucent sign, bare with a tousled weave of florid light tubes. On it, a vertical etching of “nou” greets the passers-by on the road, face first, whilst flanked by three words meant to succinctly elucidate what ensues upon entrance: “noodles & cocktails”.
The Lion City has been undeniably blessed by a gamut of cultural cuisines. It’s certainly not all-encompassing but already diverse in the spectrum. Naturally, certain styles still get lost within that flourish, criminally underrepresented and laden with potential — and it seems that African cuisine is one of the niches awaiting a breakthrough with the opening of the swanky new Tamba.
There’s a memory imprinted into every bar hopper in Singapore — one where they meander about Chinatown before bumbling onto a viridescent door at 20 Sago Street, then taking a leap of faith to trudge up the seedy flight of stairs to reach Sago House. Continue reading “Sago House”
The art of pastry. Full of intricacies and wrought with a need for delicacy. The simpler the pastry, the more finesse it demands for a truly outstanding outcome. Few rise to those stipulations even in this flourishing local cafe scene, but it seems newcomer Ami Patisserie could be the next in line. Continue reading “Ami Patisserie”
What do you go to a barber for? For a haircut? A shave? Or perhaps, a drink? On the off-chance that the last possibility appeals most to your sensibilities, introductions to the clandestine new speakeasy at Boat Quay, Close Shave, are in order.
The Keong Saik of today is not the same as before. Once home to numerous titanic names of Singapore’s dining scene, the vicinage seems to be on its last legs as it founders under the threat of vacating favourites and fading stalwarts. But even amidst the waning embers, a few sparks of optimism have roused — one of them is the vibrant new Hevel.