Ditch the glitzy furnishings and grand cocktail bars for this casual watering hole in town. Side Door recreates the familiarity of home – a place where you know like the back of your hand, where you’re well-acquainted with all its side doors, if you will. The space is stripped back, minimal, and manages to rock an urban industrial look while still sporting a friendly atmosphere. But pleasing aesthetics aside, it’s the drinks and food that keep us coming back.
The bar is helmed by the powerhouse husband-and-wife duo Bannie and Tryson who were previously at Fairmont Singapore’s Anti:Dote – Bannie as an award-winning mixologist and Tryson as Chef de Cuisine. Think of Side Door as the bantering duo’s home away from home, where they get to show the best of what they’ve got in one space.
Bannie’s mixology style is distinct – cocktails here are minimal in presentation yet complex and layered in taste. Most drinks are clarified with precision to bring out the main flavours of each ingredient. And because ‘competition mixologists’ like her are constantly put on the spot to innovate, you can expect no less than interesting and conceptual yet delicious pours at Side Door.
The Non-Fruit Beer, for instance, is Bannie’s reinvention of the soju bomb, a popular drink in Korea. Here, malt whisky, lychee, Korean barley, Fernet Branca, and dry vermouth are blended to replicate a fruity pilsner. There’s also the Seaside, a perennial favourite which has been with the bar since the start. The fizzy tipple combines tequila and coconut oil with watermelon, lime, lemongrass, curry leaves, and Fernet Hunter.
Most recently, the duo introduced a new cocktail pairing menu ($29) where drinks come with an accompanying snack that complements and modulates their taste. All the cocktails in this series are served in wine glasses, intended for nosing.
Try the Great To Ma To to start. Inspired by white wine, there are distinct notes of grape, though the drink doesn’t actually contain any. Instead, it’s Jack Daniel’s old no. 7, sencha, yoghurt, plum, and cherry tomatoes that reproduce the acidity, sweetness and tannic quality of grapes. On the side is a shoyu-infused Hokkaido scallop tartlet topped with ikura, a nod to how white wine is paired with seafood. Have a bite then sip on the drink again – you’ll now find it slightly different with more body.
Another interesting one on the pairing menu is Tropical, which is influenced by both the negroni and espresso martini. The combination of gin, passionfruit, espresso, Campari, and vermouth is reminiscent of a fruity Americano. Again, have a bite of the snack – this time it’s foie gras and truffles encased in a thin potato chip casing – and notice how the cocktail now takes on a creamier, milkier finish, similar to a latte.
Tryson’s bar bites are not to be missed either. A classic is the Angus beef tartare served with fresh sourdough. It’s a spin on the regular dish, with added elements of yuzu sorbet, paprika rice puffs, seaweed, and caviar. A more familiar and comforting dish would be the bar’s rendition of guo tie or Chinese fried dumplings which come flipped over, crispy side up top. Each morsel is stuffed with pork belly, yoghurt, and homemade scallop XO sauce.
But our favourite’s got to be the cumin mid joints or as they call it, ‘Chinese Fried Chicken’ (CFC). And for something heftier, Tryson’s handmade buttercream gnocchi with pancetta is the way to go.
