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Welcome to Da Bao Diaries, a daily column dedicated to what Time Out Singapore's editors are eating and drinking while Singapore's 'circuit breaker' measures are in place till June 1. Da bao is a Singaporean colloquialism derived from Mandarin that refers to having a meal to go instead of dining in at an establishment.
I was looking through my Instagram Story archive the other day and it got me reminiscing about what I was doing this time last year. The Singapore Cocktail Festival was in full swing – I was drinking too much at the festival village, attending guest shifts by international legends at bars around the city and of course, celebrating our local wins during the Asia's 50 Best Bars ceremony.
Needless to say, none of that can happen this year. The Singapore Cocktail Festival still lives on digitally this month, the flagship village has been moved to October, and the Asia's 50 Best Bars announcement is happening tonight via Facebook Live.
But that doesn't mean we can't drink and make merry at home. Jigger & Pony's punch bowl parties are one way to keep the celebratory spirit alive. There are two punch bowls to choose from – King Ferdinand ($200), a mix of gin, rum, chamomile, passionfruit and honey or the Pendennis Punch ($200), which features whiskey, gin, jasmine tea, apricot and Peychaud's bitters. Each can be split with up to four people, which is what I chose to do. My pouch came with about 350ml of King Ferdinand (yes, I measured) and lasted me through an hour-long Zoom call with friends.
The best thing about Jigger & Pony's delivery system is that you can combine orders from across the group so I also treated myself to a beef katsu sando from Live Twice. Surprisingly, the sandwich travelled relatively well and wasn't soggy when it arrived. It's best reheated in the oven (separate the beef katsu from the bread so that it gets a little crispy too) and the beef was still perfectly rare and juicy. There's also the option to make it a set with a potato salad and creme caramel for an additional $6.
HOW TO ORDER Visit humpback.sg for the full list of cocktails and food available for delivery from all of Jigger & Pony's outlets. This includes Humpback, Caffe Fernet, Jigger & Pony, Live Twice and Gibson. Island-wide delivery is a flat fee of $8, with free delivery for orders above $150.