Flashy Asian bar coming to Australia
28 Hongkong Street in Singapore has attracted lots of attention since it opened in Singapore in 2011.
It was voted Asia’s best bar for three years in a row. It’s now ranked as the seventh-best bar in the world.
The big news is that 28HKS will be opening at The Everleigh in Melbourne and at the Henrietta Supper Club in Sydney.
The bar’s team are flying down here for Sydney Bar Week starting on September 17. After that, they head down to Melbourne to recreate a mini version of the bar September 21-22.
The outfit behind the venture is the craft-spirit import firm Neat Spirits, the same mob that introduced Australians to drinks such as Plantation Rum and Pierre Ferrand Cognac.
Neat Spirits sales and marketing director Dan Walker says the bar will have a real international flavour.
While two of its bartenders - Jason Williams and Zach De Git – are Australian, the bar’s creative directors are from San Francisco.
“It’s a mishmash of Asian, American and Australian influence,” Walker told broadsheet.com.au.
“These guys are at the forefront of the cocktail scene in Singapore,” he says. “It’s not every day that one of the world’s best cocktail bars comes to you.”
So what’s on offer there? For those who want something Asian, there will be the Five Foot Assassin. It’s made with rum, spices, fresh lime, mango puree and coconut-pandan cream. Or there’s ”Coppertone” which is a tropical version of an Old Fashioned made with Plantation Original Dark Rum, Virgin coconut oil, five spice pineapple and Angostura Bitters. If you want something more American, there’s Jimi & Janis, all rye whiskey and walnut bitters. And for those who want something distinctly Australian, there’s The Riviera made with Sydney-based PS40 tonic.
The menu is basically lean American. Think of truffled mac’n’cheese balls, fried steak and apple fritters.
by Leon Gettler, September 8th 2016
