What: Employees Only
Where: 112 Amoy Street
Opening hours: Monday – Friday, 5 pm to 1 am. Saturday,5pm to 2 am. Sunday, 6pm to 1am.
Tel: 6221-7357

[dropcap size=small]E[/dropcap]mployees Only has a lot going for it. It’s a legacy bar, having come from the legendary Employees Only in Manhattan; it’s secured a lot on thirst-friendly Amoy Street where its neighbours include Jigger & Pony, The Spiffy Dapper, Sugarhall and Ding Dong; it has a veritable laundry list of fun extras but most importantly, the core team from the original bar have relocated to Singapore to make sure things are run right.

Co-founder Igor Hadzismajlovic has crossed a continent to place principal bartender Steve Schneider and executive chef Julia Jaksik behind the bar and in the kitchen in order to ensure the same Employees Only experience. That experience includes rotating entertainers (it was a tarot card reader when we dropped by), a buzzing international crowd, and complimentary chicken soup for those who stay till closing time. What the bar lacks in impressive interiors, it makes up for in atmosphere.

#TGIF. Predicting your future holds #cocktails. Lots and lots of cocktails

A photo posted by Employees Only Singapore (@employeesonlysg) on

The menu remains the same for the Singapore outlet — the bar’s only other branch in the world — so some of you may recognise the signature EO Gimlet. It’s remarkably complex for a cocktail that traditionally uses just two ingredients, but the homemade lime cordial adds layers of flavour to the Perry’s Tot Navy Strength Gin. Another one not to miss is the Ready Fire Aim (mezcal, lime juice, house-made honey-pineapple syrup, bitters), which may as well be the cocktail equivalent of sticky smoked ribs and just as moreish.

Employees Only is the kind of bar you can begin and end a night in. The restaurant will feed you and the bar will sate you — all the way till the doors close.

In Three Words: Start till finish.

 

Check out our previous Bars of the Week: Cin CinJoo Bar | Bob’s Bar | SPECIAL – #NegroniWeek | The Westin’s Lobby Lounge | Bar-roque Grill