Bar of the Week: What's Good at the World-Famous Employees Only, now in Singapore?

With the NYC bar setting up its first outpost here, you can now drink like Manhattanites do at a cosy one-stop in Amoy Street.

By Charmian Leong / 8 Jul 2016

amoy street, Bar of the Week, Charmian Leong, Employees Only, Gourmet

Share this article

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

Employees 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.

A photo posted by Employees Only Singapore (@employeesonlysg) on Jun 30, 2016 at 7:08pm PDT

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.

amoy street, Bar of the Week, Charmian Leong, Employees Only, Gourmet