Inside Jigger and Pony – a hidden gem in Singapore, billed as “the best bar in Asia”.

Appearances can be deceiving. The gleaming Singapore hotel lobby I’m standing in looks a bit vanilla, but there’s something quite exciting about it.

On one side is a small, dark passageway that leads to officially Asia’s best bar, Jigger & Pony.

The establishment received this coveted title at this year’s World’s 50 Best Bars Awards, which rank among the crème de la crème of cocktail bars around the world.

Jigger & Pony – a jigger is the hourglass-shaped gauge used by bartenders – ranks 12th overall.

Ailbhe MacMahon pays a visit to Singapore’s Jigger & Pony (above), which won The Best Bar in Asia at the World’s 50 Best Bars Awards 2022

It’s an odious achievement for the couple behind it, husband and wife team Gan Guoyi, who has a hospitality background with Singapore Airlines, and Indra Kantono, who previously worked for US consulting firm Bain & Company.

It was on Amoy Street in Singapore’s Chinatown when it opened in 2012, but as business boomed it relocated to the Amara Singapore Hotel, where it still resides today.

Step through the passageway to the bar and you’re ushered into a dark, atmospheric space where smooth, jazzy music blares from the speakers. Chic Singaporean couples and groups of friends mingle in crescent-shaped booths, while a long central counter invites people to sit together — an unusual touch for an intimate cocktail bar. Decor is appropriately sophisticated, with lots of velvet, mid-century lamps, peach-colored curtains, and plush orange swivel chairs.

Golden light pours from the bar, where staff in formal gray vests and ties work hard to shake and stir elegant concoctions.

Jigger & Pony – a jigger, the hourglass-shaped measuring device used by bartenders – is ranked 12th overall in the World’s 50 Best Bars Awards

Jigger & Pony is located in the lobby of Amara Singapore Hotel. Step through the passageway to the bar and you’re ushered into a dark, atmospheric space where smooth, jazzy music blares from the speakers

As soon as I’m shown to my table, senior bartender Adrian Foo tells me that there are many elements that go into making the bar such a success story. He says: “It’s all about the hospitality, it’s about the drinks, it’s about that [the] ambience. At the same time, [it’s about] how we treat our guests, not just as customers but we treat them more like a friend. Everything comes together.”

The menus are presented in a glossy menu zine format magazine filled with detailed descriptions of the drinks. You can take one home for 18 Singapore dollars (£11).

Flip to the first page and you’ll be greeted with a cornucopia of unconventional drinks, from the Sweet Potato Opera (Hendrick’s Orbium gin, sweet potato and cocoa liqueur) to the Corn Colada (Bacardi Reserva Ocho rum, corn, butter, lime and egg). White).

Decor is suitably sophisticated, with lots of velvet, mid-century lamps, and peachy curtains

The menus are presented in the format of a glossy magazine “Menu-Zine”. Flip to the first page and you’ll be met with a cornucopia of unconventional tips

Above is Ailbhe’s cocktail – the “Soy Milk Punch,” a medley of Japanese Ki No Bi Gin, soy milk, lychee, oolong tea, and red wine

They’re not cheap, with each drink costing 28 Singapore dollars (£17) – although alcohol tends to be expensive in the city. To experience the bar on a budget, there’s happy hour from 6pm, during which select cocktails are priced at S$18 (£11).

A waitress points out the drinks that have long been a favorite with patrons — the Yuzu Whiskey Sour with bourbon and “yuzu jam”; the Madame President with orchid and melon liqueur and a “Campari lollipop”; and the Crimson Bullet, a blend of tequila, mescal, and beetroot.

I tell Adrian what I like in a drink (gin-based, slightly sweet) and he recommends trying the “Soy Milk Punch,” a medley of Japanese Ki No Bi gin, soy milk, lychee, oolong tea, and red wine .

It arrives chilled, with a blood red layer resting on a translucent base. Adrian tells me not to mix the two layers, rather slurp them as one. It gets full marks from me – you get a first shot of tangy red wine, followed by a dose of sweet, floral syrup.

To experience the bar on a budget, there is a happy hour from 6pm, during which cocktails cost 18 Singapore dollars (£11).

Ailbhe (above) describes her cocktail as follows: “You get an initial shot of tangy red wine, followed by a dose of sweet, floral syrup.”

The bar is also known for their punch bowls, which offer 15 to 20 servings per pop. For example, the Chatham Artillery punch, priced at a staggering S$330 (£198), is a blend of yuzu-infused bourbon, rum, cognac, green tea and Louis Roederer champagne. Wines, beers, and mocktails are also offered, and the bar bottles select cocktails to go.

Drinks are paired with complimentary small dishes of chicken-flavored chips, while dishes to share with pistachios and hummus dip or blue crab with smoked leeks are also on the menu.

As I leave, the mood lifts and the tables are full. Since Adrian was voted Asia’s Best Bar, Adrian reveals that Jigger & Pony’s business hasn’t really taken off, but it remains a favorite among Singaporeans – and a hidden gem for travellers.

The World’s Best Bar Awards say that Jigger & Pony “always did things a little differently”. I am inclined to agree. The drinks are imaginative, the staff are experts and the environment is as polite as can be.

The best bar in Asia? I can’t confirm that, but it’s definitely worth a visit.

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The World’s Best Bar Awards say Jigger & Pony “always did things a little differently”