Coffee Bar K (permanently closed)

Address: Ground Floor (Unity Street side), UE Square, 205 River Valley Road #01-76, Singapore, 238274 , Singapore
Tel: +65 6720 5040
Door: Open door/walk-ins
Style: Cocktail bar
Food: Bar Snacks

Review

If there's a granddaddy of the Singapore bar scene, Coffee Bar K, on the restaurant level of the UE Square development, has to be it. The spirits and wine list is to die for - Pétrus, anyone? - the back bar is a bartender's wet dream, and the expansive cocktail list would take a lifetime to work through.

Head bartender Yutaka Nakashima is a Coffee Bar K veteran, having worked in Tokyo and Seoul before landing in Singapore a while back, and produces well-balanced cocktails of all persuasions without batting an eyelid.

The outside sofas are tempting in the heat, while the bouncy hammock chairs in the window also appeal. That gorgeous private room upstairs? For shareholders only, we're afraid. But pull up an armchair at the low bar and enjoy the beverages on offer.

The dodgy menu of old with its biro crossings out and badly PhotoShopped blue drinks has been replaced by an iPad menu and the very well made cocktails are served in a huge range of glassware including pink flamingo coupes. Don't be put off by the $15 cover charge, it's worth it to get the hot towels, wasabi crisps, fruit plate and other delicious snacks offered.