Origin

Address: Shangri-La Hotel, 22 Orange Grove Road, Singapore, 258350, Singapore
Tel: +65 6213 4599
Website: view Origin’s website
Hours: Mon-Thu 17:00-01:00, Fri-Sat 17:00-02:00, Sun 17:00-01:00
Door: Open door
Style: Hotel bar
Food: Bar Snacks
Established: 2017

Located in the Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore, Origin Bar is designed to resemble the luxury side of train travel with a cocktail menu that takes you on a journey and a bar food menu.

Review

It would be easy to assume from the name that Origin is gin-led. But the focus of this classically-styled cocktail bar is on rums, with 75 on the menu and an education programme set to launch. The name? That’s a tribute to the Shangri-La hotel that houses it, the “original” of a brand that’s now spawned over 100 subsidiaries worldwide.

Bar manager Adam Bursik arrives here from the late, lamented Library Bar by way of Nutmeg & Clove, and delivers a fantastically well-thought out menu themed around five different districts of Singapore. From outré concoctions like the Imagination Game – matcha, fennel, pomelo, celery, absinthe and a Chinese-style sweet olive – through to simpler blends like the Sanic – kumquat, yuzu, tonic and sake – the drinks are hard to fault. There’s a menu of classic cocktails if adventure doesn’t beckon, while bar snacks, from loaded sweet potato fries to sliders, are on point.

The interior, an array of soft blues with arches to create the feel of a retro train station, feels a little less special than in comparable 5-star hotel bars.