It’s not everyday a new cocktail bar pops up in one of Singapore’s\u00a0historic\u00a0buildings, let alone the last\u00a0surviving Teochew mansion on the island. Bar Kap is located within the House of Tan Yeok Nee<\/a>, a 140-year-old compound once home to the businessman Tan Yeok Nee, and one of the remaining “Four Grand Mansions” in Singapore. Even if the name doesn’t immediately ring a bell, chances are you’ve passed by\u00a0its distinctive facade\u00a0on the route towards Dhoby Ghaut.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now, the building is a gazetted national monument, and after a three-year restoration, it finally opened its doors to the public in\u00a0November 2025. The new lifestyle destination is home to Bar Kap, a Japanese and Southeast Asian fine dining restaurant Loca Niru<\/a>, and a teahouse called Jing Studio.<\/p>\n Inside Bar Kap, the original timber beams and intricate carvings have been kept intact. The main hall, with its soaring ceilings, is anchored by a striking Y-shaped bar, complete with a central frost rail that keeps your drinks chilly all evening. It’s gorgeous down to the details, with upholstered chairs and handwoven textiles with Teochew motifs \u2013 a nod to Tan Yeok Nee’s early days as a textile merchant. Meanwhile, cosy dining rooms tucked to the side offer a quieter, more intimate setting, if socialising is not on the table tonight. The Carriage Room mimics a private train carriage,\u00a0while The Chamber resembles a Traditional\u00a0Chinese\u00a0Medicine (TCM) apothecary.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The menu, neatly divided into four chapters\u00a0marking\u00a0a different era of the building, spans 16 drinks, including four non-alcoholic options. ‘Kapitan’ is a tribute to the merchant himself; ‘Station Master’ pays homage to the building’s next occupant, who was a British station master; ‘Order’ references its\u00a0later identity as the St Mary’s Home and School for Eurasian Girls; and ‘Dynasty’ represents its most recent past as a TCM clinic.\u00a0Cocktails are priced between $25 to $32, while mocktails range from $18 to $20.\u00a0<\/p>\n Pepper Peddler ($28) from the ‘Kapitan’ chapter has a unique profile thanks to a peculiar blend of makgeolli, baijiu, firewater and peppercorn. This combination is not accidental. The drink imagines\u00a0the various ingredients that Tan Yeok Nee would have\u00a0amalgamated at home from his extensive travels \u2013 pepper from his spice-trading business, makgeolli from his visits to Korea, baijiu from his trips to China, and so on.\u00a0<\/p>\n If savoury cocktails are your thing, Manifest ($25), under the same section of the menu, deserves a chance. It’s gin, dry sherry and Asian pear paired with toasted purple rice and sesame oil \u2013 slightly out there and definitely savoury, but still refreshing enough to enjoy. Prefer something more spirit-forward? Lights Out ($25) from the ‘Order’ section lands somewhere between a gimlet and martini, finished tableside with drops of pandan oil. We wish the pandan came through more prominently in the body of the drink instead of as an oil, which slightly dampens its fragrance.<\/p>\n TCM Drawer No. 3 ($18) definitely stands out in terms of looks.\u00a0The zero-proof drink\u00a0combines soy milk, ginger, honeydew, chestnut honey and gula melaka in a precious\u00a0porcelain cup,<\/span>\u00a0and looks just like a traditional Chinese dessert. There’s also the option to spike it with rum \u2013 we highly recommend this, as it adds greater depth and complexity to otherwise quite straightforward flavours.<\/p>\n The kitchen largely plays a supporting role, but we have clear winners.\u00a0Complimentary keropok chips, meant to be shaken up with a spice mix, are addictive and great for snacking on through the night. Golden spring rolls ($12) arrive crisp\u00a0and piping hot, stuffed with a familiar blend of jicama, carrot and shiitake mushrooms.\u00a0<\/p>\n But our undisputed favourite is the Mee Kapitan ($20). Thick, springy and incredibly chewy house-made noodles are tossed in a savoury dressing with minced pork, pork lard, sakura ebi and shrimp paste. Think bak chor mee without its vinegary sharpness and double the umami, thanks to the shrimp paste and sakura ebi. It’s exactly the\u00a0kind of comforting dish you’d crave after a round of drinks.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n There are some misses. The slow-cooked pork jowl ($24) is not quite consistent across plates \u2013 impossibly tough in some and tender enough in others, though the accompanying coconut chilli sambal is faultless. We are not quite convinced by the spicy tempeh tots ($12) either, which would benefit from a\u00a0crispier\u00a0shell instead of\u00a0the\u00a0dense, squidgy cubes they\u00a0currently are.\u00a0<\/p>\n Plan to arrive half an hour\u00a0before your reservation. The mansion is worth exploring, from its ornate carvings to the free gallery detailing the building’s rich history. You can also pop into Jing Studio, the elegant tea space next door, and sip on a cup of tea while admiring the architecture from one of the benches in the courtyard.\u00a0<\/p>\n Let’s be real, for a\u00a0spot like Bar Kap, its\u00a0location, setting, design and ambience all\u00a0precede it. It’s the kind of place to bring a date, celebrate a special occasion or introduce visiting friends to. While the drinks are not particularly complex or outstanding and a few dishes could use refinement, you’d be hard-pressed to find an experience in Singapore that can match the novelty of dining in a century-old mansion. Thankfully, the cocktails and food do hold their own for the most part, and in our view, the Pepper Pedler and Mee Kapitan are\u00a0interesting enough to warrant a visit, if not the space itself.<\/p>\n Bar Kap is open daily from 5pm to midnight at 101 Penang Road, House of Tan Yeok Nee, Singapore 238466.<\/em><\/p>\n READ MORE:<\/strong><\/p>\n We found the classiest Japanese bar in Singapore, hidden in a colonial bungalow in Orchard<\/a><\/p>\n The best cheap eats in Singapore that are actually good<\/a><\/p>\n Is Sukiyaki Jin’s A5 wagyu sukiyaki mountain actually worth it? Here’s our verdict<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n It’s not everyday a new cocktail bar pops up in one of Singapore’s\u00a0historic\u00a0buildings, let alone the last\u00a0surviving Teochew mansion on the island. Bar Kap is…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2611],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-64089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-headlines","wpcat-2611-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64089","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=64089"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64089\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=64089"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=64089"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=64089"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The vibe<\/h2>\n
![\"Bar](\"https:\/\/media.timeout.com\/images\/106420506\/image.webp\")
\n<\/figure>\nThe drink<\/h2>\n
![\"Bar](\"https:\/\/media.timeout.com\/images\/106420515\/image.webp\")
\n<\/figure>\n![\"Bar](\"https:\/\/media.timeout.com\/images\/106420517\/image.webp\")
\n<\/figure>\nThe food<\/h2>\n
![\"Bar](\"https:\/\/media.timeout.com\/images\/106420518\/image.webp\")
\n<\/figure>\n![\"Bar](\"https:\/\/media.timeout.com\/images\/106420521\/image.webp\")
\n<\/figure>\nTime Out tip<\/h2>\n
Time Out’s rating: 4\/5<\/h2>\n
![\"Bar](\"https:\/\/media.timeout.com\/images\/106420501\/image.webp\")
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