An Afternoon at Long Bar

It was raining hard our last day in Singapore. We had planned to walk around their famous Botanic Gardens, but scrapped that idea with the rain, and came up with an alternative – visit Long Bar and have a Singapore Sling at the place where they invented the drink in 1915.

Our thirty-day vacation was ending. We flew from Labuan Bajo, Indonesia into Singapore the night before. We were catching a plane to SFO and then DC at 8:30PM that night. We needed to arrive at the airport by about 6PM for our flight and had half a day to waste. We didn’t want to just hang at the hotel and were looking for options. With the rain cutting down outside activities, Long Bar became choice number one. Located in the Raffles Hotel, it was known not only as the place where they invented the Singapore Sling, but as a classic bar. And it has history to it. Part of the reason for the invention of the Singapore Sling was so women could drink in public, and others wouldn’t know.**

 Ask people who have visited or lived in Singapore about Long Bar and you get a variety of opinions ranging from, “It’s great, you gotta go!”, to “Everyone has to go at least once!”, to “It’s an overpriced tourist trap, don’t bother.”

 Where does the truth lie? It might depend a little on your level of cynicism and world-weariness. We were weary from the previous thirty days of travel, but our “bored, been there, done that” world-weariness was no where to be found and we decided to go.

 We caught a Grab (Grab is the equivalent of Uber in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia) and twenty minutes later, we were there. The website cautioned reservations were not allowed and there was often a line to enter, but as we arrived, there was no line. We had a choice of two seats at the bar, or taking one of two available tables. We chose the bar.

 I liked the place at once. Tourists may make up most of the customers now, but there was no sense of kitsch. Lots of wood, with old style rattan fans overhead, it is a somewhat intimate place. Very British early 20th century.

 As we sat on our stools, Jonathan, our bartender, greeted us. It turns out he had worked there for 32 years. He knew what he was doing. 

 

I asked for a bottle of sparkling water as we pursued the drink menu. Jonathon delivered a liter bottle of Perrier and two glasses with slices of lime, along with a sack of peanuts. The Long Bar has a tradition of free peanuts and you throw the shells on the floor. We were happy to oblige. It reminded me of Fat Tuesday’s back in Fairfax, VA which has the same custom, although Fats has not been around quite as long. We dove into the peanuts, which were quite tasty, albeit smaller than traditional American peanuts.

 

Jonathon took our order – for me, there was no doubt – I ordered the Original Singapore Sling. If I’m traveling 9,600 miles to a bar, I want to try the drink that made them famous. Cathy, branching out, ordered a Gin Pahit, also known as a Long Pink Gin. 

I had heard rumors that their Singapore Slings were premade, but that turned out to be untrue. We watched Jonathan do his thing and work his magic on both of our drinks. The Gin Pahit was basically a Gin and Tonic on steroids – London Dry Gin, Tonic, Bitters, and garnished with a stalk of Lemon Grass and a Kaffir Lime Leaf. And the Singapore sling? Here are the ingredients:

 

Jonathon sat the drinks in front of us and turned away. We took our first sips. They were … delicious. Both were. For the Sling, it wasn’t sweet, had a mix of flavors, and you could tell they did not stint on the booze, another good sign for the bar. Yea, they may aim at tourists, but they weren’t selling watered down drinks. Cathy’s Gin Pahit tasted equally as good. The Lemon Grass was a brilliant addition. So brilliant, I plan to buy some this summer for our Gin and Tonics at home. 

 We eventually finished our first round and ordered two more Gin Pahits. The Sling was excellent, but I decided it probably wasn’t smart to have a second.

 The drinks came and we started on them, while munching on the peanuts. 50s era American Jazz quietly played in the background (Miles, Charlie Parker, Chet Baker, Billie Holiday,). It was a relaxing afternoon. People were coming and going, but there was no sense of urgency to anyone or anything. It was the kind of place where you could forget about time for awhile.

Eventually, we returned to reality and it was time to go. We paid our tab and walked outside. Our timing had been good – ten or fifteen people were waiting in line. 

 We ordered our Grab and arrived back at the hotel around 4PM. At 5:30 we were on our way to the airport, and in the air around 8:30PM. 

 It was an enjoyable way to spend a last rainy afternoon in Singapore. I hope to spend another afternoon there some time in the future.

Addendum:

• Be forewarned – drinks are expensive at Long Bar.
• There are many classic bars that have become tourist places, but that does not make them bad. If the drinks stay good, they take care of the customers, and they provide an enjoyable experience, what’s not to like? Other places I’m thinking of include: both Bar Hemingway and Harry’s New York Bar in Paris, The Soggy Dollar on Jost Van Dyke, Sloppy Joe’s in Key West, both the Carousel and Pat O’Briens in New Orleans, Harry’s in Venice, Italy, the original Billy Goat Tavern in Chicago, McSorley’s in NYC, and even The Dubliner and the Round Robin here in DC. There are, of course, a host of others.
• ** Here’s some of the history of Long Bar from the website: In colonial Singapore of the early 1900s, Long Bar, then located along Cad’s Alley, was known as “the rendezvous of planters.” Tables faced Bras Basah Road, offering a vantage point for watching the world go by. While men sipped whisky or gin, etiquette forbade women from drinking alcohol in public. They were served teas or fruit juices instead … In 1915, a resourceful Raffles bartender Ngiam Tong Boon crafted a cocktail that resembled fruit juice but was cleverly laced with gin and liqueurs. It blended gin, pineapple juice, lime juice, curaçao and Bénédictine, with grenadine and cherry liqueur lending its now-famous rosy hue. The elegant disguise made it socially acceptable for women and an instant success.