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At Bar Spectre, a drink may be stronger than you think – and you can be, too

The shophouse bar serves up cocktail-based therapy

Mia Pei
Published Fri, Apr 19, 2024 · 10:44 PM
    • The Retrospect cocktail is served with a mirror, and with the waiter telling the guest: “Just like you, the drink is stronger than you think.”
    • The Retrospect cocktail is served with a mirror, and with the waiter telling the guest: “Just like you, the drink is stronger than you think.” PHOTO: BAR SPECTRE

    THE journey to Bar Spectre is tricky – find a stairwell in an alleyway behind shophouses, or locate a tiny lift lobby off Tanjong Pagar Road and head to the second floor – but what awaits is a shot of cocktail-based therapy.

    At this mental-wellness-focused bar, tipplers are greeted not by the menu, but by a cleansing ritual with fire. They are encouraged to write down something they would like to get off their chests, set it aflame and – thanks to the nature of magician’s flash paper – watch it vanish in the air.

    “We are ‘restarting’ them,” said founder Andrew Pang “It’s like a physical reset so that they arrive mentally together.”

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