A tale of whisky and food at Barrel Story of Hibiki

NEW RESTAURANT Barrel Story of Hibiki #01-01 The Quadrant 19 Cecil Street Singapore 049704 Tel: 8028-7100 Open for lunch and dinner Mon to Sat: 12 pm to 3 pm; 6 pm to 11 pm

JUST like they say actors shouldn’t work with children or dogs, maybe teetotallers shouldn’t eat in alcohol-themed restaurants. While your fellow diners ascend to a happy high on cocktails and wine, you sit stone-cold sober and fret about everything that they’re too busy not noticing.

Such as a soundtrack that blasts loud, weirdly retro music that sounds like Spotify for Japanese aunties. Or how you distinctly remember ordering a prosciutto-wrapped cream cheese and shine muscat maki (S$28) – but instead a strawberry elbows itself into the space where the grape should be, daring you to call it out as an imposter. 

But someone is having a champagne-whisky highball (S$18) – which is apparently cheap and very nice – and so is more forgiving of this fruity deception. Never mind that the combination is waxy, tart and violates every self-respecting maki roll’s code of professional conduct. 

If it’s okay to believe that right-priced drinks justify some trade-off on the food front, then Barrel Story of Hibiki has the right plot.

It’s first and foremost a whisky company after all, so it delivers a strong cocktail narrative where its Hibiki protagonist twists itself into a lemon sour, confers with its godfather and hooks up with ice cream.

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Visually, it’s not too shabby either. It sits in the Quadrant, also known as a revolving door of beautiful but not long-staying tenants, notably the California-dreamy Rosemead and Art Deco-loving The Black Swan before that. 

Now, high ceilings clad in timber strips and curved metal beams evoke the interior of a giant whisky cask. Plump leatherette booths, rustic brick walls and an open-flame grill complete the imagery of heritage whisky-making.

But Barrel runs the risk of going the way of its predecessors, where style threatened to trump the food. Modelled as a modern izakaya, the food is the result of some free association menu planning – with everything but a tamagoyaki pan thrown in. 

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The “everything Japanese with some exceptions” approach comes from head chef Sho Naganuma, who also runs his half-eponymous ramen joint Torasho.

It explains why his signature Cold Stupid Ramen (S$78) of chilled noodles topped with pricey seafood is on the menu at Barrel. 

Granted, we are not there for dinner, which has a full-on, comprehensive menu. We pick lunch, where the menu is small but manageable, with enough options to decide whether to return at night.

Curate your own two or three-course lunch at S$55 or S$63, from a list of a la carte priced options – a good deal given that individually, they are pricier than they should be.

Fried chicken or karaage (S$24) is a no-brainer option. Chunks of well-seasoned thigh meat hide under golden brown crinkly coats – enjoyable if not as crunchy as we would like, plus a faint streak of oil clings to each bite like a security blanket. 

But it still outperforms the strawberry cheese maki and the sashimi of the day (S$32): a stingy serving of single slices of ocean trout and akami – their true freshness (or lack of) disguised under a soy-based dressing – and seaweed-wrapped hamachi with chives.

What does it say about an izakaya menu when Singapore-style chicken rice is the star?

Apart from the blatant addition of caviar to jack up the price to S$46, this is a very credible Chatterbox-style version with zesty chilli and ginger dips on the side. A perfumey, whisky-infused gravy is drizzled over, and the rice is oily but hits the spot.

We hold on to this memory as we tackle the next dish: chargrilled XL prawns (S$42) way past their peak and flabby-textured, depending on a caramelised shallot and shio kombu mixture to give it some life.

That same mixture does double duty as a condiment for wagyu umami fries (S$18), deep-fried in wagyu fat for crunch and pillowy softness underneath.

Chocolate lava cake (S$16) tries but only manages a half-hearted stream of molten chocolate from its dense mound of rich cake. But we never had chocolate we didn’t like, so we’re glad for the sweet distraction.

And if you’re a sucker for Hokkaido milk soft-serve, you’ll give in to Barrel’s version – with or without a dash of whisky (S$8/S$12).

Whether you thrive on a liquid or solid diet will be key to how much you relate to Barrel Story of Hibiki. But in the meantime, with some judicious menu editing and a stronger plot line, this could be a tale worth telling.

Rating: 6