Speakeasy surprises in The Other Room

TUCKED behind a discreet door in the lobby of the Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel, The Other Room leans into its speakeasy identity with its doorbell-only entry and pamphlet-papered ceiling. Around a central stretch of tables, cushioned seats run the length of the walls; above them, sitting quietly behind glass, the bar’s signature cask-finished spirits bide their time.

The 5-litre American oak barrels are conditioned with sherry and matured with port, says head bartender Rishvinder Singh Randhawa. Cask-finishing adds a new dimension to a spirit while maintaining its identity, he adds: “It’s like your girlfriend or your spouse, but they come home with a different haircut.”

The bar offers flights in which the original spirit is served alongside 2 different finishes: an Oloroso sherry cask versus a Pedro Ximenez sherry cask, say. Behind the bar, bottles of cask-finished dark spirits fill 3 shelves; the bottom shelf holds white spirits instead, with more experimental finishes ranging from spices to bespoke tea blends.

The various spirits can be enjoyed neat, on the rocks, or in cocktails. The Other Room’s cocktail menu is built around a timeline concept, with the bar reinventing classics from each era.

One Prohibition-era representative is particularly in line with the speakeasy theme. Order the enigmatically-named 1928, and you will be served an empty chilled glass, while a bartender surreptitiously hands you a book, sans explanation. Says Rishvinder: “I just let them discover everything by themselves... We always think that going to a bar should be more of a fun experience.”

The bar has been running with the timeline concept for about 3 years, with occasional swapping-out of cocktails rather than wholesale menu revamps. One cocktail that has stuck around is the Old Fashioned Way, an Old Fashioned using port-finished Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva dark rum.

Another favourite – the bar “tried removing this from the menu” but regulars kept ordering it, quips Rishivinder – is the Reversed Gin & Tonic. Rather than choosing a gin and pairing with a tonic, the tonic is crafted to fit the gin: boiled for some 4 to 5 hours with the botanicals that feature in the gin itself.

From the 1930s comes the Merry Go Round, inspired by the classic Vieux Carre that is associated with New Orleans’ Carousel Bar. The Other Room’s take makes bold swaps, including the use of mole and orange bitters instead of the classic Angostura and Peychaud.

Then there is the Monkey in the Forest, the solution to a very specific problem: the oft-requested Ramos Gin Fizz usually takes 10 to 15 minutes to make, well in excess of The Other Room’s limit of 4 minutes per cocktail. The Monkey in the Forest is a clarified milk punch that has the “same DNA of the Ramos” but can be served much swifter, says Rishivinder.

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For another taste of history, The Other Room also serves vintage cocktails in vintage glassware. These cocktails are made using spirits from the past: as the menu puts it, once that particular bottle is finished, the taste will die with it.

You won’t have to do all this historical exploration on an empty stomach, of course. The Other Room’s tapas menu ranges from sea urchin and caviar to bikini sandwiches, sirloin steak, and a Spanish cheese platter.

Merry Go Round

• 20 ml Seven Tails XO Brandy
• 20 ml Buffalo Trace coffee
• 20 ml Pedro Ximenez
• 5 ml Tempus Fugit Creme de Banane
• 2 dashes orange bitters
• 1 dash mole bitters
• 2 drops saline solution