I have been known to enjoy a cocktail now and then.
My requirements for boites, they're generally basic -- a clean seat, a friendly-bordering-on-flirty bartender and a decent wine list are all I need to be golden.
A fabulous view, however, now that's a quality that never fails to keep me coming back. And in Singapore, I recently discovered a boite with an exquisite one: Orgo, a calculatedly hip restaurant and bar that's perched atop the waterfront Esplanade arts center and has a sweeping view of the city skyline.
Now, as far as my three basic needs go, this place meets one -- the seats were clean.
The staff, it was perfectly perfunctory, if a little drowsed and unhurried. (Particularly unforgiveable given the place was almost empty on the nights we were there.) And the wine list -- well, by the glass, you have two options: House white and house red.
But, what can I say? I'm a sucker for a bar with a view.
The restaurant, which is a mix of outdoor tables and benches and showy glass boxes filled with dining tables and oversized chandeliers, offers all diners and drinkers a view. But the thing at Orgo, helmed by Japanese mixologist Tomoyuki Kitazoe, is its cocktails.
And its menu is filled with intriguing combinations -- the hefty list of martinis includes mango flecked with marjoram and a version that pairs the tropical soursop with calamansi lime. And margaritas include a banana-flavored version topped with clove salt and a passionfruit version capped with coffee salt.
(As a restaurant, its offerings seemed far more standard -- pasta alfredo, duck confit and paella were on the list.)
On a few recent trips, my friends and I sampled just a few mixtures. The dragonfruit and vanilla martini was decent -- sweet and thick, but not for those who don't favor seeds in their cocktails.
The pear and rosemary martini was lovely and the strawberry-mint martini was perfectly fine.
My favorite, however, was the apple and shiso martini, which came adorned with a large shiso leaf. Shiso, which I love for the green crisp, taste it adds to sushi rolls and salads, did the same for this sweet martini.
As cocktails go, these, while a smidge sweet, weren't bad on their own.
Coupled with the view, however, these were the makings of some pretty stellar evenings.
Orgo, 8 Raffles Avenue, #04-01, Roof Terrace, The Esplanade; Tel.: 9733.6911, Web site: http://www.orgo.sg/
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