New cocktail bar BOP remixes local nightlife with a dose of K-drinking culture
To the average Singaporean, the term “bop” can mean a couple of things. For one, it’s the initials of a popular ice cream brand that’s no stranger to long lines, or it could refer to a catchy song.
As of the start of February, the term took on a new meaning with one of 2026’s most anticipated cocktail bar openings.
Say hello to BOP or Bartenders of Pony, a Korean cocktail dining-bar spearheaded by Uno Jang, co-owner and creative director of Jigger & Pony Group.
It’s not just a spin-off from the popular hospitality honchos. BOP is Uno’s first fully independent concept, built around Korean drinking culture, warm hospitality, fun K-inspired drinks, and seriously good food.
BOP, whose name is also a cheeky nod to abbreviated K-pop group names such as BTS, EXO or even HOT (from the 1990s), shies away from calling itself a “bar with food” or a “restaurant with cocktails”, though.
Rather, Uno and his team want it to be more than the sum of its parts — a place that captures how Koreans drink, and how he grew up drinking.
Think: The ritual of mixing a round of drinks, the instinctive attentiveness of service, the easy warmth of hospitality, and the hum of a room that feels alive.
From the moment you step into BOP’s Tras Street outlet, just a stone’s throw from Tanjong Pagar MRT, you’re greeted with shouts of “annyeong haseyo”, which means “hello” in Korean.
The decor in this first-floor shophouse is unmistakably Korean, albeit more modern than you’d expect, with traditional folk paintings etched on the walls, alongside Korean textiles.
Eagle-eyed ones might find the tiger and magpie motif familiar if you’ve watched Netflix’s K-pop Demon Hunters — both commonly appear as a duo in a Korean folk art genre known as “hojak-do” — with a lion in tow. The lion, of course, represents Singapore, the Lion City.
Traditional elements aside, the space is decked out in honeyed wood furnishings, which can come across as a tad moody, but the deft use of warm mood lighting, hints of greens and reds throughout, and skylight through the shophouse’s air well livens up the whole bar.
Even before you dig into the drinks and food, BOP’s warm vibes make you want to settle in for hours on end. But once you’ve dug into the food and drinks, you’ll probably find yourself not only lingering too long, but planning a return visit immediately.
Trying BOP cocktail bar’s drinks
BOP’s very first menu features 12 signature cocktails, which are loosely divided into three sections — easy-drinking, fun and inventive, and full-on robust ones.
If you’re well-versed with Korean cuisine, you’ll pick up on familiar ingredients commonly seen in its fare, such as perilla leaf, yuja (honey citron), and seaweed, but look deeper and you’ll also notice the incorporation of Korean traditional spirits such as soju, makgeolli, and even cheongju (refined rice wine), and yakju (liquor made with medicinal herbs).
Don’t know where to start? The iced somaek (S$16) is a no-brainer, especially if you’re entering the bar after a sweaty walk over
A take on the classic soju-beer cocktail that you’ve probably seen Koreans mixing up in restaurants, bars, and even on-screen, BOP’s version comes with Cass draft beer and shaved soju ice.
For this, the BOP team cranks out shaved ice manually from a deep-green, old-school ice shaver which used to be at Jigger’s rum-based bar Sugarhall, giving it a bit of a local slant. Think of it as like a boozy ice kachang of sorts.
Even if you’re not a usual soju drinker, this version goes down easily as the soju ice is made up of a house-blend of regular soju and a tinge of a flavoured one — see if you can guess which!
The bokbunja pop (S$23) is another crowd-pleaser.
It arrives at the table with the purple bokbunja wine suspended over a cloudy concoction of soju, plum wine, tequila, and lemon-lime soda, accompanied by a peculiar-looking device called a somaek twister, which — you guessed it — is supposed to help you mix the drink up.
The friendly BOP crew will show you how to activate the device (which is more commonly used to mix up somaeks), though getting the flowing-efferverscent effect does take skill.
Other fun drinks that you’d probably recognise — thanks to social media trends — include the Buldak Penicillin (S$23), a citrusy whisky cocktail built around the titular sauce, and the Dalgona Iced Coffee (S$23), a vodka-based caffeine drink, imbued with gamhongno, a traditional Korean liquor.
The perilla Smash (S$23) and the banana Makolada (S$23) are also plenty yummy.
The former is a refreshing take on the basil Smash, complete with perilla oil, lemon and cucumber, and tastes almost like kimbap in a drink, while the latter is a very banana-forward Pina Colada riff, jazzed up with makgeolli.
Boozy cocktail lovers will do well to order the BOP martini (S$23), a savoury martini with the concept’s own housemade makgeolli vermouth made with roasted seaweed.
Its olive garnish comes pickled in soy sauce, as the Koreans do with some side dishes (known as “janggajji” or “soy-sauce pickles”).
I don’t usually enjoy olives, but the pickling gave it a firmer texture while neutralising the usual bitter-sour notes. Both of these effects made it so moreish that I finished the massive olive in two clean bites.
All of its cocktails are priced at S$23 (with selected ones going for S$16 at Happy Hour between 6pm to 7.30pm everyday), markedly lower than that of its sister concepts, making it all the more tempting to order more for the table.
Food crafted in collaboration with a Culinary Class Wars chef
With the drinks already being so on point, we had high hopes for BOP’s food, especially after learning that Uno had roped in Korean chef Jason Oh, a Netflix Culinary Class Wars alumnus, to craft the menu with Jigger & Pony Group’s executive chef David Tang.
Chef Jason is a self-professed chicken specialist, having worked at Yardbird Yakitori in Hong Kong, and also owns Tak Seoul, an eatery in Seoul which specialises in dak-kkochi (Korean chicken skewers).
It’s probably no surprise then, that BOP’s crispy fried chicken (S$18), made with chef Jason’s signature recipe, is one of the menu’s star items.
The dish features chunks of crispy chicken thigh, which are juicy, tender, and stay crispy even after sitting out for a bit. While the chunks are marinated enough to stand on their own, you’ll still want to try its three accompanying housemade sauces — mala jang, peanut sauce, and tangy BBQ.
Our unanimous favourite was the mala jang, which isn’t too spicy and has a good level of umami. We hear from chef Jason that there’s doubanjiang, or fermented chili bean paste, in there, which could explain the burst of flavours in the seemingly unassuming sauce.
The yukgaejang K-Cup ramyeon (S$14) is another chef Jason special. He served a similar version at his now-defunct Namyeong Chicken in Seoul, and it became widely sought-after, owing to the simplicity of the base ingredients, but one that still brings immense comfort.
His version for BOP uses the same eye-catching yukgaejang (spicy beef soup) cup noodles, but is jazzed-up with pulled pork marinated with soybean paste, and served with a plate of ground perilla seeds and shredded perilla leaves.
The cup noodles come with a timer, and once it rings, you can open up your cup noodles and condiments to your liking.
The ground perilla seeds and perilla leaf combination can be a bit polarising, but for someone that enjoys both, the items added a rich and herbaceous tinge to the spicy instant noodles, which might otherwise taste rather one-note.
Taken altogether, it’s soothing, restorative, and is just the solution for when you need something warm after a few drinks.
Apart from the other two highlights above, BOP’s food menu, like its drinks, is made up of recognisable Korean classics or favourites that are great for sharing, such as tuna gimbap (S$21) and seafood pancake (S$19).
Special mention, however, needs to be given to its glorious bossam (S$37) dish, which is essentially several slabs of melt-in-the-mouth steamed pork jowl, accompanied by lettuce leaves or “ssam” in Korean.
Most Singaporeans probably wouldn’t order steamed proteins if you’re opting for cocktails, preferring something more elegant or finger-friendly. But it’s not uncommon for Koreans to have bossam with their drinks, with the sharpness of the alcohol cutting through the rich fat.
Trust the Koreans on it, and get it for the table, because the pork is so well-done, non-gamey, and lucious, that it’ll be remiss not to. Remember to wrap it with the leaves, kimchi, and sauces, for the best bite!
Lastly, before you call it a night, order the banana milk tiramisu (S$16), a riff on Uno’s favourite childhood snack of banana-flavoured corn puffs, but also a take on the viral banana milk and coffee combination that you can concoct at Korean convenience stores.
It has mild banana notes, a light crisp from the crushed corn-puff snack topping, and isn’t too moist or dry a tiramisu. It’s one of the few desserts in a while that I’ve seen polished off in minutes, which really tells you everything.
That ending, punctuated by soft hums of approval as we scrape up the last bites in quiet agreement, feels apt.
The new BOP cocktail bar isn’t about grand, big gimmicks, but unassuming, shared moments, such as a dish passed around, a sneaky final round, and conversations stretching on without anyone calling time.
You might have come for the cocktails, yes, but somewhere between the first pour and the last sip, you realise the night was never just about what was in your glass.
This was a hosted tasting.
Craving something Korean? Check out the viral Korean-inspired dessert cafe Oatsome and Song Gye Ok’s new outlet at The Centrepoint.
Wed 6pm - 1am
Thu 6pm - 1am
Fri 6pm - 2am
Sat 6pm - 2am
- Tanjong Pagar
Sarah is constantly seeking out new coffee spots and cocktail bars around the world, and should probably drink more water while at it.
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