The Cocktail Office: Free-flow cocktails at a bar hidden within an office building
Most of us probably don’t like to go into the office. It gets stuffy, you’re stuck there for hours on end and, sometimes, the company just sucks.
(P.S. Not at HungryGoWhere though, please send your resumes to us if you want to join. Pretty please?)
What if we told you there’s an office space in Singapore where you can not only have fun and actually feel like you’re family (and not just feel patronised with pizza parties or team bonding activities)?
To all the jaded folks, get yourself to a desk at The Cocktail Office, ASAP.
The bar may have opened in 2024 but the Clarke Quay bar is still a bit of a hidden gem, mostly frequented by those in the know and industry insiders.
Free-flow cocktail party
Instead of circling back and touching bases, this office, however, is all about having fun — because it’s full of booze. A shit ton of it.
The Cocktail Office has a concept that thinks outside of the box and operates mainly on a free-flow cocktail system.
Very agile. Very bleeding edge. Very game changer. Very blue-sky thinking. (We have no idea what that last one really means, either.)
Essentially, you pay a cover charge of S$80 and you get to chug all the cocktails you want for a certain amount of time — well, more like all you can drink depending on your bandwidth.
How long can you drink for? It depends on how many people you bring to The Cocktail Office:
- You get 120 minutes to drink if there’s less than five of you
- 150 minutes for five to nine people
- 180 minutes for 10 to 15 people
As you can see, the bigger your party, the longer the party goes on for. (And it’s not a sad pantry pizza party)
But should your party have lighter drinkers tagging along, don’t worry, you can also do a la carte drinks, mostly classic cocktails, from S$22 a pop.
If you do the math on the price: With cocktails costing at least S$20 a pop in many local bars nowadays, having anything more than four drinks means you easily break even.
So if you’re planning for a big tipsy night out, at least you won’t have to go broke.
Oh and the drinks aren’t just haphazardly made to get you buzzed — the owner, Avery Murv, is actually a veteran bartender who had cut his teeth at top bars such as Employees Only.
The Cocktail Office within an actual office
Besides the exciting thought of getting smashed more affordably, The Cocktail Office also has another very interesting selling point.
It’s name isn’t just a catchy moniker: The bar is actually tucked deep in an office building right on top of Clarke Quay MRT, on the 12th floor.
I guess you can say it’s not just a hidden gem, but a hidden-hidden gem.
First-timers might struggle to find it, though, and if you’re lucky you might catch a team member stationed at the office lobby to chaperone confused customers!
That’s why reservations are strongly recommended for The Cocktail Office — please do the needful.
Don’t worry about having to trigger your PTSD from walking circles in an office building from your day-time commitments as they’d bring you directly to the 12th floor.
Once you’re inside, you’d find a cosy little space that’s nothing office-like.
Instead, it is unpretentious, dim, and actually sports a great view over the Singapore River and parts of Clarke Quay.
The Cocktail Office’s drinks menu
The menu at The Cocktail Office changes regularly, with them rolling out quirkier and quirkier ideas each time, while also offering a slew of classic cocktails for the a la carte section.
During our visit in mid-May, there were a few drinks on the free-flow line-up that stood out to us.
This first cocktail is one that espresso martini zealots would guzzle multiple of without a second thought: The Tim Hortons, a riff that uses coffee liqueur and cold-brewed Tim Hortons from Canada.
Maybe it’s in our head but the original Tim Hortons straight from Canada just seems to hit different and makes it so much more fragrant and addictive.
I dare you to name me another office out there that has coffee that lifts your mood like this?
While that’s off the menu now, The Cocktail Office’s current menu also offers the Night Brief, a similar drink with that Tim Hortons edge.
Then for a little twinge of local flair, we have the Sarsi Suka that plays on the classic Dark & Stormy cocktail (usually comprising ginger beer, dark rum, and lime) by swapping out the ginger beer for sarsi.
It’s super refreshing with the creamy twang of Sarsi really injecting a dose of nostalgia into the tipple.
Anyone with a more adventurous palate can also explore the other original creations on The Cocktail Office’s current menu.
Some interesting ones we spot include the Executive martini which uses bacon vodka and tomato dry vermouth and the Smoke Signal, a negroni twist that adds mango and pink peppercorn to the mix!
If you like things simpler and more classic, you can also grab a classic cocktail or two from the a la carte section, be it a good ol’ old fashioned (S$28) or piquant paloma (S$22)!
So if you really, really need to drink your sorrows away maybe it’s time to office hop from your real office to The Cocktail Office.
And, just maybe, with enough liquid courage, you’d find the power to press send on that email that’s been sitting in your drafts — so you’d get out of your office for good.
We hoped this article found you well, if not, you know where to go.
For more ideas on what to eat, read our stories on all the coolest new menu offerings rolled out in the past month and the red-hot new ghost pepper wings from KFC!
Thurs 7.30pm - 12am
Fri 7.30pm - 12am
Sat 7.30pm - 12am
- Clarke Quay
Evan started off writing about food on Instagram, before joining outlets such as Buro and Confirm Good to pursue his passion. His best work usually comes after his first whisky shot in the morning.
Read more stories from this writer.
