WAN Bar + Kitchen Tasting Session
3 Temasek Boulevard
#01-434 Suntec City
Opening Hours:
Mon, Tue, Thu: 5pm - 1am,
Wed, Fri: 5pm - 3am,
Sat: 6pm - 4am,
Closed Sun
https://www.wan-night.com/
This was an invited media review. I did not pay for the meal during the free hosted tasting session, but I did pay the standard price during subsequent visits.
Attended with representatives from Cindi 1601, and Shitty Vince AdiBee.
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| Cheesy Lobster Carrot Cake (SGD $18) |
Tasty Bar Food, Alcoholic Bubble Tea!
(Ratings: On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 = Worst and 10 = Best)
Overall: 8
Ambience & Setting: 7
Food & Beverage: 8
Service: 8
Value for Money: 8
Budget about SGD $36 per person.
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Opened in December 2017, WAN Bar + Kitchen is a 3-in-1 dining and entertainment concept; comprising a club, gastrobar, and al-fresco restaurant. With a playful, flamboyant, Asian Oriental themed setting, WAN Bar + Kitchen offers a great night out with an energetic dance floor, and creative yet affordable Modern Singaporean plates. Also, WAN is one this year haha.
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| WAN Bar + Kitchen Exterior |
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| WAN Bar + Kitchen Interior |
Ambience at WAN Bar + Kitchen is retro stylish with touches of flamboyance and energy. In fact, you'll have to be appropriately dressed to even visit - no shorts / berms / slippers / sports shoes / casual wear is allowed. There's a distinct Asian Oriental vibe to the place, splashes of colour, neon signages, dragon projections, and artwork that contrasts urban and nature. Very ironic 1980s kitsch. The layout is genuis, the buzzing dance floor jumping with hit music inside, while the al-fresco dining outside allows you to catch your breath, have audible conversations, and grab communal light bites and drinks. Love the distinct separation of spaces, and the combination of vintage and whimsical in the decor.
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| Club |
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| Entrance |
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| Artwork |
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| To The Nights We Won't Remember |
Service at WAN Bar + Kitchen is friendly, efficient, and knowledgable. Staff are quick to greet and seat diners, or check on entry to the club. They're adequately familiar with the menu, able to offer recommendations and describe dishes as they serve it. There is usually a short wait of up to 15 minutes for the kitchen to fulfill orders, as some dishes are made to order. I note staff regularly clear away finished plates throughout the meal, but I wish they would be more proactive in offering more drinks. Because the bar is within, you'll often have to convey drink requests through the staff. I particularly like that staff accede to requests for the cute drink floats, and even allow diners to keep them as a souvenir if they wish.
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| Seating |
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| Booth Seats |
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| High Table Seats |
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| Beer Pong Table |
Food at WAN Bar + Kitchen is Modern Singaporean, a distinct blend of Asian and Western flavours. Head Chef Anthony Ng demonstrates culinary creativity through his playful, imaginative, and delicious dishes. Bold in flavour yet familiar and accessible, their dishes are casual yet well executed, with careful planning for the combination of ingredients. They're also known for their signature alcoholic bubble teas, which are cheekily named after stages in a relationship. Portions are sized for both individuals and group communal dining. Prices are wallet-friendly and affordable, in fact, every dish here is priced below SGD $20. Budget about SGD $36 per person for a meal with drinks here.
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| Bar |
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| Menu Cocktails & Shooters |
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| Menu Alcoholic Bubble Tea |
Award-Winning, Master Mixologist Steve Leong has taken the Taiwanese classic beverage and given it an alcoholic punch. The Adult Bubble Tea With Float feature signature Asian flavours with splashes of colour, served up in whimsical, toy animal inflatable floats. Tagged with mischevious relationship names, each beverage is carefully curated, allowing you to distinctly taste the flavours of the ingredients.
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| Adult Bubble Tea With Float |
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| Adult Bubble Tea With Float |
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| Adult Bubble Tea With Float |
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| Adult Bubble Tea With Float |
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| Adult Bubble Tea With Float |
The Alcoholic Bubble Tea Childhood Sweet Heart (SGD $15) features a blend of Glenfiddich 12 years old whisky, Aperol herbal orange liqueur, Yakult grape, lime juice, sugar syrup, and nata de coco cubes. It has a fruity sweet bitter herbal boozy flavour. Dainty, refreshing, and sweet.
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| Alcoholic Bubble Tea Childhood Sweet Heart (SGD $15) |
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| Alcoholic Bubble Tea Childhood Sweet Heart |
The Alcoholic Bubble Tea Crazy B.tch (SGD $15) features a blend of Monkey Shoulder whisky, matcha green tea latte, honey, and brown sugar pearls. It has an earthy grassy sweet boozy flavour. However, it doesn't quite live up to its name, being rather welcoming on the palate, would have expected the taste to be more wild. Still, it's a nice drink.
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| Alcoholic Bubble Tea Crazy B.tch (SGD $15) |
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| Alcoholic Bubble Tea Crazy B.tch |
The Alcoholic Bubble Tea It's Complicated (SGD $15) features a blend of Hendrick's gin, jasmine green tea, lemon juice, peach jam, and aloe vera cubes. It has a fruity sweet sour flavour, but the complexity is actually from the contrast of textures, being liquid chewy smooth gelatinous all at once. A little overwhelming in sweetness from this portion size.
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| Alcoholic Bubble Tea It's Complicated (SGD $15) |
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| Alcoholic Bubble Tea It's Complicated |
The Movers And Shakers (SGD $8) features crisp, crunchy, medium sized pieces of deep-fried chicken skin. Unique, because most places would choose to go with fish skin instead. I like that it's not oily, and has a tasty salty savoury flavour. Served with a shaking bag, and a duo of seasoning powders; seaweed powder or mala spice. Pour the chicken skin into the bag, toss in the seasoning powder, and shake vigorously. The seaweed powder lends a deep earthy sweet flavour, while the mala spice numbs the palate with its sharp fiery spicy notes. Paired with The Casanova (SGD $15) alcoholic bubble tea.
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| Movers And Shakers (SGD $8) |
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| Movers And Shakers |
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| Movers And Shakers |
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| Movers And Shakers |
The Rock And Roll Ngoh Hiang (SGD $10) rocks out with socks out. Bite into these thick, juicy, tender morsels with bold savoury salty meaty flavour. These minced pork ngoh hiang rolls are glazed with a blend of Chinese black vinegar and chipotle sauce, which lends a sharp sour tangy note. Paired with the Childhood Sweet Heart (SGD $15) alcoholic bubble tea.
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| Rock And Roll Ngoh Hiang (SGD $10) |
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| Rock And Roll Ngoh Hiang |
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| Rock And Roll Ngoh Hiang |
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| Rock And Roll Ngoh Hiang |
We must admit the Har Cheong Gai Chicken Wings (SGD $8) looked huge and decadent when served. But it's actually bubbles of air pockets on the slightly greasy prawn paste chicken wings, which crack with a crisp crunch. The chicken wings are decently meaty, with good shrimpy savoury salty flavour. For the price, the serving portion was rather small, and I also wish they'd tone down on the oil.
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| Har Cheong Gai Chicken Wings (SGD $8) |
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| Har Cheong Gai Chicken Wings |
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| Har Cheong Gai Chicken Wings |
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| Har Cheong Gai Chicken Wings |
The Crackling Siew Yoke (SGD $9), or sio bak / roast pork belly, lives up to its name, with a thin, crispy crackling skin. The pork meat has a light juicy chew to texture, with a succulent bite, and bold savoury sweet flavour. Faint smoky notes. Served with a sticky thick sweet spicy Thai chili sauce. We enjoyed this, would order again.
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| Crackling Siew Yoke (SGD $9) |
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| Crackling Siew Yoke |
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| Crackling Siew Yoke |
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| Crackling Siew Yoke |
The Angel Hair Pasta With Mentaiko & Scallops (SGD $10) works both as a main dish, and as a shared tapas, which we hope goes on the menu soon. It features long, thin strands of silky angel hair capellini pasta noodles, in a house special mentaiko / pollock fish roe sauce, garnished with bouncy grilled scallops, juicy globules of salmon fish roe, and shiny gold leaf. The noodles pick up the rich, briny salty savoury flavours of the sauce well, complementing the natural sweet notes of the scallops and the briny salty flavours of the fish roe. The edible gold leaf lends a touch of elegant luxury. I like that it's well balanced, with the flavours being complementary and not overwhelming.
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| Angel Hair Pasta With Mentaiko & Scallops (SGD $10) |
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| Angel Hair Pasta With Mentaiko & Scallops |
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| Angel Hair Pasta With Mentaiko & Scallops |
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| Angel Hair Pasta With Mentaiko & Scallops |
The Mala Mafia Prawns (SGD $16) aren't quite as brutal as their name suggests, though it still certainly is a tasty dish. The fresh, large, partially deshelled tiger prawns / shrimp are tossed in a thick house special mala cream gravy, sauteed dried red chili, fresh wispy curly endive / frisee, crisp cornflakes, and micro-greens. Served with crisp light slices of melba toast bread. The gravy is particularly addictive with its sharp spicy salty savoury sweet flavours, and pairs beautifully with the toast. In fact, we ordered another round of toast just to mop up all that delicious gravy. Paired with the It's Complicated (SGD $15) alcoholic bubble tea.
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| Mala Mafia Prawns (SGD $16) |
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| Mala Mafia Prawns |
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| Mala Mafia Prawns |
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| Mala Mafia Prawns |
Our favourite dish was the Cheesy Lobster Carrot Cake (SGD $18). This house special creation is made to order, with medium diced cubes of soft daikon radish carrot cake, tossed with eggs, chai poh / chye poh / preserved radish bits, and studded with chunky deshelled lobster meat. Garnished prettily with chrysanthemum flowers, green chili, and spring onions, which lend a splash of colour. The edges are properly crisp, with a fluffy soft texture, and lovely eggy savoury salty sweet spice flavour. Even without the lobster meat, this would be delicious on its own. Paired with the Girl Next Door (SGD $15) alcoholic bubble tea. Highly recommended!
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| Cheesy Lobster Carrot Cake (SGD $18) |
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| Cheesy Lobster Carrot Cake |
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| Cheesy Lobster Carrot Cake |
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| Cheesy Lobster Carrot Cake |
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The Signature Fried Hokkien Mee (SGD $14) is delicious; not the best we've had, but still a good rendition. The yellow egg noodles and white rice vermicelli noodles are stir-fried with prawn stock, eggs, bean sprouts, and pork lard. This gives it a silky chewy texture and bold meaty sweet savoury flavour. The prawn stock is evident but not as robust as it could be, so you taste more of the pork lard instead. Served with a lime and home made sambal belacan, this medium sized portion of Hokkien Mee is garnished with fresh, tender juicy chunks of squid, deshelled prawns, and roasted pork belly. Loved every mouthful.
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| Signature Fried Hokkien Mee (SGD $14) |
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| Signature Fried Hokkien Mee |
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| Signature Fried Hokkien Mee |
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| Signature Fried Hokkien Mee |
The Wok-Fried Omurice (SGD $14) features a soft egg omelette blanket, covering a mound of beautifully fragrant wok-fried white rice with prawns / shrimp, pork luncheon meat, shallots, and straw mushrooms. Garnished with more shallots, black sesame seeds, white sesame seeds, micro greens, and the house omurice ketchup demi-glace. Cut into the soft, tender, fluffy pile, and the enticing aroma just draws you in. Each bite is a complex layering of savoury salty sweet eggy flavours, so yummy. Paired with the Crazy B*tch (SGD $15) alcoholic bubble tea.
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| Wok-Fried Omurice (SGD $14) |
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| Wok-Fried Omurice |
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| Wok-Fried Omurice |
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| Wok-Fried Omurice |
Loved the Wantou Donuts & Local Dips (SGD $8), a fun dessert that features unique, hand crafted doughnuts made from mantou bread. Coated in icing sugar, these house recipe doughnuts have a crisp crunchy exterior, a soft spongy interior, and a bready sweet flavour on its own. Served with a trio of dipping sauces. Our favourite was the creamy bandung dip, with floral milky sweet flavour. The thick peanut dip was good, with a bold nutty earthy flavour. The kaya / coconut jam dip was a little too thin in texture, and had a mild earthy floral sweet flavour, could be improved.
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| Wantou Donuts & Local Dips (SGD $8) |
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| Wantou Donuts & Local Dips |
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| Wantou Donuts & Local Dips |
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| Wantou Donuts & Local Dips |
Overall, WAN Bar + Kitchen is an exciting nightlife concept with its 3-in-1 club, gastrobar, and al-fresco restaurant. From its retro stylish ambience, to its friendly and efficient service, to the delicious yet playful food for communal sharing at wallet-friendly and affordable prices, it's easy to understand why WAN Bar + Kitchen is so popular. Am excited to return to WAN Bar + Kitchen for more!
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CONVERSATION