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dbl O
An outrageous three-bar dance club, popular with young clubbers wearing very little and older people who like to look at them. Music ranges from Top 40 on Thursdays, house on Fridays and retro on Saturdays.
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Dempsey's Hut
Nestled among the trees, away from the Beamers and Mercs jostling for parking space at Dempsey Rd, long-time resident Dempsey's Hut is refreshingly unpretentious: a no-frills outdoor pub, crumbling at the edges, with a pool table, relaxed atmosphere, relatively cheap beers and some surprisingly good food (try the NZ lamb).
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Dubliners
Lousy Irish pubs filled with bellowing, beer-bellied execs are omnipresent in Singapore, but this white colonial heritage building is a cut above the rest. Choose from the rough floorboards and cosy gloom inside, or nurse a Guinness and brave the traffic noise on the veranda.
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En Bar & Lounge
Japanese restaurant En has expanded into a bar. The glam ambience of the outdoor area, mirrored music room and a retro lounge lure a lethargically 'money' crowd, all cigarettes and winks.
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Eski Bar
Inside this oversized refrigerator temperatures plummet to an invigorating -10°. They give you a ski jacket to wear, but frostbite is a genuine risk if you lean on the carved-ice bar. You might wish your wallet was frozen shut when you see the prices.
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Exposé
It wasn't long ago that the concept of a regulation Singapore gay bar was too taboo to imagine, but that's exactly what Exposé is. Karaoke-phobes should stay away until after midnight when the mic shuts down, or run the gauntlet for the excellent Thai/Vietnamese dinner served here.
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Fluid
The deep, shady embrace of Fluid somehow seems more solid, but there's plenty of fluid in the beer taps. DJs blow the cobwebs out of the sound system on weekends, and there's a pool table upstairs.
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Gallery Bar
Ingeniously designed glass-walled bar offering views into the four main clubs but shielded from the noise of each. Great spot to retreat, relax and decide where to go next.
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Happy
Officialdom forbids kissing and taking your shirt off at Happy but that doesn't seem to stop anyone. It's mostly full of buff boys, but girls are welcome too. Indulge your inner 'Happysexual' (the signature cocktail).
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Ipanema World Music Bar
If it's sleaze you're after, look no further. This stalwart of Orchard Rd's famous 'four floors of whores' is packed to the rafters with Western men and the girls hoping to collar them for the evening. However, it does have one of Singapore's best cover bands and, if you make it clear you're not interested, you'll soon be left alone.
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Kazbar
Popular Middle Eastern-themed pub, with curtained nooks and deep sofas inside and bar tables outside. Male office workers seem strangely drawn to the place: surely nothing to do with the comely belly dancer doing the rounds in the early evening - must be the dips and pita bread.
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Km8
Horns locked with Café del Mar in the Ibiza-lookalike contest, KM8 just about holds its own, despite being hampered by a less-convenient location and earlier closing times. On the plus side, it's more laid-back, less crowded and the DJs are less intrusive in the daytime.
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L'estaminet
Like Oosters, L'Estaminet is heavily stocked with a wide selection of Belgian beers, but the bar has a more rustic feel, more likely to be populated by shorts and t-shirts than shirts and trousers. It also serves up some superb wood-fired pizzas. Head to Sebastien's for dessert afterwards.
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Le Carillon De L'angelus
The excellent wines do justice to the superb tiled interior of this French wine bar. Lovely though it is upstairs, our favourite spot is the comfy chairs and sofa downstairs in a private little nook facing the chalkboard wine list. The cheese platter is a must.
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Liquid Room
Less liquid, more gunmetal, this intimate club's industrial vibe and top DJs set the scene for serious dancing. Inside there's progressive house, tech-house and trance. Toilets are rare as pills - you might find yourself squirming on the spot regardless of the music.
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Mama Africa
The thatched Disney-goes-Swahili décor here is a little hard to take, but there are plenty of beers on tap, infectious bongo rhythms and spicy African-styled bar snacks like lamb sausage and calamari.
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Ministry Of Sound
When those decadent Brits came swaggering into town to pose a challenge to all-conquering Zouk, a few thought it wouldn't last. Very wrong. MoS can now arguably claim to be the city's top club, and the enormous queues to back it up. Seven rooms, superb digital sound and light, a chequered dance floor and a 20ft water curtain, not to mention hordes of the nation's youth. Women get in free on Wednesdays.
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Molly Malone's
Molly's statue looks like she's been wheeling her wheelbarrow a bit too long, and experienced drinkers will have seen her faux-Irish décor and the Genuine Irish Stew menu a hundred times before, but that doesn't make it any less appealing.
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Momo
Karaoke bar with 10 private rooms, done out like a horror movie French bordello.
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Mox Bar & Café
More gay-friendly than overtly gay, Mox is a cool place to squeeze in a few heart-starters before wiggling downstairs to Happy. The rooftop views are almost as interesting as the furniture donated by people's grandmas.
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New Asia Bar
Singapore's most spectacular views join forces with a giant curvilinear mother-of-pearl wall, soaring ceilings and a VIP mezzanine for a drinking experience management insists will leave you feeling 'charged' (as opposed to 'overcharged', hopefully). There's an around S$25 cover charge at weekends.
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Next Page
This is where Hunter S Thompson would have hung out if he'd been a journo in Singapore not San Juan. Dark timber bar, red lanterns, exposed brickwork, booths, pool table, Carlsberg on tap and quirky bartenders - sit down and write the next page of your novel.
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No. 5
Asian retro bar in Emerald Hill, a pedestrianised lane of crumbling, lantern-lit shophouses. There can be few more atmospheric spots in the city to stop for a drink - that is until you realise it's all a bit of a charade. That little neighbourhood bar strip is entirely owned by a single company, but even so the drinking holes are all good, drawing crowds of locals and tourists alike.
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Oosters
All dark wood, brass and big windows, Oosters faithfully recreates the cosy interior of a Belgian pub, with a wide range of beers (the Leffe Blonde on tap is a favourite) and hearty food - mussels are a specialty.
