Bar Bon Funk

Ranked No.90 in Asia, and it would still rather be your Tuesday than your birthday.

Bar Bon Funk is the nightcap after dinner elsewhere in New Bahru, or the catch-up with the friend who likes their wine cloudy. It calls itself a neighbourhood bar and, ranking or not, that is how to use it: a drink or two, good sound and savoury cocktails, no big night required. The compromise is that the list moves every few months, so come curious rather than with a drink in mind.

The ranking is recent. When Asia's 50 Best Bars published its 51–100 list in July 2026, Singapore had two newcomers: BOP, the Korean-leaning bar from the Jigger & Pony group, and this one, at No.90. It sits on the second level of the Big Block at New Bahru on Kim Yam Road, the enclave of shops, restaurants and studios that has given River Valley's quieter end a reason to stay out after dinner. The name will ring a bell if you know Le Bon Funk, the natural-wine bistro on Club Street; the two share a name and a website.

Behind the counter at launch was head bartender Josiah Chee, with almost a decade at Jigger & Pony, 28 HongKong Street and Employees Only. The format reflects that: eight classics and eight signatures, with the list rewritten every three to six months. The opening menu took breakfast as its theme. A Glass of Milk riffed on cereal with calvados, gin and strawberry honey; Lean Green Salad is a savoury mezcal drink with green juice, clarified miso and a caramelised honey avocado foam; Bad Habits twists a Bloody Mary with distilled kombu and "pizza" bubbles. If you are the sort of person who orders a dirty martini for the olives, you have found your people.

The other half of the appeal is the sound and the wine. The bar is built around good sound, with the playlist part of the evening rather than a backing track, and a glass of something cloudy and skin-contact is as much the point here as a cocktail.

How to do it well: arrive after dinner, ask what is open by the glass, then order whichever savoury signature is on, the Lean Green Salad if it has survived the latest rewrite. It is closed on Sundays and Mondays, and Great World is the nearest MRT.

Good to know Find it at #02-01, New Bahru (Big Block), 46 Kim Yam Road; Great World MRT is the nearest station. We haven't confirmed current hours with the bar, so check its website or Instagram before you go.

Bar Bon Funk | #02-01, New Bahru (Big Block), 46 Kim Yam Road, Singapore 239351 | Nearest MRT: Great World