MyX

Holland Village has never lacked a drink. It has lacked a bar with a record player and headphones at the back.

MyX is the Holland Village bar for an afternoon drink that turns into dinner, or a casual date that ends in shared headphones. The draw is at the back: a ten-seat vinyl listening booth with a record player, headphones and an eclectic stack of records. The compromise is that it is not a true listening bar, more a bar-bistro with one very good corner, so come for the room as a whole and book the booth if music is the point.

It opened in late 2025 on the Jalan Merah Saga strip at Chip Bee Gardens, from the group behind Moxie and Cudo. The lounge sits beside a lending library browsable on an honour system, so you can pull a book or a record off the shelf as easily as you order a drink. The look is cosy bohemian, with the slightly mismatched warmth of a flat belonging to someone with better taste than you.

Group executive chef Steve Chou, who is Taiwanese and spent years in American kitchens, built the menu from Latin flavours he met in New York and the Southern states, with Asian touches. Dishes have included a red prawn ceviche, an artichoke dip with tortilla chips and a “Dirrrty” chicken rice with adobo, chorizo and Louisiana-style dirty rice: a Singapore staple taken on a road trip, and the one to order if you are hungry. By day there is a set lunch, with Cubano sandwiches and spiced avocado toast.

The bar is where the value has been. The happy hour, which has run from mid-afternoon into the early evening, is the best reason to arrive before dark; check the current window and prices on MyX's site before you plan around it. Outside it, the signatures are worth a look: The Valley is a fresh gin, basil and mint drink, and Maybemoo a toasty clarified one with Kahlua and cinnamon. For Holland Village, where a round can add up quickly, a happy hour like that is what makes a bar neighbourly.

How to do it well: come mid-afternoon, book the booth, pull a book off the shelf and stay into the evening. Start with the ceviche, move on to the chicken rice if the afternoon has become dinner, and leave the record choice to whoever is least likely to put on something embarrassing. It is closed on Mondays, and Holland Village MRT is a short walk away.

Good to know 44 Jalan Merah Saga, #01-46, Chip Bee Gardens. Open Tuesday to Sunday from late morning; check myx.sg for closing times before you go. Holland Village MRT is a short walk.

MyX | 44 Jalan Merah Saga, #01-46, Singapore 278116 | Nearest MRT: Holland Village