Odem

The cloudy stuff from the barbecue table, taken seriously at last.

Odem is where to go to take makgeolli seriously: a small bar in the New Bahru complex on Kim Yam Road, billed by its founder as Singapore's first craft makgeolli bar. It suits a date where you would rather talk than shout, or two friends who like to know what they are drinking. Order a flight before the food, book ahead, and know that it is a snug room rather than a comfortable one.

Makgeolli, Korea's cloudy, gently fizzy rice wine, usually turns up in Singapore as an afterthought: a bottle on the barbecue table, poured into a tin bowl. Odem puts it at the centre, with many of its Korean spirits imported directly. Founder Dominic Tan, who also runs Ajumma's, fell for the drink at a craft makgeolli bar in Itaewon, where he met small-batch brews and their complexity. His rule is that makgeolli is best served with food, because you need the contrast, and the whole menu follows it. Odem opened in mid-July 2024.

The list is the reason to come: more than 20 makgeolli from small-scale Korean breweries, from classic styles to flavoured ones. Flights are the sensible way in, and the five-glass Odem Quintet is the obvious starting point. Look out for a Sparkling Basil from Nerd Brewery, the Jiran Jigyo Takju and the Hwacheon Il-Chui, made with 22 varieties of flower. Ask the staff to steer you through it; that is what a list this specialised is for.

The food is anju, Korean drinking food, given a modern polish by head chef Bae Yumi, who comes from Daegu, where her late mother ran a cooking school. Build the meal around the soy-glazed brioche and the abalone boribap (barley rice, drawing on her childhood meals). The spread runs from oysters with kimchi granita and perilla to a kimchi and mozzarella pancake, Iberico secreto in a doenjang marinade and barbecued kalbi, with a black garlic tart for dessert. It is a menu that wants sharing, and another round.

The room is small, in dark red and wood with mid-century-style furniture. Tables are close together and the bar stools have no proper backs, so ask for a table if you plan to stay a while (and you will, once the second flight arrives).

How to do it well: book a weeknight table, start with the Quintet, then order the brioche and the boribap and let the staff match a second round to the food. Check the current menu for flight prices before you go. It is closed on Mondays; Fort Canning and Great World are the nearest MRT stations.

Good to know Check the current menu for prices. It is closed on Mondays, and booking is recommended. New Bahru is on Kim Yam Road, off River Valley; Fort Canning and Great World MRT are the nearest stations.

Odem | 46 Kim Yam Road, #01-17 New Bahru, Singapore 239351 | Nearest MRT: Fort Canning, Great World