Southbridge

Boat Quay at street level is a gauntlet. The escape hatch is a lift beside Elgin Bridge.

Southbridge is the way out of Boat Quay at street level, where the menus get waved in your face: a fifth-floor shophouse rooftop with the river bend, Parliament House and the Raffles Place towers close enough to make out the details. Go as a pair, early, and order oysters before you decide anything else. The compromise is space and weather; it is fully alfresco with limited seating, so it is not for a big group or a still, sticky night.

You find it through a lit lobby in the alley off South Bridge Road by Elgin Bridge, step into a glass-cased lift and come out on the roof of a refurbished heritage shophouse. It has been doing this since at least 2014, which in rooftop-bar years makes it a senior statesman. The il Lido Group, the people behind Sospiri and Les Canons, run it, and the house describes itself as one of Singapore's best-kept secrets, which is a bold claim for a rooftop with a lift lobby on South Bridge Road.

The signature move is oysters. Over the years the kitchen has dressed them every which way: Nikkei with togarashi, umami with ponzu and yuzu, the Habana with mint, cucumber and vermouth, and a smoky casino version with bacon and cheese for anyone who thinks raw is overrated. Order a mixed half-dozen and argue about which works. Cocktails lean fruit-forward and are built on small-batch spirits, with a sturdy Old Fashioned for the purists.

There is an early-evening happy hour on weekdays and an all-day deal on Sundays, and the weekly line-up has included mezcal Mondays, a tiki night and one-for-one spritzes; check what is on before you go. Prices carry service charge and GST, so budget accordingly.

How to do it well: arrive when the doors open, take a seat facing the river and stay through dusk, when the skyline switches on. It is strictly 21 and over, and with low walls and limited seating it is built for two people and a platter rather than a birthday cake. Book via SevenRooms on the official site. Clarke Quay and Raffles Place MRT are both within walking distance; enter from South Bridge Road, not the quay.

Good to know Open daily from 5pm; 21 and over only. Book via SevenRooms on the official site. Enter from South Bridge Road beside Elgin Bridge; Clarke Quay and Raffles Place MRT are both within walking distance.

Southbridge | Rooftop, Level 5, 80 Boat Quay, Singapore 049868 (entrance from South Bridge Road, along Elgin Bridge) | Nearest MRT: Clarke Quay, Raffles Place