Not one to rest on their laurels (No.36 on World’s 50 Best Bars and No.45 on Asia’s 50 Best Bars lists), Adrian Besa and his bar team at MO Bar have conjured up a celestial new menu with drinks that will have you touring Asia on a bar chair. This was always their intent – the team is known to travel across the region to find inspiration. But given the restrictions this past year, we did wonder what we might expect from the next menu iteration. We weren’t disappointed.
The latest menu features 16 new drinks ranging from non-alcoholics, light to strong-spirited ones, all denoted with icons of waxing and waning moon. The physical menu takes the shape of a 3D tactile disc-shaped much like a planet. For the gleeful phone pointers, an interactive digital menu pops up on the screens, allowing imbibers to click through the constellation of drinks and their inspiration.
On the menu, try Ube ($26) and Maya ($24) from the Philippines. The latter is a delectable flavour burst that plays with the sweet and sour notes of a fermented mango skin drink called tepache and tamarind. In contrast, the former tries to bring ube’s signature purple vibes to the world of cocktails but ends up being a heavy, sweet passable dessert drink.
Moving to India and our favourite festival of Holi ($24), Besa blends gin with buttermilk and spices and dots it with marigold petals and vibrant coloured inks. Holi impresses across the table and we felt a nostalgic urge for an encore. Gin features again in Afterglow, an Instagrammable blush pink drink presented with a cloud of cotton candy.
More importantly, the iconic rice paper drink is still on offer and just as delicious, but in a new design of the Full Moon ($26) inspired by Seoul’s rice fields and flavoured with Asian pear, wheatgrass, and rum.
The food menu is equally diverse, and the Indian plates outshine the rest. The royal tandoor selection with four spiced grilled types of meat served with garlic naan is on point, as is the inhalable truffle cheese naan. The menu staple Tater tots borrow some Indian creds with curry flavoured mayo, while the charcoal puffs are reimagined samosas in a darker pastry with edamame in place for the peas.
All in all, a delightful drinks menu which will have you coming back for more, and then some.
MO Bar is at Mandarin Oriental, 5 Raffles Avenue, Marina Square. Tel: 6338 0066
