Food Picks: New Japanese-inspired cocktails at Moga
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Moga's Dirty Sake-tini.
PHOTO: MOGA
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SINGAPORE – Behind the sleek shoji doors of izakaya-inspired cocktail bar Moga are two new faces. Helming the kitchen is Cut by Wolfgang Puck alum Leon Quek, while seasoned bartender Gavin Teverasan, previously of 28 HongKong Street, Nutmeg & Clove and Barbary Coast, takes over as bar manager.
In addition to their years of experience – both have been in the industry for more than a decade – they bring with them a fresh slate of offerings.
The revamped menu, ambitiously titled Breaking The Norm, is anchored by eight effervescent izakaya cocktails reflecting Japan’s diverse culinary heritage. The drinks are meant to bear the hallmarks of izakaya cocktails – highball style, with fizz.
One particularly crushable standout is the salted yuzu highball ($25), a zesty blend of Johnnie Walker Gold-infused genmaicha, Angostura Bitters, yuzu saline, shiu koji and buckwheat tea syrup, underpinned by notes of earthiness.
This series of cocktails is followed by eight more classics with a twist. The Dirty Sake-tini ($25), laced with sake and shochu, retains the briny spikiness of the original, cushioned here with mellow hints of rice.
The Frozen Drink from Moga.
PHOTO: MOGA
The drinks riff off popular desserts too. In The Frozen Drink ($25), the traditional matcha anmitsu hits legal age and dives headlong into a sugary identity crisis, in which it trades its gelatinous lightness for a heavy cream coat lined with taro and Kujira whisky.
Sip on them alongside palatable bar bites: Hokkaido milk buns with a seasonal dip ($10); gently truffled edamame beans with a sprinkling of shio kombu and shichimi ($12); and crispy squid perked up with fish sauce, green chilli and yuzu ($20).
King of them all is the smashed batata ($14), an endlessly munchable plate of perfectly fried potatoes and oily, smoky pancetta. I only wish it came in a bigger size.
Chef Quek specialises in techniques such as smoking and robata, and there are plenty of dishes showcasing his fiery flair. The menu also comes with a smattering of raw options and sushi rolls, as well as three sando flavours.
Overall, it is not the most groundbreaking exercise in food experimentation, but it packs a handful of pleasant surprises into a fun, fizzy night.
Where: Level 1 of Pullman Singapore Hill Street, 1 Hill Street moga.com.sg
MRT: City Hall
Open: Noon to 3pm (Mondays to Saturdays), 6pm to midnight (Mondays to Thursdays), 6pm to 1am (Fridays and Saturdays)
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