Singapore: Divine Wine Bar

I was with a friend in the Arab Street area and we wanted to grab a drink at Piedra Negra since I’m too old for shisha and too lazy to pose at Bar Stories. Unfortunately it was closed (on a Sunday?!) but my genius friend suddenly remembered a wine bar in the lobby of the infamous “Gotham building” (aka Parkview Square) along North Bridge Road. Yes, I’m referring to that building that sorely sticks out like a sore thumb in the City Hall/Bugis area and was the talk of town when it was built for its Gotham City-esque architecture.

Sculpture of a crane in the courtyard pointing to Wuhan’s Yellow Crane Tower (!)

“Are you kidding? There is a wine bar there? It can’t be possible as I’ve never EVER heard of it.” I insisted to my friend since I usually know maybe 90% of all F&B places in Singapore, and that building isn’t new. *shameless* But she dragged me to it and I can safely say it was one of the most bizarre experiences and secret hideouts in Singapore. If you’re looking for a place for a secret rendezvous, I can safely say you won’t meet anyone you know at Divine Wine Bar. Bonus: it serves some seriously good wine too (with 3 thick menus worth you’re bound to find something you like).

I’m just going to let my pictures do the talking but it was a very opulent wine bar with a detailed, over the top art deco interior that corresponds to the building’s exterior. It occupies an extremely large and tall loft space, which makes it look very grand and surreal. It felt a little like a 1920s version of Grand Central Terminal that got transplanted all the way to er, Bugis. There wasn’t much of a crowd as it was a late Sunday night but the people who were there looked older, foreign (Chinese) and moneyed.

Even its ceilings are covered with murals (we spotted Asian symbols though)

But the highlight of the place, has to be the 12m wine rack at one of the bar counters that houses bottles of wine that a waitress who doubles up as “a wine angel” (complete with winged-costume) and has to “fly up” while hooked on a pulley system to manually search for your wine bottle and retrieve it. How bizarre is that?

Since we were only there for a quick drink, we got the house wines by the glass so we missed the spectacle. The wines were surprisingly good though slightly pricey – an Italian Chianti and a Aussie Chardonnay if I’m not wrong ($22-28 per glass). I can safely say that I’m coming back to order a bottle or two to watch (bottles from $80 and up), because it will be worth it.

The whole time we were there I was just giggling and bemused by the place as it felt so otherworldly. But jokes aside, I think it’s great that we have something so unique and hidden in Singapore. Mad props to my friend for the recc!

Price: $$ and up
Location: 600 North Bridge Road S(188778)
Tel: +65 6396 4466