Handlebar - Sembawang

Punning powerfully on the mightiest of the moustaches and one half of this Sembawang powerhouse’s twin-cylindered function as a biker-themed watering hole, Handlebar meets the full force of American muscle cars, meat, and neat spirits head on. Located at the northeastern tip of Singapore down a small street – a back alley really – called Jalan Mempurong, Handlebar is best accessed via Harley or, if you must, scooter. Once there, put on your gruffest voice and order up some biker eats and a hard house pour, cue up some pool while you wait for anvil-sized chunks of prime US biker eats to wing themselves your way in more ways than one (yep, the so-called Cocaine Wings come revved up at low, medium or high heat levels). Note: whatever you do, never take off your shades.

I need your clothes, your boots, and your motorcycle. Well you can’t have them, but Handlebar’s got your hairy back. Recklessly established since 1999, says the T-shirt (limited availability), this American restaurant and bar tucked up in Singapore’s Sembawang is a biker hangout that’s not for the faint-hearted. Indeed, in a city like this, rebellion finds curious outlets – not least in weird and wonderful ways to eat and drink. Handlebar has to be the most subversive restaurant we’ve come across, with the aforementioned Cocaine Wings giving the big finger to food safety watchdogs and the Sudden Death Wings avowedly not for candy-ass, according to the fearsome menu.

Shall we continue the culinary brawl? We’ve only mentioned the Kick-Start selection (ask for entrees and you’ll have a pool cue broken over your non-leather-clad back). At Handlebar, a mere two items come under Roadside Greens – Caesar and garden salads – and too right, who needs them? We’re men not rabbits. Proper biker eats include Satan’s Short Ribs and the Slap Yo Momma pork chop, suggestively consisting of boned-in pork loin, and our favourite the Beer Butt chicken – a ‘smoked big bird over a beer can shoved up its ass’ that you’ll need to wait 45 mins for (pre-order when you book) as the hens that volunteer are usually less than cooperative when undergoing this process. There are more global bottled beer varieties stacked in the cellar of Handlebar’s Jalan Mempurong HQ than you can shake a broken camshaft (or pool cue) at, premium spirits, decent cocktails and shots, ‘red wine’ and ‘white wine’ (if you’re looking for Beaujolais you this isn’t your dive bar), and, proving that tough dudes can have hearts of molten caramel, a selection of alcohol-free dranks for designated drivers helping their punchdrunk mates back to the bright lights of Singapore from this distant but highly desirable Sembawang hideout. Book now or else!