Sum Yi Tai - Tapas

Sum Yi Tai’s effortless homage to the moody glamour of 1980s Hong Kong begins with the tapas bar, on the ground floor of their four-storeyed Boon Tat Street shophouse, a rare remnant of old Singapore amid the central business district’s towering skyscrapers that loom over Telok Ayer. Sum Yi Tai means ‘third wife’ in Cantonese, and this gangland-themed watering hole and temple to tapas is sure to lure many a dragon away from the comforts of home. Lunch and dinner tapas menus offer Chinese-style small plates alongside Sum Yi Tai’s fearsome selection of beer, wine, spirits and esoteric tipples.

Lunch or a midday tipple at Sum Yi Tai’s downstairs tapas bar are popular options for the workers in and around Telok Ayer and Singapore’s CBD. All rice and noodle dishes come with a complimentary traditional Chinese soup de jour, with signature options including crispy roast Kurobuta pork belly, Cantonese-style pork chop and maple honey-glazed char siew. Brought your gang with you? Why not go for a mixture of Sum Yi Tai’s irresistible share plates, like fiery curry fishballs, wok-fried carrot cake or squid tentacles, to accompany a few selections from the amazing menu of vintage Scotches and rare Japanese whiskies?

Come the evening, when Sum Yi Tai’s classic Hong Kong-esque neon sign sputters into life above Boon Tat Street and the lights are laid low, the tapas bar really comes into its own. The drinks begin to flow, and you can start to really explore Sum Yi Tai’s unique menu of great cocktails, boasting exotic mixes with creative names like the Date a Gangster or My Mistress’ Cherry. From the Chinese tapas dinner menu try some tasty, spicy white-cut chicken with Szechuan peppercorn, or plump for crispy salmon skin with salted egg yolk and lime zest. Certainly one of Singapore’s most thoroughly themed venues for fantastic eating and drinking, reservations for this hidden Telok Ayer den are a must.