The original Harry's, which grew from this Boat Quay corner into a Singapore-wide live-music chain. The bar opened in 1992, fed the after-work finance crowd through the nineties, and still does — only with a wider music programme and a slightly improved kitchen.
House bands play five nights a week — rock, R&B, soft funk, the occasional Top-40 set. The room is bigger than it looks from the river: a long bar, table seating along the windows, a small stage at the back. Cover is rarely charged. Happy hour from 5pm to 8pm makes the room one of the best after-work value drinks in the CBD.
The cocktail programme is more capable than the chain's reputation suggests. The Harry's Sour, the bar's house signature, is a genuinely good drink — bourbon, fresh lemon, palm sugar, egg white — and the Old Fashioned is correctly built. Most regulars order pints of house lager and that is appropriate to the room.
Harry's Boat Quay works best as the post-work first stop: drinks from 6pm, dinner from 7pm, band from 9pm, walk home before midnight. It has earned its place as the city's most reliable after-work room and shows no sign of giving it up.
Best time to visit: Weekday evenings before 9pm for the quieter version of the room; weekends after 9pm for the busier one. Reservations recommended where the bar accepts them.
What to order
- 01
Harry's Sour
- 02
House Lager
- 03
Old Fashioned
- 04
Espresso Martini
- 05
Singapore Sling