Loof

What this place is and who it is for

Loof opened in 2005 on the rooftop of Odeon Towers on North Bridge Road, the first dedicated rooftop bar in Singapore. The room covers about 200 seats across an indoor bar, an open-air rooftop deck, and a small garden terrace overlooking the dome of Raffles Hotel. The cocktail programme is built around Southeast Asian ingredients: kaffir lime, kalamansi, pandan, lemongrass.

It works for a 7pm after-work group of six in the open air and for a 11pm rooftop nightcap that does not require a 32 SGD cocktail. Skip the Thursday and Friday peak hours without a reservation; the indoor bar fills before 8pm. The Honeycombers Singapore 2024 rooftop bar guide ranked Loof in its top five for value, calling it “the only original rooftop bar in the city that still drinks like a local one.

What the space feels like

A 200-seat rooftop covering three zones. The indoor bar holds a 16-seat counter and four high-tops; the open-air deck seats about 120 across long communal tables and a few smaller banquettes; the garden terrace adds another 60 with planters and string lights. The Straits Times' 2022 bar feature described the deck as “the most local-feeling rooftop bar in a city that increasingly courts the hotel-bar crowd.” The view runs over the Raffles dome to the Marina Bay skyline.

What to order, what to skip

Order the Bunga Pala (20 SGD), the kaffir-lime gin build that has been on the menu since 2005 and remains the bartender pick for a first visit. Skip the bottled beer list, which Reddit's r/singapore consistently flags as the weaker option compared to the cocktail programme. The Pandan Old Fashioned (22 SGD) is the off-menu request the bartenders pour when guests want a longer, sweeter build. Snacks run 12 to 18 SGD; the satay sticks at 14 SGD are the right pairing for a group order.

Who shows up and when

Three shifts. From 5pm to 7pm the deck pulls City Hall and Bugis after-work groups of four to six for the early-evening cocktail. From 7pm to 11pm the bar runs at peak service with a 60 percent local Singapore crowd and a 40 percent mix of hotel guests and Raffles concierge referrals. After 11pm the room turns to a younger weekend crowd and the deck stays open until 2am Friday and Saturday. Tatler Asia's 2024 rooftop bar feature called Loof “the original Singapore rooftop bar and still the friendliest one for a group of six.

When to walk in

Loof runs three shifts and the right one depends on the goal. From 5pm to 7pm the deck is the spot for a walk-in group of four to six at a communal table; the sun drops behind the Raffles dome at about 7pm. From 7pm to 11pm the bar runs at peak service and reservations are essential for a Friday banquette seven days out. After 11pm the room turns to a younger weekend crowd and the indoor bar plays house until 2am on Friday and Saturday. Sunday closes at midnight. Tuesday and Wednesday are the easiest walk-in nights for a group.

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