Singapore’s burgeoning bar scene has been handed a fillip ahead of the Asia’s 50 Best Bars awards, to be held in Hong Kong next month, with Sago House earning the prestigious Michter’s Art of Hospitality accolade.
The award is voted for by the Asia’s 50 Best Bars 260-member Academy, who were each asked to name the one venue that has provided the single-best hospitality experience in the 18-month judging window.
It’s the first of two special awards to be announced in the weeks leading up to the ceremony on 18 July 2023.
The eighth edition of Asia’s 50 Best Bars, sponsored by Perrier, will be announced at a live awards ceremony at the Rosewood Hotel in Hong Kong on 18 July 2023, hosted in collaboration with destination partner Hong Kong Tourism Board.
This year’s awards are expected to be the first full-scale, restriction-free gathering of the bar community in Asia since 2019.
“Sago House is truly a labor of love from all who built it, which comes through in the drinking experience it offers,” says Mark Sansom, Content Director for Asia’s 50 Best Bars. “It is raw, honest and fueled by passion, with a service structure that feels like having cocktails in a friend’s home, mixed by someone who knows a lot about crafting amazing drinks.”
“The Michter’s Art of Hospitality Award was established in 2019 to recognize exceptional hospitality on the continent’s biggest stage and I applaud the team headed by Jay Gray, Desiree Jane and Abhishek C George for creating a space that makes everyone feel at ease.”
Sago House was born in 2020 in the middle of the first lockdown and launched with a selection of canned and bottled cocktails. Established by three industry titans – Jay Gray, Desiree Jane, and Abhishek C George – the trio transformed a third-floor Chinatown walk-up shophouse into a trendy bar with a great beverage program.
Named after the bar’s address on Singapore’s Sago Street, the interior was built almost entirely by hand, with 80% formed out of reused materials. An edgy mural by Filipino artist Distort Monsters completes the intimate 35-seater’s interiors.
The cocktail menu consistently includes six classic serves, but the names and ingredients evolve according to native and seasonal ingredients available in local wet markets. The weekly changing menu reflects the bar team’s creativity, and as the owners are veterans in the local cocktail scene, Sago House is the preferred after-hours neighborhood hotspot for the bar community in Singapore. The bar is a welcoming and convivial space, exuding equal parts edginess, inviting intimacy and a trendy vibe.
“Good hospitality has always been our top priority from day one, so being recognized with this award means everything to us,” says Desiree Jane of Sago House. “We want every guest who walks through our doors to feel welcome and comfortable; this goes for our regulars and even those who come in for their first visit. We are excited to celebrate this win, which is not just an award for the Sago House team, but also one for the community we have built, for those who have made our little shophouse bar their home away from home.”