Smoke & Mirrors

I really enjoyed Smoke & Mirrors — I think it was the best rooftop bar that I went to in SG. The view is really gorgeous — it’s the perfect place to watch the sun go down as the sky changes to a million shades of blue across the skyline. I love the huge throne chairs that they have, which are surprisingly comfortable. The service is decent — they don’t check on you super often, but they do enough to refresh your drinks.
We tried the Siamese Fireback, the Tiger Blood Daisy, and the Painting Class 1957. The first two were amazing. I don’t usually love bitter drinks, but the Siamese Fireback was the perfect amount of bitter, tart, and sweet. It had awesome, unusual flavors. The TIger Blood Daisy was probably the best one. I loved the flaming calamansi on top of it, which, once dropped in the drink, gave it an amazing and smoky flavor. The sour plum/​ginger/​calamansi/​tequila were all combined perfectly. I was very disappointed by the Painting Class. First of all, the décor on it was straight up ugly. Having seen photos of the cocktail, I know that they could make an effort to do actual brushstrokes, but instead it looked like drizzled chocolate messily stuck on the side of the glass. The chocolate scent did add something to the taste of the cocktail, but otherwise it just tasted like straight, regular prosecco. It was nothing special, which is a bummer considering the price.

Had drinks here with friends the other night. From 7 until about 8:30 it was packed but the crowd dissipated gradually after that.
I had 2 cocktails — siamese something (I forgot the name), which had lemongrass, and I liked it. 2^nd drink, papaya daiquiri, was just average. My friends had other cocktails, which they seemed to like. We ordered small bites to share: sichuan –style diced chicken with peppers (so good we got 2 orders), truffle fries (good but dip was disappointing), prawn toast (average) and calamari (excellent).
Service was prompt and friendly. The prawn toast was late due to some glitch in their ordering system, so they told us it
10 mins late, and later deducted it from our bill.
We split the bill and it came out to $ 70 per head. Expensive, considering that we had only 2 drinks each. The cocktails start at $ 20. The view is fantastic though and I would bring visitors from overseas here.

Great view that you feel in the city, but not good service. I ordered fries and they never came. But, drinks are good. Tiger blood daisy had a fun flame and my fujian highball mock tail was nice and ginger-​y. Come for the view, not anything else.

I had some fairly high expectations after reading a lot of positive experiences form this place. With its nice location on top of the national Gallery there are splendid views of both Marina Bay and the CBD and that is probably the best thing about the place. First of all it is a bit weird trying to enter — one of the elevators does not go all the way up to the restaurant (only goes to fifth floor while the restaurant is on the sixth) so need to be lucky to get the right elevator. We had reservations and were seated promptly, that was the best part of the service experience.
First thing I notice is that the music is so loud that one can only hear what the person next to you is saying. That is at around 20.30 and for the time we are there they gradually increase the volume. I can understand that some people like it like that but if i go for some cocktails I do not expect to go to a night club but a bar where it is possible to talk to each other. We managed to get the attention of the waiter after a long wait we got to place an order. We tried some different cocktails and they were pretty decent but not compared to what the best places in Singapore can do and these guys charge the prices that mean that they need to be up there. The Papaya Daiquiri was pretty good and the favorite one was the Rainforest Remedy but it was a bit of show to it being served and that did not really add anything in flavor.
As the music just kept getting louder snd we actually wanted to talk we asked for the bill. First once and then no one brought it over, then a second time and then we waited 10 minutes. After that I went to the bar and just told I have now asked twice and waited for a long time and then I gave them 1 minute to bring the bill and I told them that otherwise we are leaving. The bill was then produced fast — I asked them to remove the service charge since they had not provided any service and to my surprise they actually complied. This is something that truly annoys me — how difficult is it to let people pay when they want to leave, p. Tuis was also at a time when they were not very busy,
So while, the cocktails were ok and the views nice I would still not return as the whole environment and ambiance was not very nice and the service severely lacking.

Don’t get me wrong: the view here is amazing.
You get a beautiful, unobstructed view of Marina Bay Sands, the Padang and Esplanade. I’m afraid to know how much they’ll charge for tables during F1.
I found the cocktails and food just okay. I tried the Papaya Daiquiri, which is meant to be southeast Asian inspired. Ingredients included white rum, gula melaka, and a few drops of charcoal olive oil, which is supposed to look like papaya seeds. Creative, but I could barely taste the alcohol. A bit of a let down after paying $ 20!
I also tried their truffle fries with homemade dips. I hate to be one of those sticklers, but the menu says «homemade dips», to which I was expecting a variety of dips. How many dips did I get? Just one. I think it was tartar sauce, nothing special.
Wonderful ambiance, and a place to be seen. I’ll come back if you pay for my drinks! ;)

The view is truly one of the most iconic experience at Smoke and Mirrors. Where in Singapore can you experience an unobstructed panoramic view of:
1. The new South Beach building and it’s district
2. The entire Marina Bay with the Esplanade, Singapore Flyer, Gardens by the Bay and Marina Bay Sands
3. The Central Business District
All in full view at eye level?! Not only that, you can chill with a glass of wine or a bespoked cocktail and enjoy some light bites.
Try their signature chicken wings (actually it’s prawn paste chicken) and wagyu beef burger. Other favourites include their pork belly and silver fish. Their churros is not bad but the texture is still not on point for me. The size is also a little too small and the chocolate sauce is rather flat.
Service is generally good but sometimes a little inconsistent.
I believe that this is great place to chill out but I guess it still needs a little more time to stabilize itself. Other than that, it’s my favorite place to hang out at the Gallery. :)

So we were looking for somewhere new in CBD for a drink and just happen on this. We invited a few friends and everyone loved it.
The drink menu had some interesting concoctions and all that we had were good. I tried a normal Manhattan and it was spot on. The service was some of the best we have seen in Singapore. All of this wouldn’t make for 5 stars…
But then you get the view. It overlooks the Padang and has amazing views of MBS… You must check this place out before it becomes the place to be so you can say you were there in the beginning.