Tippling’s Club dining room is on the first floor and built around the open kitchen, where diners become part of the action, as in a chef’s table. Don’t expect a la carte menu, two tasting menus are offered: the Classic five-course, and the Gourmand ten-course.

PROFILE
Owner-chef Ryan Clift began his career by working in a Michelin one-star restaurant near his hometown of Devizes, in the United Kingdom. He later worked at Claridge’s, in London, and then went on to Australia, working with some of the world’s leading chefs along the way. He started Tippling Club in 2008, initially at Dempsey Hill and then moving to its present premises, spanning three colonial-era shophouses, five years later. All of the dishes are invented in the test kitchen, on the second floor, where the equipment is mind-bogglingly advanced.

MUST TRY: Razor clams with purple garlic and parsley root and Kingfish Carpaccio with yuzu, cucumber, back radish.

AMBIENCE
Citrus and pastel green set the colour tone, with charred-wood panelling and parquet oak flooring. The dining room is on the first floor and is built around the open kitchen, where diners become part of the action, as in a chef’s table. Adjacent is the Wine Room, stocked with three 100-bottle wine coolers, and with amber lights resembling clusters of grapes hanging above the tables. Upstairs is the test kitchen, with a private dining room where guests enjoy a privileged view of the chefs, including often Chef Ryan himself.

SERVICE
With much of the interaction between guests and chefs, the service has a mutual personal aspect, and is warm and friendly.

FOOD
Chef Ryan takes the creation of the dishes out to new directions, with the option of pairing the courses to equally adventurous cocktails, or to selections from the large stock of wines. There is no a la carte, two tasting menus being offered: the Classic five-course, and the Gourmand ten-course. Unexpected tastes, colours and textures present themselves at every course, and the cocktail pairings are equally as avant-garde, with their spectrum of sweet, sour, smoky and bitter flavours. A vegetarian menu is available. The bar, also an award-winner, is for the walk-in trade and serves cocktails classic and cutting edge, along with its own small but inventive menu.

PRICING
S$170 (S$275 with drink pairing) for five-course menu, S$270 (S$430 with drink pairing) for ten-course menu

SUMMARY
Dining at the multiple-award-winning Tippling Club is an adventure, and the private room-test kitchen experience makes for a memorable event.