Hi Stranger

Hi Stranger opened on Neil Road in July 2026, in the row of shophouses between Maxwell and Duxton Hill. The idea, in the bar's own words, is a playground where stories roam free: a modular bar whose menu is rebuilt around a new theme each time, never fixed and never finished. The first edition, Signature Menu #01 - A World Aglow, takes its cue from a documentary about volcanologists, and the drinks follow the theme by name. The Crater is a rum and coffee liqueur build with chocolate bitters, The Krafft Negroni layers Campari, sweet vermouth, gin and mezcal, and The Smoky Sour puts Islay whisky against lemon and egg white. Alongside the signatures runs a long classics section arranged by family: martinis and friends, Negroni and friends, Manhattan and friends, daiquiris, sours and old fashioneds, with a Ramos gin fizz made only when the sign at the bar is switched on. Happy hour runs from 6pm to 8pm every night it is open, and each cocktail ordered in that window comes with a complimentary wagyu tartare.

What earns it a listing here is how the zero-proof drinks are presented. Every drink on the menu carries a strength rating made of plus signs, and two carry the marker NO% instead. The Lemongrass Fizz (S$20) is built on non-alcoholic spirits with lemongrass syrup, lime juice and soda water, and reads as fresh, fizzy and herbaceous on the menu's own flavour tags. The Berry Basil Smash (S$22) uses non-alcoholic spirits with strawberry, raspberry, lemon juice, basil and syrup, and is the drink Honeycombers singled out in its August 2026 round-up of new bars, noting that it can be had with a zero-proof spirit. That is a short list, two drinks, and the bar does not claim more than that, but both are priced and built like the rest of the menu rather than treated as an afterthought, and a Coca-Cola Zero sits on the soft drinks line for anyone who wants nothing mixed at all. The room is small and reservations are taken online, with a 10 per cent service charge on top of the printed prices. Hours are Tuesday to Saturday from 6pm until about 11.30pm, closed Sunday and Monday, and the bar is reached from Maxwell MRT exit 3.