Refill your boiler at Tanjong Pagar’s new railway-themed steampunk bar

A rendering of Rails’ interior shows gears and cogwheels on display. Image: Rails

By Coconuts Singapore

Feb 10, 2021 | 2:38pm Singapore time

There’s always room for another watering hole in the already intoxicated Tanjong Pagar district, which we all know was once a railway nexus connecting Singapore to Malaysia.

Take that inspiration and couple it with steam-powered, retro-futurist fantasy – and lots of booze – and you get Rails, a steampunk bar inspired by the now-closed Tanjong Pagar Railway Station as well as the Jinrikisha Station shopping center, which used to be a depot for rickshaws in the early 1900s.

It was created by A Phat Cat Collective, the same team behind popular retro-themed bars Nineteen80 and Pinball Wizard. But instead of arcade games and all things neon, Rails serves up adventurous cocktails and heavy mains in a cave-like space decked out in 19th-century industrial artifacts. Think cogwheels, gears, and an air of Victorian-era mystery filled with house and disco beats to bop to from reputable local DJs including Brendon P and James Selva.

Guests arrive through a vintage scissor gate elevator before getting off onto what looks like a train platform straight out of a Harry Potter film. Other vintage props on display include a clock tower and a wall of repurposed old books.

Sink back in their leather sofa seats to enjoy peculiar cocktails like the Jinrikisha Spritzer (S$18), which pays homage to the Jinrikisha rickshaw station with gin spritzer, homemade honey-fermented lemon, preserved lime peel and coconut water; the Apothecary (S$24) is made with Chinese herbal syrup Pei Pa Kao, Amaro liquor and minty cognac; and the Murder On The Orient Express (S$25) is a licorice lace of absinthe, coffee liqueur, pear, pineapple and orange juice shaken with charcoal powder.

Chow down on Southern U.S. food by partnering restaurant Chix Hot Chicken. The menu offers a signature burger Soul Slider (S$8.90), which comes with tempura-battered boneless chicken thighs drenched in smoky paprika and mayo sauce and coriander slaw; or The Pepperjack (S$9.90), which is topped with peppery Monterey Jack cheese with yuzu sauce. They also have sandwiches, wraps and sides like chicken wings, tater tots and fried chicken bits.