Since its hoardings came down in 1929, The Quadrant at 19 Cecil Street has been home to several Chinese banks, and the evidence is still down in the basement. Here, the original bank vault has been reimagined as a soigné, mood-lit private dining and tasting room, its walls lined with staves – the individual curved planks from retired Suntory distillery barrels still carrying a faint whiff of aged oak. It sets the tone for what awaits upstairs: Barrel Story of Hibiki, a joint venture between The House of Suntory and chef Sho Naganuma of cult-favourite Torasho Ramen & Charcoal Bar in nearby Tanjong Pagar.
Wallpaper* dines at Barrel Story of Hibiki, Singapore
The mood: wood, fire and a bank vault
The building’s gently curved Art Deco facade was designed by Keys and Dowdeswell, the British firm responsible for much of what still stands in this part of Singapore's CBD, including the Fullerton Hotel, a few blocks away at the mouth of the river. The interiors are a case study of how the past of a heritage space can be put to genuinely elegant use. Tokyo designer Junpei Yamagiwa of Designpost has anchored the main dining room around a 10-seat counter wrapping the central wood-fire grill, with dark timber and textured stone keeping the mood focused.
The double-height ceiling – a genuine rarity in Singapore restaurants – gives the room a sense of occasion that the rest of the design works carefully not to oversell. Hibiki, Suntory's premium blended whisky whose name translates as ‘resonance', provides the conceptual framework, which the restaurant lists as fire, patience, and natural harmony. These are not just marketing words here. They show up in the Jenga-block-pattern ceiling, the barrel-wood fuel stacked behind the pass, and the ceramic plate-ware, which is delicate and detailed enough to warrant a second look every time a dish arrives.
The food: izakaya, upgraded
Naganuma's menu is built for drinking alongside, and it segues well. The archly-named Uni-corn Croquette – crisp potato shell, creamed white corn, sea urchin – pits sweetness against brine and lets both win. A potato salad topped with cured egg yolk lands somewhere between a side dish and a vegetarian steak tartare. The seafood donabe is the dish to order: every grain of rice arrives glossed and smoky, broken up by the sudden saline punctuation of tobiko and bijoux cuts of squid and prawns. The wood fire earns its keep in the cooking rather than the air – you taste it in the opening bowl of smoked nuts, in the grilled XL tiger prawns, and most memorably in the off-menu fish collar, which can, depending on season and availability, include marlin and tuna, and should be requested when you book.
Currently the only Singapore venue pouring Hibiki by the glass, Barrel holds one of the more serious Suntory collections in Asia. The entry flight (S$38) presents Japanese Harmony three ways – highball, rocks, mizuwari – and it’s less a tasting exercise than a demonstration of how radically the same whisky shifts character depending on how it meets water. The cocktail list has its own tricks: the Hibiki Champagne Style Highball arrives without ice, its bubbles doing the work without the stress of melting dilution, while the Hibiki Sling cheerfully faces off against Singapore's most iconic drink and more or less wins. The Barrel flight reaches vintages up to 30 years old, though at S$988, we suggest you come armed with a fully charged Amex.
Barrel Story of Hibiki is located at 19 Cecil St, #01-01 The Quadrant, Singapore 049704