Andrea Cheong puts together a St Patrick's Street Festival bar crawl route, bringing you to five joints to get your grub and grog on
Go green – and we’re not talking about saving the environment here. The St Patrick’s Festival kicks off along Circular Road and at participating venues in Boat Quay from March 17 to 20 with a programme filled with music, activities and… lots of beer. Finish things off in style with the family-friendly parade on the Sunday. Oh, and don’t forget to claim your free Guinness while you’re there.
Left-right: Southbridge's Pat's Martini and Irish cola float
This rooftop bar, overlooking shophouses and Singapore River, is perhaps the most elegant way to get the festivities started. Southbridge’s specially imported Galway oysters from Ireland ($36 for six) are slightly on the small side, but make up for their size with their plumpness and brininess. This chilled-out spot also serves a Bailey's Irish cola float ($20) and a Pat's Martini ($27), in the requisite shade of green, courtesy of a splash of Midori.
From here, things take a messy-fun turn. Draft and Craft cooks up a mean shepherd's pie ($15) filled with beef chunks and potatoes. There's also the option to top up $7 for a pint of Guinness to complete the meal.
Paddy's Burger, served at Hero's, Mogambo and Public House
After you're filled, get ready for a sing-a-long. Hero's playlist celebrates the best of the Emerald Isle with the likes of The Corrs, Thin Lizzy, and err… One Direction. Tuck into The Paddy ($14, add $1 for a fried egg), a toasted corned beef sandwich with caramelised onions, Irish cheddar, tomato and seeded mustard between hamburger buns. The Paddy is also served at Mogambo’s and Public House.
RedDot Monster Green Lager
It's hard to imagine that a beer so green it rivals a traffic light gets its colour from an infusion of spirulina. That’s right, the superfood. Although the brewery claims that The Red Dot Monster Green Lager has health benefits, we’re not so sure how good chugging down a couple of pints ($11/pint from noon-8pm, $12.50/pint after 8pm) can be for you. What we can say is that it washes down easily, has an indiscernible aftertaste (probably from that spirulina) and goes well with the salty, spicy finger foods served at the bar.
Molly Malone's mini fish and chips
If you’ve saved yourself for Malone’s signature mini fish and chips ($12, $17 with a half pint of Guinness) then you’ve made a good decision. The all-too-addictive crunch of the light batter and succulent dory is a bestseller and it’s not hard to see why. As for a satisfying snack, there’s the whiskey and bacon marmalade with homemade soda bread ($8, $15 with a 30ml glass of Jameson’s Irish whiskey), that can be thought of as an Irish version of bak kwa – yum.
Molly Malone's whiskey and bacon marmalade with homemade soda bread
The Guinness St Patrick's Festival is at Boat Quay from March 19-20.