Shang-Chi Ad Producers Open Hip Vinyl Music Bar In A Museum With Charcoal-Grilled Skewers

By day, Eric Chan, 50, and Simon Chia, 52, have pretty cool jobs. The longtime buddies run a company that comes up with Singapore-based ads for Hollywood movie studios’ blockbuster flicks, like Marvel’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, The Boss Baby 2: Family Business and Cruella. “We have clients like United International Pictures, Disney and Warner Bros,” Eric shares.

Eric, a post-production video producer, and Simon, an events producer, “met in 1993 at a night school for audio engineering”. The industry veterans also worked on the AV production for outdoor movie festivals like Sunset Cinema and Films at the Fort.

Earlier this year, they were approached by toy collector Chang Yang Fa, the owner of the Mint Museum of Toys who had wanted to set up a mini theatrette in the basement of his museum. “I said it would be perfect if this space was a vinyl bar,” laughs Eric, whose “other passion” includes collecting vinyl records (he personally owns “between 2,000 to 3,000 vinyls”).

Serendipitously, Yang Fa is also a music buff. “He was studying in England when the Beatles came up,” recalls Eric. Within a week, Simon (left in pic) and Eric (right) had firmed up plans to open Vertigo 26, a vinyl music bar which offers bar bites, tipples and a selection of vinyl records that are available for purchase. “We named it after [the feeling you get when you look at] the swirls on a vinyl record, and [the bar’s] address on 26 Seah Street,” Eric says.

The two men noted the irony of opening a music bar given current Covid-19 restrictions, which prohibits the playing of recorded music in bars and restaurants. “We just have to get on with it,” says Simon cheerfully. Ever the purist, the audiophiles have installed vintage JBL speakers and a turntable to play their records.

But you can still listen to records here, at least from 12pm to 5pm. “We operate as a vinyl retail shop then, so we can play music,” Eric shares. Due to regulations, you can’t dine in at the bar during those hours since it’s technically operating as a shop, but you can still order food for takeaway. “We’re thinking of launching donburis for the office crowd around here,” says Eric.

Hidden below the street, the basement-level bar is a sleek, neon-lit cave with sumptuous black leather sofas. Posters of The Cure, Joy Division and New Order decorate the wall. It feels like we have wandered into our hip friend’s home, the one who collects records that are meticulously arranged - in alphabetical order - in custom drawers. “To our surprise, our cassettes are also selling very well,” says Simon. Don’t expect Ariana Grande here; the music selection is geared towards serious indie buffs (we spied a vinyl for late Malaysian composer P. Ramlee on the shelf).

Vinyl records and music are the obvious focus here, with veteran DJ Robin Chua (founder of iconic club night Poptart who has spinned at other popular venues like Cherry Discotheque) behind the turntable and vinyl selection. “Through our work, we got to know the music and movie industry people,” explains Eric.

The bar menu is also no afterthought; former Lolla and Summerlong head chef Kyle Henderson (pictured) helms the kitchen here, offering substantial bites like charcoal-grilled skewers and grilled wagyu rump, while the tipples are by mixologist Cedric Seth, formerly from Horse’s Mouth Bar at Forum the Shopping Mall.

Fortuitously, the bar was able to install a charcoal grill in its kitchen. Eric shares, “It used to be occupied by [defunct rooftop bar] Mr Punch Public House, and we ‘inherited’ everything like the exhaust hood.”

The skewers here are, quite simply, delicious. Tender, plump chunks of glazed chicken thigh, pork belly, ribeye and veggies like king oyster mushrooms and leek are grilled to a sexy, smoky finish, best chased down with a cocktail or beer.

At $16 for three small slabs of unagi, this well-priced small plate is good for sharing. We enjoy the mildly-charred eel draped with a caramelised unagi sauce.

The decently-marbled A5 wagyu rump here melts on our tongue, but we find the skewers here tastier.

House-made fried duck dumplings, bulging with juicy shredded duck meat and draped in a sticky plum sauce that we would prefer to be less sweet. Not bad at all.

Instead of store-bought potato chips, the crisps here are freshly sliced in-house and paired with a creamy salmon dip topped with a blanket of chopped chives. Very shiok with booze.

There’s decent dessert here too, a decadently oozy slice of house-made Basque burnt cheesecake with a not-quite-sunken top that nonetheless goes well with coffee (yep, coffee is served here too). You can order the cheesecake by the slice, or whole ($55, order at least two days in advance).

The cocktail menu here is straightforward, with nine types of cocktails all priced at $22 each. They’re also named after well-known songs, like the citrusy tequila-based Electric Dreams, Kokomo (Sailor Jerry spiced rum with banana, lemon and spiced honey) and gin-with-butterfly pea wine reduction Champagne Supernova. For teetotalers, there are Mocktails ($12 each) like the Tokyo Drift with yuzu, tea and soda.

Or you can get local craft beer on tap, such as the Lager than Life ($17 for a pint) pilsner from The General Brewing Co. and Milk Stout ($19 for a pint) from Civilization Brewing Co.

Photos: Alvin Teo