When even the most eclectic establishments seem to draw their ideas from a contrived guide to being quirky, it’s easy to get a bit cynical every time a new “creative” café or cocktail bar opens up. But then a place like Potato Head Folk comes along.
Originating in Jakarta, the Potato Head brand is probably best known for its beach club in Bali. You know, the one that your friends keep checking in to with bikini selfies or perspective shots of legs dangling awkwardly before a sea view. Anyway. This is the group’s first venture outside Indonesia and it carries over the same ideas that have inspired their other outlets.
Potato Head Folk is actually a three-in-one venue packed neatly into a shophouse at the fork of Keong Saik and Teck Lim Roads. It’s based on the idea of a private home with each floor representing a different part of a functioning house. What does that mean exactly? We’ll explain.
Occupying the first floor is Three Buns, a burger and cocktail joint (the kitchen), while the second floor is home to the Three Buns restaurant area (the living room). The “decadent drinking den” Studio 1939 takes up the third floor (the private studio) and the rooftop is where you’ll find… The Rooftop, an open-air bar filled with an assortment of potted plants (the garden). The whimsical work of Australian artist David Bromley ties everything together.
Our visit begins with a Folk Collins, their variation of the classic gin-based cocktail, at Studio 1939. It’s the first of many distinctive traits about Potato Head Folk – they make their syrups and sodas in-house and the drinks are served in custom-made mugs. It’s just after 6pm and sunlight is filtering through the bar, illuminating its vintage, rattan-backed chairs. It seems impossible that the place is only a few weeks old. Our first canapé arrives; a bottle of rugged-looking fries in a creamy sauce which turns out to be a foie gras-based emulsion. Fitting that a place with the word “potato” in its name would do something so extraordinary with the crop.
A few conversations later, we’re whisked off to The Rooftop, and climbing the stairs, you really get an idea of Potato Head Folk’s attention to detail. From the toilets to the stairway walls, every bit of space is adorned with murals and curious trinkets. Unlike many other rooftop bars that put you far above the city, The Rooftop is right at the heart of everything that defines Singapore – shophouses all around, HDB flats just beyond them and the CBD in the distance. It’s a homage to Hawaiian tiki bars and the drinks here come straight from the islands – the seven rum Zombie and the Po Lewa Lani, a rum and champagne cocktail, immediately jump off the menu. As the sun sets, we’re served truffle and cheese toasties and skewers of grilled lamb shoulder with tomatoes. It’s at about this point that we decide we’ve found a new regular haunt.
There’s an authenticity to Potato Head Folk that few other places have been able to find. Part of it comes from a great concept and the rest is a result of them really knowing about the space they inhabit. You might not be able to whip out your beachwear for that jealousy-inducing holiday photo here, but you can be certain that any image posted from Potato Head Folk will generate just as much envy.
Potato Head Folk is at 36 Keong Saik Road, 6327-1939. Open Tue-Sun 11am-midnight.
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