Bar Bon Funk at New Bahru: Le Bon Funk owner opens new cocktail bar with analogue music

Le Bon Funk by chef Keirin Buck has steadily won hardcore fans since its opening six years ago in Club Street, leading to a second outlet at Holland Village last year. Naturally, there has been more than a little interest in his new concept gearing up to open at freshly minted lifestyle destination New Bahru.
It is not, in fact, a third Le Bon Funk, as that would turn the gourmet plates and natural wine hotspot into a chain, shared Buck – on top of being a little boring for his tastes.
Instead, it’s a “neighbourhood cocktail bar with a soft spot for Hi-Fi sound” called Bar Bon Funk.
Behind a discreet door on New Bahru’s second floor is a grown-up space that transitions from an elegant and moody bar area to a retro-chic wood-panelled living room and private dining room.
Vintage McIntosh amplifiers, custom Altec A5 speakers and a custom-made mixer take pride of place, and, in the private dining room, speakers built by Berlin-based studio HAND HiFi.
The effect is sound that’s “very crisp. Even on very minimal volume, it comes across very clean, and you can hear the layers of each sound”, Buck said.
“We really made the investment to make sure that if we were going to do it, we should build it properly,” said the Canadian-born 37-year-old, pointing out additional things like the sound-insulated ceiling and windows. “The budget was definitely blown!”
For his part, he’s learnt a lot about sound systems. “I had to take a big crash course on this,” he shared. “I liked records; I liked to listen to stuff; but I didn’t know the technical parts of it. I just knew if I bought this, it would work!”
But Bar Bon Funk isn’t meant to be a listening bar per se, or even just a cocktail bar.
“I don’t like cocktail bars, for the most part,” he chuckled, and “I have very little experience in them. So, this is my happy medium between a cocktail bar and what I enjoy. I want to be able to sit here like this, and have friends here, and have music, but you don’t feel like it’s intimidating, and you still get a really good drink. I want you to sit down, have a martini and not feel like you’re in a ‘We are serious about this’ environment.”
The cocktail programme at Bar Bon Funk is led by Head Bartender Josiah Chee, whose experience includes stints at Jigger & Pony, 28 Hong Kong Street and Employees Only Singapore.
The menu, set to change every three to six months, opens with a collection of drinks inspired by breakfast – the most important meal of the day for Chee – such as a glass of milk; avo toast with salad; and peanut butter on sourdough.
There are also reimagined classics like a Negroni featuring West Winds Cutlass Gin as well as Bon Funk Amaro and Bon Funk Vermouth, both ultrasonic-aged with charred American oak for a rounder and smoother finish.
The bar also turns kitchen scraps like fruit peel, leftover bread and leftover coffee into flavour elements. For example, a Reverse New York Sour makes use of all parts of a mango, including the seed and skin, which are ultrasonic-aged; Chee calls this their “infinity mango”.
As for the food, well, it can be surmised that there will be dishes that foodies will come here expressly to enjoy.
Buck said it was important to come up with a menu distinct from Le Bon Funk’s, that would also satisfy bar cravings.
One dish is a baloney sandwich that came into being years ago when Le Bon Funk collaborated with a chef from Copenhagen. “We could never put it on the menu even though I loved it a lot”, he said, because it already featured the beef tongue sandwich that first put the restaurant on the foodie map.
“You just can’t have two sandwiches on the menu! And when this place came out, I was like, ‘Well, this is the perfect opportunity.’ It’s super tasty. It’s like a really fatty, juicy pork burger, in a way. And then we just kind of dress it up with a bit of cheese, some aioli, Calabrian peppers and dill pickle.”
There are also dishes inspired by personal memories. A pickled egg dish encapsulates the nostalgia of “old-school dive bars” that always had a big jar of pickled eggs in the back.
“When I think of nostalgic bars, pickled egg comes to mind,” he shared. This version is lightly pickled and served with an aioli made with English mustard; fried brioche croutons; and dill pollen dusted on top. “That’s one thing I’m very happy with. I think it’s a very good take on that dish.”
You can also munch on an order of “‘All Dressed’ Potato Chips”, a housemade version of Buck’s favourite Lay’s potato chip flavour found only in Canada. “It’s essentially just every flavour combined into one – ketchup, barbecue, sour cream and onion, and salt and vinegar.” Sounds potentially horrendous, but “it’s my favourite chip”, so we’ll have to trust him on that.
Then there’s a fried chicken dish that takes him back in time and space to Toronto, where he grew up and where his family still lives. “Maple syrup with chicken is common in Canada”, and this dish is sprinkled with pine salt made with pine needles harvested from his parents’ farm.
When his family moved into his grandmother’s house in northern Toronto a few years after he was born, his parents brought some of their own furniture with them. The house’s interiors then became “the accumulation of multiple years of things coming together… a collection of mismatched furniture that we just happened to have”, he said. And, somehow, it worked. “They had good taste, I’ll give them that.”
That house serves as the inspiration for Bar Bon Funk. “I wanted to make it feel like a real living room – not too overly designed,” he said.
“We had a couch the exact same colour and texture as this one.” And the entire space’s “colour tones and textures”, including maroons and mustardy yellows, “really bring me back to that home”.
Wood panelling on the walls is the same tone as the panelling in his family’s lakeside cottage in northern Canada. “That living room was purely wood panelled walls, a big fireplace, bookshelves everywhere. These wood walls take me back there, for sure.”
It is original designer furniture that fills the space now, but the spirit of a well-loved 80s family room is definitely here. “The investment on all the touch pieces in this place is meant to be solid – pieces that will age with the venue,” Buck said. “I want this place to feel the same if you come back in 20 years – just more homey.”
Bar Bon Funk opens Aug 15 at 46 Kim Yam Road #02-01.