Kieran Punay
The hidden bar sets the scene for creative interpretations of old Chinese flavors intertwined with Hong Kong and Japanese nuances
While it shares a name with a Hong Kong actress and model, Ruby Wong holds a different connection to the Admiral Hotel. At the bar of the storied property along Roxas Boulevard, that name is for a fictional character conceptualized by the hotel owners, Accor, and its interior partner Emesaé Design.
Ruby Wong’s Godown is a Manila speakeasy that offers two means of passage: a small anteroom leading you to a staircase adorned with colorful hanging lanterns, and another one where you enter through a bookcase from Admiral Hotel’s lobby.
In the basement, the entrance to the speakeasy is through a cellar door along a makeshift alleyway and a brightly-lit noodle bar filled with Chinese memorabilia from the time of British rule. More historical elements could be found in the bar’s wooden interiors: ornate wall carvings and partitions, vintage maps, and red string streamers that conceal its private lounges. At the same time, its incandescent lighting and lo-fi beats in the background add a contemporary feel to the intimate space.
But, of course, its appeal goes beyond what is seen to what is tasted. For this, the bar presents its 10 signature drinks that were crafted by Admiral Hotel’s bar manager Duane Legaspi and head mixologist John Silva as a means of storytelling. Each drink is meant to show a part of the fictionalized life of Ruby Wong, a woman with an adventurous spirit and a penchant for clandestine meetings.
“Everything has a story,” Legaspi explains. “Reading through our cocktail menu, it’s a fictional account of Ruby Wong’s life in the 1920s coming alive through liquid potions—from her early days in China to her travels in Bombay, India and her daily life as a noodle restaurant owner during the Japanese Occupation in the Philippines in the ‘40s. The drinks are inspired by her experiences and are as colorful and decadent as she was herself.”
Among the crowd favorites from their roster of aperitifs include The Rising Sun, a gin-based drink fused with umeshu, apricots, and bitters topped with a sheet of seaweed. As the first drink on their menu, the concoction is a nod to the Japanese Occupation in the Philippines and a symbol of where the story of the bar is set. The apricots complement the juniper-heavy gin base while the umeshu, a Japanese liquor made from plums, adds a bit of sweetness that is balanced out by the bitter herbs and annatto oil.
As a drink that represents her opium godown, a term in the prohibition era for warehouse, the Green Opium Heaven is a marriage of Jasmine-infused Roku, Tanqueray No. 10, sage-infused Mancino Blanco vermouth, Kaffir tincture pandan, and herb cigarette clipped on the side.
With a hint of florals and earthiness from the sage and vermouth in the drink, it is recommended that you smoke the herb cigarette before partaking. It adds another layer of smoky aftertaste that lingers on your tongue long after you’ve taken a sip.
The making of The Fiery Dragon is a spectacle in itself. It includes a performance from the way it’s mixed and how it’s presented. With the cocktail placed inside a dome cloche, Silva performs a mini fire show by lighting the fire water tincture filling the inside of the glass with smoke. The drink opens with a woody flavor from the Mezcal Durango and bell pepper cordial and then moves on to citrus flavors of grapefruit and lime. The finish is spicy and smoky with just enough warmth enveloping your mouth.
“We like to call ourselves liquid chefs. Some of the techniques and equipment that we use is the same thing culinary chefs would do and use in the kitchen,” Legaspi says. “From our own whisky barrels to our sous vide machine displayed in the bar, we want to show our guests that their drinks come from natural ingredients—preserved or baked. More than the performance and visuals, we like to keep things sustainable. We’re proud to be a self-sustaining bar.”
Visit Ruby Wong in Admiral Hotel, Manila. Follow Ruby Wong’s Godown on Instagram.
