“Just wait for my call,” Oliver Leung told Jacky Ha. In 2020, they made a pact: One day, they’d revive Suite 114, the shuttered escape room speakeasy where they met, worked and became friends. Leung even tattooed Suite 114’s slogan — “Stay Thirsty, Stay Humble” — on his forearm as a reminder of the dream.
Four years passed before he could fulfill that promise. He recalls the day well; as soon as Ha picked up, Leung immediately announced with gravitas: “Remember? I told you to wait for my call.”
When the co-owners opened Suite 115 in Little Italy, they made it a love letter to its predecessor. There’s no host to greet you; instead, you’ll find a secret passcode for the keypad. Inside, a double bartop is lit by flickering candles; the music is upbeat; and mood lighting seeps from behind the bar, warming the vacant walls.
The walls might not have art in Suite 115, but each cocktail is a masterpiece: balanced, intentional and layered. On a busy night, Leung is hyper-focused behind the bar, executing his menu with flair and precision. The jigger is his paintbrush; the glass, his canvas; the bar, his gallery.
Oliver Leung, co-owner of Suite 115 cocktail bar in Little Italy
Nicole & Bagol
In the Heart of Normandy cocktail, Leung sails us to France on a brew of fresh pear juice, apricot liqueur and Calvados Boulard, topped with an acidified apple-icewine foam. The Southeast Jungle is a complex sipper inspired by Leung’s wife’s Indonesian heritage and his mother-in-law’s favourite ingredient: lemongrass. A cloud of celery air is served in a wooden spoon on the side, meant to be tasted on its own (“It can be awkward when you’re on a date, to lick the foam,” Leung laughs). The peanut-butter-washed Red Luna is a play on the iconic Chinese dessert tang yuan and emulates the classic flavours with black rice syrup and red bean cream.
There’s also a secret menu, where Leung and his team let loose, experimenting with bold new concepts. To try these drinks, you’ll need to solve a hidden riddle — natch. “It’s a collaborative effort from the team,” Leung enthuses. “Everyone brings in different cultures, ideas, what inspired them.” He’s modest, and I’m not surprised. After all, he stays humble, so the rest of us can stay thirsty.
Nicole & Bagol
Dadar Gulung
Served with its eponymous Indonesian coconut–pandan pancake (or crêpe) roll, this drink is the dessert’s liquid twin. “It’s the exact same taste,” promises Leung. He infuses rum with toasted coconut and pandan, adds palm sugar and dehydrated fig leaf powder, and blends in two types of sherry before clarifying it all with coconut milk.
“The liquid is brown, and the inside of the dessert is also brown. We did a pandan brush on the outside to symbolize the crêpe,” Leung explains.
Nicole & Bagol
The Old Man
Inspired by Leung’s upbringing, this milk punch “pays tribute to the old man who, in Hong Kong, drinks milk tea by day, then a new whisky at night,” Leung explains. “It tastes and smells like Hong Kong milk tea, but drinks more like an old-fashioned … It’s a slow sipper.”
Prepared by in-house pastry chef Darren Hau, the three mini pastries are filled with a tea custard. ”They’re not exactly pineapple buns… but they sort of look like pineapple buns,” Leung laughs.
