THE journey to Bar Spectre is tricky – find a stairwell in an alleyway behind shophouses, or locate a tiny lift lobby off Tanjong Pagar Road and head to the second floor – but what awaits is a shot of cocktail-based therapy.

At this mental-wellness-focused bar, tipplers are greeted not by the menu, but by a cleansing ritual with fire. They are encouraged to write down something they would like to get off their chests, set it aflame and – thanks to the nature of magician’s flash paper – watch it vanish in the air.

“We are ‘restarting’ them,” said founder Andrew Pang “It’s like a physical reset so that they arrive mentally together.”