I’ve given you glimpses of the Long Bar at the Raffles Hotel and a look at the famous Singapore Sling. Here is a view of the entire bar.

From the first perspective, the bar doesn’t appear particularly long. However, take a look at the following picture. The bar stretches almost the entire length of the room.

Doing additional research, I discovered that this bar is not the original within the hotel. It was moved later during a renovation. The original bar, however, was 40 feet long, a moderate size by today’s standards.

The record holder for the longest bar is currently at Sergio’s Bar in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It stretches 405 feet. Still, Sergio can’t claim it’s the birthplace of the Singapore Sling.

Another unique tradition at the Long Bar is the allowance and even encouragement of empty peanut shells being strewn on the floor. For a country like Singapore, which prides itself on being orderly and clean, this seems particularly noteworthy.

Apparently, there are other establishments, mainly in the United States, that permit lax peanut shell etiquette, but I’ve never personally seen it in America. I thought it might be a British Pub thing, but it isn’t. This Long Bar tradition was designed to evoke the colonial-era Malaya, lending the bar an old-timey, rustic charm. Though the bar is too clean to feel exactly rustic.

It’s a fun tradition, nevertheless.

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