Swee Lee Clarke Quay cafe & retail store
There’s been a resurgence of vinyl-listening bars and cafes lately, from RPM to Slow Boat. If you live and breathe music, here’s one more to add to your list. Since opening in April 2024, Swee Lee Clarke Quay has transformed a former warehouse into a spot for audiophiles, complete with retail and dining spaces.
It has a bar and cafe, vinyl-listening stations, a cosy hall area with a dining space and performance venue, and a Creator Corner with music editing set-ups and the relevant tools.
What to know about Swee Lee Singapore before heading down
For the uninitiated, Swee Lee Singapore is a local music retailer, founded in 1946 and headquartered in the Lion City. The brand started as a supplier of brass and woodwind instruments for British military bands, but eventually began specialising in guitars and drums in the 1950s when rock and roll became popular.
Image credit: @chinnian via Instagram
Swee Lee then became the go-to place for both seasoned and beginner musicians to purchase instruments and accessories such as amplifiers, looper pedals, and guitar cables.
The first store opened in Capitol Theatre. Now, you can find its music retail stores in Star Vista and Clarke Quay. The brand has also expanded into e-commerce and opened stores regionally in Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
Work-friendly cafe & bar at Swee Lee Clarke Quay
Although Swee Lee’s known for its instruments, vinyl records, and audio gear, having a cafe in the new space isn’t a far-fetched concept. In fact, this marks Swee Lee’s second venture into F&B, after the Swee Lee Social Club in The Star Vista.
The space at Clarke Quay boasts a cosy “living room” or hall area that does double duty as a dining space and performance venue. Besides being aesthetically pleasing, it’s also cosy with plenty of seating options – whether you want to plonk yourself down on a sofa or sit at a dining table.
The work stations are located right by the bar.
Swee Lee Clarke Quay’s cafe offers locally-roasted coffee by day, and cocktails come nighttime. We visited during the day and found that it’s a great spot to work at, especially with plenty of natural light streaming in, a far cry from the clinical flourescent white lighting found in most offices.
There’s also strong Wi-Fi and plenty of power points to charge your devices, so you can park yourself here all afternoon without worrying about your laptop dying. However, if you’re the type to get easily distracted, the open-floor concept may not be as conducive, as there will be people walking around you at the work stations.
Image adapted from: sweeleemusic via Instagram
For lunch, there are plenty of food options on the menu. Try the Spinach + Cheese Toastie ($17), made out of toasted sourdough, spinach, and melted cheese. This savoury dish is served with homemade marinara sauce on the side. There’s also a selection of pasta to slurp up, which includes the Seafood Aglio Olio ($21) and Carbonara ($18.50).
As for smaller bites, they’ve got Cheesy Ham + Spinach Tortilla Melts ($9), Truffle Fries ($11.50), and Sweet & Spicy Drumlets ($11.50) to snack on.
Image credit: Eatbook
Swee Lee Clarke Quay is also a great stop for some tipples before heading to clubs along Clarke Quay like Zouk Singapore. Know that they serve up classic cocktails ($20) like Whiskey Highball, Gin & Tonic, and Negroni for a fuss-free pre-game. Else, red and white wine ($15/glass) and beers ($10) are also available. You can also bring your own wine with a corkage fee of $5/bottle.
Can you buy musical instruments at Swee Lee Clarke Quay?
Image credit: @wshejs987 via Instagram
Of course, you can’t go to a Swee Lee store without testing out the equipment. Musicians will love the range of musical instruments and audio gear at Swee Lee Clarke Quay, which are available for purchase. There’s even a guitar “cellar” with a myriad of guitar brands like Fender, Taylor, and Heritage Guitars, to name a few. However, access is by appointment only.
Customers are welcome to “test drive” the guitars before purchasing them – all you have to do is let the staff know. If you’re buying an electric guitar, you can play it at one of the guitar-testing stations.
So far, Swee Lee Clarke Quay is the first place we’ve seen that has stations where you can test through headphones instead of blasting the sound through an amplifier. We thought it was a cool touch as this ensures that it doesn’t get too noisy, especially since there’s also a cafe in the same space. This also ensures that beginners who are too paiseh to play out loud will be more comfortable testing out the equipment here.
Additionally, head over to the vinyl section, which has more than 500 titles across multiple genres, with artists ranging from Michael Jackson to SZA and Billie Eilish. We went straight for the shelf of opened vinyls that customers can listen to at one of the vinyl-listening stations.
It costs $15/hour to book a listening station, but if you foresee yourself being a repeat visitor here, consider signing up for Swee Lee Clarke Quay’s new VMI Connect Insider membership, which starts from $29/month. Members get to enjoy up to 12 hours of listening station access a month, and up to 15% off food items at in-house and partner cafes.
If you’ve got a record player of your own back at home, the membership also allows you to borrow up to 3 records at a time from both their Clarke Quay and The Star Vista outlets. Finally, members will also get priority access to events such as music masterclasses, new album launch nights, and community gatherings.
Back to our experience, we loved the Audio-Technica turntables and headphones that provided a top-tier listening experience. But even if you’re just a casual listener, you’ll be getting quite a novel experience. Who knows, this might just be your foray into vinyl collecting.
Check out the Creator Corner while you’re at it.
Music lovers should check out Swee Lee Clarke Quay
As music lovers ourselves, Swee Lee Clarke Quay is the perfect place to indulge in tunes the old-fashioned way. Plus, it’s also the place to catch the occasional live music and open mic performances, and nothing’s stopping you from grabbing brunch here too on lazy Sunday mornings at their cafe.
Sign Up with TSL Connect
Photography by Huy Pham.
Originally published on 15th April 2024. Last updated by Khoo Yong Hao on 24th July 2026.