It has been a troublesome couple of years for the Malaysian bar neighborhood, however issues are lastly trying up now. The business even had one thing to cheer about lately when the record of Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2022 was introduced at an awards ceremony in Bangkok, Thailand.
Kuala Lumpur bars Bar Trigona and JungleBird got here in at #29 and #35 respectively on the record, which featured institutions from 16 cities throughout Asia.
The prolonged 51-100 record additionally noticed Penang bar Backdoor Bodega making its debut at #97 (changing into the first bar from the state to be on the record), alongside KL bars Three X Co (#70) and Coley (#100).
I caught up with the people from every of the 5 bars to get their reactions on the awards, how they’ve managed to outlive the previous two years, and in addition what they’re trying ahead to in the new “old” regular.
Bar Trigona
Bar Trigona, which grew to become the first Malaysian bar to make it on the World’s 50 Best Bars record in 2020, is positioned at the Four Seasons Hotel KL, and units the normal for sustainable bar practices not solely in Malaysia, however in Asia as effectively.
Besides coming in at #29 on the Asian record this yr, Bar Trigona additionally took house the inaugural Best Cocktail Menu Award, recognising it for a singular menu that focuses on Malaysian produce.
According to assistant bar supervisor Julian Benjamin Brigett, the previous few years have been actually powerful for the business, particularly for Bar Trigona, which was closed to company throughout the motion management order interval.
“We had to keep the whole team busy last year when we were closed, by conducting training, creating new ideas for drinks, doing a whole lot of research and development,” Brigett mentioned. “This helped keep us motivated and on our toes.”
Bar Trigona additionally received the inaugural Best Cocktail Menu award.
One of the issues that saved the crew busy was growing the Herb Garden In Your Glass menu, which received them the Best Cocktail Menu award.
“The menu focuses on four different herbs common in Malaysia – pandan (screwpine), lemongrass, pegaga (Asiatic Pennywort), and bunga kantan (ginger torch flower),” he defined.
“We grow the herbs that are used in the cocktail in the hotel itself, and they are used by both our culinary and bar teams to elevate our food and drinks.”
With borders now totally open, Brigett is trying ahead to seeing extra worldwide company at the bar. “We will also be launching a new menu again in a few weeks’ time, with a whole new concept,” he added.
JungleBird
Named after the basic Malaysian cocktail, JungleBird is a self-styled “Rumah Rum”, specialising in drinks made with the sugarcane spirit. This is the fifth yr the bar has been on the record consecutively, and co-founder Joshua Ivanovic referred to as it an achievement that’s “both surprising and incredibly humbling”.
“With so many excellent new entries each year, we’re always over the moon to make the list,” he mentioned.
According to him, nothing ready them for the way totally devastating the pandemic was for the complete business, each domestically and globally.
“We are beyond thankful that we have so far managed to make it out the other side. We definitely owe that to every person who kept us going during the lockdown, be it through ordering freshly baked pastries and boozy ‘tiRUMisus’, or buying prepaid vouchers and beverage kits for family and friends.
“The entire team here at JungleBird has been incredible as well. When push came to shove, on so many occasions everyone pitched in when it mattered the most,” Ivanovic added.
The bar moved to a brand new location in 2021 (sure, in the center of the pandemic!) and Ivanovic mentioned the response to the new location has been optimistic thus far.
“We have worked hard to safeguard the same playful approach to what we do, while maintaining a sense of seriousness to the products we offer,” he famous, including that the bar can even be launching a brand new cocktail menu later this yr.
Backdoor Bodega
Located in the coronary heart of George Town, Penang, Backdoor Bodega began out as “just a hobby” for founder and head bartender Koh Yung Shen. Soon, the place garnered a repute for serving wonderful drinks and its distinctive “buy a pin and get a free drink” idea.
Koh mentioned he didn’t count on the bar to make it on the Asia’s 50 Best Bars record in any respect.
“For a small bar like ours here in Penang to even be considered for the list was beyond our wildest expectations,” he mentioned.
“It was truly a humbling moment for us, to be mentioned alongside all the great bars that we look up to and admire.”
While many bars pivoted their companies to give attention to promoting meals throughout the MCO, Koh mentioned that it wasn’t an possibility for them.
Backdoor Bodega founder Koh is trying ahead to serving to the Penang cocktail bar scene develop as soon as extra.“Food was something we felt we could not do well enough in order to keep the lights on. So, we focused solely on bottled cocktails and merchandise delivery,” Koh shared, including that his e-commerce background meant that he already had all the assets accessible to instantly arrange a web-based retailer for the bar. They even had packaging supplies and got here up with logistics options to ship bottled cocktails all through Malaysia.
“This really helped us in generating precious revenue throughout the lockdown as we were able to reach consumers beyond Penang – especially those in KL and Sabah and Sarawak,” he mentioned.
One vary of these bottled cocktails, comprising drinks that have been named after the varied Covid-19 vaccines, proved to be an enormous hit and even received featured in worldwide information websites.
“At the time, the demand for Covid-19 vaccines was growing rapidly in Malaysia, so we thought it would be funny to create some vaccine-themed bottled cocktails for people to buy while they wait for their actual vaccine doses,” Koh defined.
They cleverly named their drinks Pfizermeister, Extra-Gineca, Sinosour… you get the drift.
“Little did we know it would do so well. People are still sending enquiries to us about it today!” he revealed.
“It most definitely helped pull us through the last few months of the lockdown in 2021 when it seemed the darkest for our bar’s future, and I will forever be grateful for that.”
Now, Koh is trying ahead to welcoming company again to the bar as soon as once more.
“I always believe that a bar is about the people first and foremost. Therefore it gives me great joy to be able to welcome guests back again, and to be alongside the team I have missed working with over the past two years,” he mentioned.
“I also look forward to playing our part in picking the Penang cocktail scene up from where it left off in 2019, and getting the momentum (and good times) back on track again.”
Three X Co
Located on the third ground of Bangsar Shopping Centre in KL, Three X Co was based in 2017 by three associates with a typical curiosity, therefore the identify. The bar blends native oriental cultures with a Prohibition-styled speakeasy theme, and is helmed by bartender David Hans, who was the first Asian World Champion at the Giffard West Cup in 2017.
Three X Co made the precise Top 50 record final yr, however though it dropped to #70 this yr, bar supervisor Angeline Tan mentioned they have been nonetheless joyful to make it into the record.
“We were open for not more than six months in 2021 and with not much international travel happening, too – we are glad we still managed to be on the list,” she mentioned.
Three X Co’s drinks blends native oriental cultures with a Prohibition-styled speakeasy theme.Three X Co was one in all the first bars to pivot to delivering beverage “care packs” and cocktails, and even launched a collection of “DIY @Home Cocktail” movies on social media to try to get extra individuals to understand the craft of constructing cocktails and to develop the pool of cocktail drinkers in the nation.
They additionally did their half in serving to Malaysians in want by means of the White Flag motion, with the crew gathering on weekends to pack family-sized meals support bins and distributing them to these in want throughout the MCO.
“We were able to reach out to 650 families with our food boxes,” Tan mentioned.
With issues opening up now, the unhealthy is trying ahead to seeing their regulars once more, and in addition welcoming worldwide visitor bartenders.
Coley
Koh Chee Keong, founding father of Bangsar bar Coley, was joyful that the bar simply managed to squeeze into the record at #100.
“I did not expect (to make the list) because it was almost impossible to host anyone at the bar,” he mentioned, including that to outlive the tough interval, Coley pivoted to meals and cocktail deliveries, like many different bars.
“We were also more active on our social media, so that we could keep the brand out there, going deep into our store and inventory to find anything and everything we could use as a marketing tool,” he mentioned.
“We also did collaborations with industry friends, especially chefs, to explore different ways to reach consumers.
As Coley removed all its seats at the bar during the lockdown and partial reopening, Kho is now looking forward to finally having guests seated at the bar at long last.
“We’re so excited that we can seat customers at the bar again! We will be having more ideas to share, and hopefully we can expand and expose more guests to new concepts once again.”
Michael Cheang is trying ahead to not having to make his personal drinks at house, lastly. Follow him on Facebook and Instagram (@MyTipsyTurvy).
