Penang bars like The Nest (pic), Backdoor Bodega, Baobae, Good Friends were not only great hosts, but also proved the island's cocktail pedigree. — Photos: Michael Cheang/The Star
Penang has always been known as a food destination, but perhaps it is also time for it to be recognised as a proper cocktail destination as well.
If you needed more proof, then the recent Penang Cocktail Week (PCW) was it.
Held from September 1 to 7, the third edition of PCW was a week-long celebration of Penang’s cocktail scene, with acclaimed international bars behind the stick at not just the island’s more famous bars, but also some of its smaller and newer outlets as well.
This year’s PCW also featured Malaysia’s first ever Bar Show, which took place on the final day at Ascott Gurney Penang, and featured over 20 spirit brands, masterclasses and talks, as well as Penang’s and the region’s best bartenders shaking up drinks.
Penang bars to the fore
Well-established bars such as Backdoor Bodega, No Bar Here, Chez Chez, Biso, Nomad, Baobae, The Mandarin, and The Nest, which have been part of PCW from year one, as well as Good Friends Club, form a backbone to the city’s cocktail scene that can rival that of the biggest cocktail cities such as Hong Kong or Singapore.
among the bars leading the Penang cocktail revolution is, of course, Backdoor Bodega.
Aside from Baobae, which is located in Pulau Tikus, most of these bars are located within walking distance of each other. This made for a truly festival-like feel throughout the week, as we routinely walked past fellow bar hoppers on the way to the next bar.
This, for me, made Penang Cocktail Week a truly unique experience – there was always somewhere to visit, whether or not that particular was having an event at the bar or not. And the best part is, all the bars have their own unique signature cocktails and atmosphere.
Looking for some good Vietnamese food to go with some bespoke classic cocktails? Check out Baobae. Want cocktails with unique flavours and made with cutting edge techniques? Biso’s the place. How about drinks that marry local Penang sensibilities with European flair? Chez Chez’s the bar to be. Disco era drinks with a twist? No Bar Here’s got you covered. Ice cream and cocktails? Drop by Drunken Gelato.
And of course, that’s not forgetting arguably two of the best known cocktail bars in Penang – Good Friends Club and Backdoor Bodega.
Meanwhile, new bars such as Round, The Suckling Pig, Rembar, and Small Places also made their mark, as did others such as The Cellar at Macalister Mansion and Khaosan Tapas Bar.
Newer bars like Round also made their presence felt during PCW.
Distinct and international
While there were guest shifts by some of Asia’s most celebrated bars, including Bangkok’s Social Club, #FindTheLockerRoom, and Dry Wave, Jakarta’s Cosmo Pony, Vietnam’s Workshop14, China’s CMYK, Singapore’s Native and Jigger & Pony, I decided to focus on some of the more offbeat ones on the list.
One of the more unique shifts happened during a blockbuster Day Six, with TWELVE shifts by bars from Taiwan and Bangkok across town.
For my Bangkok fix, I headed to The Suckling Pig for Tax Bar, which was showcasing its new Insects menu.
Tax Bar showcased its insect cocktails during its shift at The Suckling Pig.
Yes, insects. Each drink was paired with a different bug (Grasshopper, Bamboo Worms,Silk Pupa, and Giant Water Bug), making for arguably the most unique ‘pairing’ I had the entire week, and one of the more memorable guest shifts of the entire PCW.
Another interesting shift I went for was on Day Two’s ‘Vietnam All-Stars’ trail – Saigon’s Hybrid at The Nest.
Hybrid is known for its ‘unconventional flavours’, and it certainly lived up to that reputation. In a way, it was the perfect guest shift to have at The Nest, which is also known for its unconventional cocktails that eschew synthetic syrups and are always paired with food.
Hybrid’s Stinger had a Sichuan Button Flower garnish that was arguably the most unique-tasting flavour I tasted all week.
The highlight of this shift was the Stinger (Martell VSOP, Sichuan Button Flowers, Fresh Choco-Mint Leaves, Oloroso Sherry), which is quite unlike any Stinger I’ve ever tried.
For one, that Sichuan Button Flower garnish completely screwed up my palate with its sharp, minty, almost pungent flavour, and I could not taste anything else for 10 minutes after that.
The drink itself was almost a sidekick to that flower, helping to rein in the sharp flavour somewhat. What a unique sensation this cocktail had!
Food and drinks
What’s a Penang festival without food, eh? This year’s PCW put a lot more emphasis on food and cocktail pairings compared to the previous years. The highlight for me, personally, was the Codigo Coffee Shop Session event, featuring three big ‘C’s - Coffee, Cocktails and Char Koay Teow.
Held at Small Places, a little cafe/bar that also specialises in coffee cocktails, guests got to enjoy coffee drinks made with Codigo Tequila, and also plates of free-flow Tiger Char Koay Teow cooked with tequila.
Coffee, cocktails and char koay teow? Only at Penang Cocktail Week. Tax Bar showcased its insect cocktails during its shift at The Suckling Pig. — Photos: MICHAEL CHEANG/The Star
If rum was more your thing, then the Rum & Yum event was the place to be, with Klang Valley’s coolest noodle joint, Fifty Tales, collaborating with George Town’s new kids on the block, Rembar for a pairing of yummy noodles and rummy cocktails.
Other food events included a Bartender’s Brunch at the newly opened Teochew Club; the Izakaya Under The Stars at Nood Nood at Hin Bus Depot with drinks by Dear Hearts bar from Petaling Jaya; as well as the PCW Service Swap at NEP, which featured a kitchen and bar takeover like no other, with Penang’s best chefs and bartenders swapping roles for one night only.
Aki Nakata was one of the guest bartenders at Baobae during PCW.
Flavours of India
Day Four saw a collaboration with India Cocktail Week, with shifts by bars from India happening across town, including PCO (Delhi) at Biso, Hideaway (Goa) at No Bar Here, and Bar Spirit Forward Bengaluru) at The Nest.
I decided to take it easy, and only went for the shift at Biso by PCO from Delhi, the first speakeasy cocktail bar in India.
PCO (which stands for Pass Code Only) was founded 13 years ago by Rakshay, who was at Biso alongside head bartender Vikas. The bar’s current ‘The Forbidden’ menu features drinks uses ingredients that are ‘forbidden’ in somewhere around the world - whether religiously, culturally or even legally.
India's PCO bar served up some unique drinks at Biso.
This made for some interesting cocktails as well, including one called Ignorance Is Bliss, made with Chyavanprash Washed Hapusa Himalayan Dry Gin, Coffee Vermouth, Angostura Bitters.
This drink used Chyavanprash, which is an “Ayurvedic remedy made of 46 herbs” that has been “banned in certain countries for the metal in it”, but is commonly used as a health supplement in India.
Throughout the week, other bars from India were also in town, including 2024 Best Bar In India, ZLB23 and Wild from Bengaluru, and Goa’s Boiler Maker.
Spotlight on Malaysian legends
One other highlight for me was the regular Malaysian Invasion takeover that happened on Day Three. This year’s edition belonged to the boys from Borneo, with Best Of Borneo extravaganza, featuring bartenders that hail from Sabah and Sarawak, which includes some of Malaysia’s most influential bartenders and industry legends, such as Ash, Junior, Osmund, Amar, Jason Julian, Joe Ng, and Joshua Pang taking over at Biso, and The Cellar @ Macalister Mansion.
Day Three saw some of Malaysia’s bartending legends take over The Cellar at Macalister Mansion.
I managed to catch the one at Cellar, and it was a night of local flavoured drinks, with cocktails featuring Bornean ingredients like lihing, tuak, latok, losun etc.
These same legends were also on hand to talk about the rise of Malaysian cocktail culture in the 1990s and early 2000s, during a talk about Malaysian bartending history at the Bar Show Malaysia.
Michael Cheang almost regrets spending the entire week at Penang Cocktail Week. ALMOST. Follow him on Instagram (@mytipsyturvy) and Facebook (fb.com/mytipsyturvy).
