Penrose KL Cocktail Bar

A Drinking Occasion – Bar Us x Penrose, One Night Only in Kuala Lumpur

Sunday, 3 May • 7pm – Closing • Penrose, Petaling Street • Part of KL Cocktail Week

Lining Up for a Drinking Occasion

We reached Penrose before opening and there was already a proper queue spilling along Petaling Street, which felt like instant proof that this collaboration had landed exactly where it should. Penrose is a compact room and the bar itself says reservations run early with walk-ins later, so turning up blind on a guest-shift night is asking for heartbreak.

Once inside, the room settled into that Penrose rhythm: low light, dark finishes, a tight bar line and a crowd that clearly came to pay attention. It’s intimate without being stiff, the sort of place where every pour and every little gesture behind the counter becomes part of the show.

Why Bar Us Matters

Bar Us has become one of Bangkok’s defining modern bars, described by 50 Best Discovery as a high-concept “drinking room,” and it ranked No. 4 on Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2025 while also appearing on The World’s 50 Best Bars list. That framing matters, because Bar Us is less about loud gimmicks and more about design, texture, contrast and structured storytelling in the glass.

So bringing Sudarat “Taln” Rojanavanich and Veerach “Aum” Sawaengsupt into Penrose felt like a natural fit rather than a random guest shift. Both bars care deeply about intent, precision and experience, just expressed through slightly different cultural lenses.

The Cocktail List

The event menu revolved around five featured serves priced at RM65++ each, or RM258++ for a flight of five, with ingredients that jumped from Thai tea and banana to roasted garlic, holy basil, beef jerky and fish sauce. My wife was the brave and happy alcohol explorer for the evening, while I, Spencer, stayed firmly on the zero-proof path.

• Thai Tea Punch – Thai tea, Martell Noblige, condensed milk, evaporated milk, vanilla, lime juice, coconut nectar.
• Bananaaa Banana – Banana, Martell Noblige, Fino Sherry, vanilla, tea kombucha.
• Honey + Jasmine – Honey, Chivas Regal 12, jasmine, elderflower liqueur, Sauternes wine, Fino Sherry.
• Garlic Sour – Roasted garlic, Código 1530 Blanco, Mezcal, pickled garlic, blended dry vermouth.
• Krapow Neua – Holy basil, beef jerky, Malfy Gin, Lillet Blanc, Oloroso Sherry, fish sauce, cherry tomato.

On paper, it looked like exactly the sort of menu Bar Us is known for: savoury edges, Thai references and enough tension between ingredients to keep you curious before the first sip. It read like Bangkok in cocktail shorthand, translated through Penrose’s cool, minimalist frame.

Garlic Sour for Her, Mocktail for Me

My wife kicked off with the Garlic Sour, which sounds wild on paper and still feels wild when it lands in front of you. Roasted garlic, mezcal, tequila and pickled garlic should have been chaotic, but instead it came across like a confident savoury sour with smoke, funk and structure holding hands rather than fighting.

Meanwhile I, Spencer, was facing the usual festival problem: no listed mocktails. But instead of leaving me stranded with sparkling water, Maria, Penrose’s Head Bartender and Bar Manager, stepped in and built me a custom zero-proof drink that felt every bit as intentional as the official cocktails. That is proper hospitality.

Big shout out to Maria for not treating the mocktail like an obligation. She made it feel like a real drink, a real decision and a real part of the night, which is exactly why she deserves a follow: @mariaescobia.

Krapow Neua for Her, Another Banger for Me

My wife’s second cocktail was Krapow Neua, easily one of the most intriguing drinks on the menu. Holy basil, beef jerky, fish sauce and cherry tomato sounds more like a late-night Bangkok snack than a polished cocktail, but that was exactly the point: it pushed savoury character right to the front without losing elegance.

On my side, Maria answered with a second zero-proof drink that was just as strong as the first in personality, balance and depth. That matters, because it meant I wasn’t just tagging along while my wife drank the “real” menu; I had a proper parallel experience of my own.

The People Who Took Care of Us

Penrose is already one of Kuala Lumpur’s most acclaimed cocktail bars, and nights like this made it obvious why. The room was full, the guest shift was high-profile, and still the team managed to keep things poised, attentive and warm.

Special thanks also to Kah Mun, who took great care of us through the evening. Between Maria behind the bar and Kah Mun on the floor, we felt looked after from the queue outside to the final sip.

From Penrose to Lavantha to PS150

We left Penrose after two drinks – two cocktails for my wife, two mocktails for me – and headed to Lavantha. It’s a beautiful room and the vault-door entrance is great theatre, but they were not nearly as accommodating on the non-alcoholic side as Maria had been at Penrose, so that stop lasted only one drink before we moved on.

From there we headed to PS150, which made for a very satisfying Chinatown one-two-three. Penrose gave us the best hospitality of the night, Lavantha gave us drama, and PS150 gave us the closing chapter.

Why This Night Worked

Guest shifts can sometimes feel like hype machines with pretty flyers and forgettable drinks, but A Drinking Occasion actually delivered. Bar Us brought serious Bangkok pedigree and a menu full of design-minded flavour ideas, while Penrose proved that top-tier hospitality is not just about what’s on the printed menu but how you respond to the person sitting in front of you.

So yes, absolutely follow Penrose, follow Bar Us, follow Maria, follow Kah Mun, and most importantly: book early before you go. If your wife drinks cocktails and you don’t, take heart from me, Spencer: in the right bar, both of you can still have a brilliant night.