KUALA LUMPUR (THE STAR) - What's the best cocktail bar in Kuala Lumpur? What's the best beer bar? Which bar has the best food? Who is the best bartender in the city?
We are only a few days away from finding out the answer to these questions, thanks to the inaugural edition of The Bar Awards KL.
Established in 2014, The Bar Awards started out in Singapore, with founder Tron Young setting out to find out what the best bars in Singapore were. The awards have since been expanded to include Hong Kong, Bangkok, and now Kuala Lumpur.
Voted by a panel of 39 Malaysian F&B industry leaders, this is the first time The Bar Awards are being held in Malaysia. A total of 731 nominations from the public and industry were collected over two weeks in September, breaking the record for the number of nominations for the awards' first year at a city so far.
The winners will be announced at an industry party on Oct 22. There will also be a series of related events throughout the week at the nominated bars leading up to the big finale, including guest shifts by some of Asia's top bartenders, industry-related workshops and talks, and a Thai craft beer event.
For the full list of events, visit The Bar Awards' Facebook events page.
In the meantime, here are this year's top four nominees for The Bar Awards KL, listed in alphabetical order:
Best Cocktail Bar
Coley
JungleBird
Omakase + Appreciate
PS150
Best New Cocktail Bar
Jack Rose
JungleBird
Mr Chew's Chino Latino Bar
Pahit
Most Creative Cocktail Bar
Coley
Coppersmith
Omakase & Appreciate
PS150
Best Beer Bar
Ales & Lagers
Sid's Pubs (All locations)
Taps Beer Bar (Changkat)
The Great Beer Bar
Best Restaurant Bar
Fuego
Mercat Barcelona Gastrobar
Mr Chew's Chino Latino Bar
Ril's (Bangsar)
Best Culinary Team
Bistro A Table
Bonfire Restaurant & Bar
El Cerdo
Fuego
Best Hospitality Team
Coley
JungleBird
PS150
The Locker & Loft
The Ada Coleman Award
Angel Ng (PS150)
Kim Choong (Thirst Magazine)
Michelle Loh (TWE)
Shareen Yew (Single & Available)
Bartender of the Year
Angel Ng (PS150)
Chee Kheong "CK" Kho (Coley & Pahit)
Rizal Junior Johari (Marini's on 57)
Shawn Chong (Omakase + Appreciate)
The Rising Star
Calzeno Clitus (JungleBird)
Janice Lau (The Pawn Room)
Jason Julian (Hyde)
Osmond Bernard (Ikki)