15 bars for a date night with someone special in KL & Selangor

The ‘good ol’ fashioned movie and dinner’ idea for date night can get a little predictable sometimes. So the whole team at EatDrink has come together to compile this list of venues that are perfect for date night – places with tasty and innovative cocktails, or intriguing decor and a cool ambiance, and they’re all cosy enough for a conversation. It’s time to start planning that weekend surprise!

Venues with a view

1. Frisky Rooftop Bar

Magic in the moonlight: Every Thursday night, Frisky Rooftop Bar offers one of KL’s best-kept entertainment secrets – outdoor screenings of mainly independent international movies, representing a refreshing change of scene from crowded multiplexes. The vibe is very relaxed, with most folks capitalising on the complimentary warm popcorn, and optional cocktail buffet.

Address: 4A Lorong Yap Kwan Seng, , Kampung Baru, 50450 Kuala Lumpur
Read review: Movie night at Frisky Rooftop Bar, Yap Kwan Seng
Find: Contact details and map for Frisky Rooftop Bar

2. Nobu Club Lounge

Nobu Club Lounge deserves consideration as a top venue for a fun night out – open mainly Fridays and Saturdays on the same floor as Nobu’s main restaurant, the lounge nails all the necessary elements, from distinctive food to delicious cocktails, plus sterling service and a sumptuous setting with a 56th-floor perspective of the city.

Address: Level 56, Menara 3 Petronas, Persiaran Kuala Lumpur City Centre, 50088 Kuala Lumpur
Read review: Bites and cocktails at Nobu Club Lounge
Find: Contact details and map for Nobu Kuala Lumpur

3. Elysium

With a soaring 32nd-floor view that takes in both the Petronas Twin Towers and the KL Tower, Elysium’s cushion-filled outdoor lounge offers one of the city centre’s most scenic settings for kicking back over cocktails.

Address: Level 31+32, Wisma Goldhill, 67 Jalan Raja Chulan, 50200 Kuala lumpur
Read review: Elysium, Wisma Goldhill
Find: Contact details and map for Elysium

4. Marini’s on 57

Marini’s on 57, is much more than a friendly neighbourhood watering hole. It doesn’t hurt that it’s located atop one of the city’s tallest buildings, 57 stories up and immediately adjacent to the urban pinnacles of the Petronas Twin Towers. Having one of KL’s foremost mixologists at the helm certainly raises the bar, too. Libations enjoyed at Marini’s cloud-friendly bar are elevated somehow, and that’s more than just a play on words.

Address: Level 57, Menara 3 Petronas,, Persiaran KLCC, 50088 Kuala Lumpur
Read review: Marini’s on 57, KLCC
Find: Contact details and map for Marini’s on 57

Speakeasies

5. Skullduggery

The nefarious-sounding Skullduggery is surprising us with some of 2016’s tastiest cocktails. Here’s how to find Skullduggery: Walk to the back-lane behind Plaza Damansara’s Huckleberry Food & Fare (both Skullduggery and Huckleberry share the same founders); look for the ornate, earthen-toned entrance; then take the stairs up, confronting the ominously creepy vibe that leads to a costumed figure that conceals a skull in its helmet, resembling a cross between a Jules Verne creation and a horror flick prop. By then, the elegant bar will be on your right.

Address: 2M Plaza Damansara, Jalan Medan Setia 2,, Bukit Damansara, 50490 Kuala Lumpur
Read review: Skullduggery, Plaza Damansara
Find: Contact details and map for Skullduggery

6. Omakase + Appreciate

Helmed by two topflight Malaysian bartenders, Karl Too and Shawn Chong, this bar is hidden in the basement of an office building behind a foreboding, locked entrance. This speakeasy was even ranked in the top 10 of Asia’s Best Bars by Drinks International.

Address: Bangunan Ming Annexe, Jalan Ampang, 50100 WP Kuala Lumpur
Find: Contact details and map for Omakase + Appreciate

7. The Locker & Loft

This discreet den in Damansara Kim has enough potential to become a top draw, with a mind-broadening menu of Asian-accented small plates and an eye-opening emphasis on whimsical cocktails and other libations at liberating prices. This restaurant-bar lurks on the first floor without a signboard to expose its existence; stride up the stairs and swing open the rusted entrance to slip into this stripped-back space, which succeeds in simultaneously looking raw and rough around the edges while still manifesting a rustic sort of elegance for an intimate, white-tablecloth night out.

Address: 40A, Jalan SS 20/10, , Damansara Kim, 47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Read review: The Locker & Loft, Damansara Kim
Find: Contact details and map for The Locker & Loft

8. Hyde at 53M

Hyde At 53M is hidden above The Good Batch; take the stairs up and slide the entrance open. Slickly outfitted to be the embodiment of cool, the epitome of glamour; this is a lounge unlike any other in Petaling Jaya. Hyde At 53M is separated into two spacious sections: We prefer the air-conditioned indoors, complete with comfy sofas, low lighting and pre-Sinatra jazz, though some will understandably adore the alfresco area that overlooks Damansara Utama’s houses.

Address: 53M, Jalan SS21/1A, Damansara Utama, Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Read review: Hyde at 53M, Damansara Uptown
Find: Contact details and map for Hyde at 53M

Cocktail lounges and bars

9. PS150

This intensely atmospheric bar is one of 2016’s most popular caverns of cocktails, lit with crimson lanterns and neon calligraphy that translates into Petaling Street’s Cantonese name, evoking some ethereal scene from a Wong Kar-wai movie. PS150 is a labyrinthine hideout with corridors seemingly filled with secrets – if these peeling brick walls could speak, they might whisper of this building’s bygone years as a brothel.

Address: Ground Floor, 150 Jalan Petaling, WP Kuala Lumpur
Read review: PS150, Petaling Street, Chinatown
Find: Contact details and map for PS150

10. The Nightingale

Cocktails coupled with canapes: The Nightingale is right on tune with harmonious pairings of drinks with food, conceived by bar chieftain Jose Kim Fulgencio for customers who crave a refreshingly different way of experiencing the craft of mixology. It’s comprehensively stocked with all the alcohol your liver can handle, from whiskey to wine, but the most distinctive draw is the cocktail list – no mere Mojitos or Margaritas here; each of the nearly dozen creations are unique, with names like Pretty Reckless and Madz Walk Beside Hendrix.

Address: C37, Concourse Floor, Atria Shopping Gallery, Damansara Jaya, Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Read review: The Nightingale at Atria Shopping Gallery
Find: Contact details and map for The Nightingale

11. CHAZE at Marquee

One of PJ’s most intriguing new F&B hubs is taking shape: Marquee @ Menara Lien Hoe seeks to showcase six distinctive F&B concepts on Persiaran Tropicana, kicking off with CHAZE, a sultry lounge inspired by a suave persona. Chaze, the owner, loves hosting soirees, has a keenly honed fashion sense, and appreciates fine music, cocktails and distilled beverages – CHAZE, the lounge, is meant to be this hypothetical man’s sanctuary, welcoming like-minded guests for a memorable night out.

Address: Marquee @ Menara Lien Hoe, Persiaran Tropicana, Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Read review: CHAZE at Marquee, Menara Lin Hoe, Persiaran Tropicana
Find: Contact details and map for CHAZE at Marquee

12. The Bar by Sam Kinugawa

The Bar has steadily earned a reputation as one of the Klang Valley’s top destinations for cocktails. It’s still likely the only Japanese-helmed establishment of its kind in Malaysia; customers can enjoy a front-row seat at the polished wooden counter and watch master bartender Sam Kinugawa and his protege Tom calmly and compellingly craft their cocktails – an intimate, unique and zen-like experience that evokes how a sushi chef can be observed creating his masterpieces.

Address: 112, Empire Damansara, Heritage Lane , No.2, Jalan PJU 8/8A, 47800 Damansara Perdana, Selangor
Read review: The Bar, Empire Damansara
Find: Contact details and map for The Bar by Sam Kinugawa

Something a little different

13. Lou Shang Bar

Upstairs is where the party’s at: Husband-and-wife team Manfred and Ai Peng’s much-anticipated first conception is a casual first-floor cocktail bar that hums with humour and heart, fulfilling Manfred’s yearning to run his own watering hole ever since he tended bar during his varsity years in Sydney. Lou Shang is a labour of love that’s imbued with the couple’s personal flourishes, from hand-picked wallpaper to a suspended tree trunk with branches from their home compound.

Address: 10M, First Floor, Jalan SS21/58, Damansara Utama, Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Read review: Lou Shang Bar & Cafe, Damanara Uptown
Find: Contact details and map for Lou Shang Bar & Cafe

14. Hugo Steampunk Premium Lounge

Inspired by Martin Scorsese’s Oscar-winning film Hugo, Malaysia’s first steampunk-themed bar features an intricate interior that’s a visual feast, fitted with mechanical flourishes and a retro-futuristic mural that H.G. Wells might have extolled, honouring the sci-fi subgenre of a pseudo-Victorian era that synthesises steam-powered industrialisation with visions of techno-fantasy.

Address: No 16, Jalan 19/1, , Seksyen 19, 46300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Read review: Hugo Steampunk Premium Lounge, Petaling Jaya
Find: Contact details and map for Hugo Steampunk Premium Lounge

15. No Black Tie

The idea of a date night at NBT is nothing new, but no list would be complete without this KL live music institution. Spend an evening here and feel your cares melt away slowly while night’s performers play on, seducing you with sultry voices and jazzy music. No Black Tie’s menu is limited, but what it offers is well-prepared by talented chefs.

Address: 17 Jalan Mesui,, Off Jalan Nagasari, 50200 Kuala Lumpur
Find: Contact details and map for No Black Tie