Sparrow Bar at Kota Damansara: Cocktail bar review

Fixed up with mahjong tiles and tables, Sparrow takes flight as a new cocktail bar to watch, founded by Shawn Chong and Karl Too (the two pioneering men behind Omakase + Appreciate) and featuring the talents of bartenders Shirmy Chan and Joel John Timis.

Discreetly tucked in a hidden room at the back of the Olfactory Bulb cafe, it’s an intimate, chilled-out space that parades the most successfully creative cocktails in Kota Damansara. There’s no gambling here though – the mahjong theme serves simply as the inspiration for the bar’s distinctive decor and its name (mahjong sounds like ‘sparrow’ in Chinese, or something like that).

Expect an evolving repertoire of original concoctions that currently include the use of Malaysian elements (future sets of cocktails may borrow influences from, say, Europe for awhile, the Americas after that, and so on). Both bartenders personally create their own mixes.

Drinks by Shirmy Chan

Shirmy’s work is nuanced and surprising in its subtleties – Hot Girls Don’t Cry features Cana Brava Rum, basil, cumin, sour plum, pineapple and lime; Tell Me Laureine comprises Ford’s Gin, JW Black Label, Martini Bianco, liquorice, lemon and chrysanthemum tea; while Barry & Mary contains Bruichladdich Classic Laddie, raspberry, rosemary, coconut water, white vinegar and Angostura bitters in precise proportions, making for memorable cocktails worth slowly sipping and contemplating.

Drinks by Joel John Timis

Joel’s blends are also intriguing, displaying different dynamics that reflect his own identity and character behind the bar. Come thirsty and try everything – Spiced Up (Jose Cuervo 1800 Blanco, lemon, curry leaves, sweet vermouth, sugar), Sirap Selasih (Ford’s Gin, rose pandan syrup, lime, Angostura biters) and Pekoe Park City (Rendezvous Rye, raw honey, jasmine tea, star anise); each cocktail is RM40 nett.

Omakase + Appreciate plans for the year

Since Sparrow isn’t meant to be a carbon copy of Omakase + Appreciate, you likely won’t find Shawn and Karl’s cocktails here (though occasional specials like Shawn’s Mahjong Martini – with Aylesbury Duck vodka, dry vermouth and ginseng herbal tea syrup – might surface from time to time); the liquor selection here is also more narrowly focused compared to Omakase’s, creating a fresh combination of challenges for Sparrow.

It’s an interesting step forward in the Omakase + Appreciate team’s ambitious plans for this year, which include the expected launch soon of RAD, a mini-academy that aims to help raise the bar for local bartenders with classes and other educational initatives in Petaling Jaya’s Section 14.