Cocktails, wine bars and dives: drinking in Penang for grown-ups.
Cocktail bars, wine bars, dive bars and gastropubs: drinking in Penang for grown-ups.
Backdoor Bodega hides behind a clothing store on Jalan Gurdwara and sits at No. 64 on Asia's 50 Best Bars extended list for 2025, Penang's flagship bar.
Signature drink: Georgetown Gimlet
Food: Bar snacks
Tip: Buy a lapel pin at the counter to redeem your cocktail; the belacan and ulam builds are the ones to trust.
No Bar Here plays 80s and 90s nostalgia a few doors from its older sibling Backdoor Bodega, a Tatler-listed disco-cocktail room in central Penang.
Signature drink: Megumi Highball
Food: Bar snacks
Tip: Made Tatler's Top 20 Malaysian bars in 2025; order the Megumi Highball and claim the cassette wall booth early.
Good Friends Club pours kopitiam-inspired cocktails behind teal doors on Jalan Gurdwara, the Penang bar that turns laksa into a working Negroni.
Signature drink: Penang Laksa Negroni
Food: Cheesy fries and bar snacks
Tip: Start with the Laksa Negroni for the story and switch to the Milo build for the finish; Fridays fill by 22:00.
Magazine 63 opened in 2017 behind an unmarked wooden door on Jalan Magazine, Penang's first true speakeasy and still its most theatrical lounge.
Signature drink: Sultan Negroni
Food: Bar snacks
Tip: Live sets run on select nights in the vintage Chinese-inn interior; knock at the plain wooden door and wait to be seated.
Manchu Bar dresses its Rope Walk speakeasy in red lanterns and Qing-dynasty props, pouring Penang cocktails from porcelain teapots until 03:00.
Signature drink: Elixir Of Youth served in a teapot
Food: Chinese-leaning bar bites
Tip: The teapot service is made for sharing; go late, it keeps the longest hours of the heritage-core cocktail rooms.
Antarabangsa Enterprise is a bottle-shop-turned-street-bar on Lorong Stewart, the cheapest cold beer in George Town on plastic chairs in Penang.
Signature drink: Cold big-bottle beers
Food: None; hawkers nearby
Tip: There is no menu and no frills: grab a big bottle from the fridge, take a plastic chair, and watch the lane drift past.
Nomad builds its Penang cocktail menu as a passport, every drink themed to a country, at the quiet end of Kimberley Street's famous supper stalls.
Signature drink: Country-hopping cocktail flights
Food: Bar snacks
Tip: Eat at the Kimberley Street stalls first; the country-by-country menu rewards ordering in a flight of three.
Archipelago pours from the back door of an Armenian Street shophouse into a plant-lined courtyard, Penang's earliest-opening serious cocktail stop.
Signature drink: Regional spirit cocktails
Food: Bar snacks
Tip: Enter from Jalan Kampung Kolam, not Armenian Street; the 17:00 open makes it the natural pre-dinner round.
Kool Kongsi spins vinyl on a mezzanine above Jalan Argyll as Penang's first listening bar, with cocktails mixed to match the record on the deck.
Signature drink: Bartender's choice built to the record playing
Food: Snacks; restaurant below
Tip: Conversation stays at listening volume by design; let the bartender build a drink around whatever album is playing.