Manchu hidden bar Penang: secret doors to great cocktail

The Hidden Bar is Our Thing

It’s no secret that we love hidden and speakeasy bars and we already wrote all about the reasons why we do. This time, in Penang, we got a few hints about some outstanding hidden bars. It was hard to choose which one to visit, due to our limited time in this town. In the end, we chose the Manchu hidden bar, where they are supposed to have live Chinese opera performances and great cocktails.

Manchurian Bar in Penang

This bar is on a busy street and if you aren’t careful enough, you can easily miss it. Actually, at first, it is just a small room with a red curtain and a statue, but when you move the curtain you see the secret doors, which will take you directly to this bar. Besides the address, which is at the end of this article, visitors get a small signal from the guy in the direction where the gem is hiding.

This bar is a Manchurian themed bar and they did a great job at that. You’ll be served by guys in Manchurian clothes and, you can find many props all over the place for you to play with and take some insta photos while sipping on your drink. The ambiance is amazing and their list of cocktails is extended, just maybe a little too dull for our personal taste.

Cocktails

We like more unique mixology drinks instead of old classics. Regardless, we ordered a Penang mule which is made of lime juice, sugar, vodka, ginger beer, calamansi and candied ginger. To point out, the cocktail was refreshing, with a hint of ginger and had a strong citrusy taste. The ginger wasn’t too strong and it went well with this drink. The sweet taste hides the liquor so you don’t feel the alcohol too much, which makes it a great cocktail for summer days!

We also had the Yuzu Whiskey sour cocktail, which was a little bit creamier but still refreshing. It was made with lemon, Yuzu, and whiskey. The cocktail was actually very good with some bitter Yuzu taste and a great whiskey finish. The lemon provided some sourness and refreshment to this drink with the help of the huge ice ball.

Conclusion

Sadly, on our visit, they didn’t have any live music performance going on. However, we can’t argue over the club music they had that night. The atmosphere was nice and it wasn’t a rare sight to see a table full of glasses and bottles of whiskey. Hint: bottles of booze are cheap here, so just grab some friends and go find this gem! The only downside here is they don’t have more artisan cocktails.

Manchu Bar Review Card

• 9.1/10
  ATMOSPHERE – 9.1/10
• 8.6/10
  SERVICE – 8.6/10
• 7.4/10
  DRINK SELECTION – 7.4/10
• 5.6/10
  PRESENTATION – 5.6/10
• 6.7/10
  OUR DRINKS – 6.7/10
• 6.6/10
  VALUE – 6.6/10

Price and Location

Prices for cocktails vary here from 7 USD to 15 USD. However, if you would like to see this Manchu hidden bar, here is a link to a location.