BOTAK:Liquor Bar @ Petaling Street

Weed out the bad cocktails from your nightlife & branch out into this budding new bar, rooted in a garden-to-glass perspective: Filled with foliage, BOTAK:Liquor cultivates a distinctively herbivore-approved approach to mixology, stemming from pure spirits & partially home-grown botanicals.

We headed here hoping to unearth a couple of flower-powered cocktails, but ended up ordering a bumper crop of nine potions - the selection is simply that intriguingly playful. BOTAK's bartenders are gifted with green thumbs; these smooth tipples are easy on both the eyes & the palate, with pleasurably clean, harmoniously balanced profiles.

Some highlights, showcasing dual dominant components: Sweet Pea & Elderflower (RM48; unaged whiskey, sweet peas, organic elderflower cordial, lemon), Bunga Kantan & Pumpkin (RM36; pumpkin seed-infused vodka, calamansi, house-made red ginger lily soda), Rice & Pandan (RM34; gin, fragrant rice-flavoured coconut water, pandan oil), Violet & Dragonfruit (RM42; grappa, dragonfruit, violet liqueur, maraschino, lime), Starfruit & Daun Kari (RM36; pisco, organic starfruit, garden-harvested curry leaves, lemon), Fennel & Cucumber (RM38; fennel seeds-infused tequila blanco, cucumber-lemon-celery juice, Szechuan pepper aquafaba foam).

BOTAK replaces Ray, a bar that specialised in cocktails on tap. There are several fresh-tasting reconfigurations of those at BOTAK - Jasmine & Tarragon (RM38; gin, suze, house-made jasmine cordial, tarragon, lemon bitters, fizz), Papaya & Cuka (RM36; light rum, pesticide-free papayas, cili padi shrub, grated lemon zest, creole bitters), Nangka & Grapefruit (tequila blanco, grapefruit soda, house-made jackfruit liqueur, charcoal salt). Nice use of tropical fruits & other ingredients with local sensibilities.

Practical tip: BOTAK is the sister bar of Chocha Foodstore downstairs; food cannot be brought up from Chocha to BOTAK, but cocktails can be taken down from BOTAK to Chocha. So if you want both food & drinks, choose a table at Chocha & check out the Duck Rendang Hummus (RM32, a warm, comfort-food recipe with chickpeas, eggplant, liver mousse & turmeric leaves) & Sticky Duck (RM56; overnight-brined half duck with Szechuan peppers, black vinegar & mint salad).

BOTAK Liquor Bar

156, Jalan Petaling, Kuala Lumpur. 

Sun, Tues-Wed, 3pm-11pm; Thurs-Sat, 5pm-1am. Tel: 03-2022-1100

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