Takeaway:
We ruminate on the state of gentrification in KL while appreciating the Chinatown bar PS 150 in the middle of 2016, a good half year after our first visit. As of 22 October 2017, quite a number of things have changed: in particular, we’ve heard talk of the oftentimes brusque and arrogant service. You may want to bear that in mind while also weighing it against the fact that PS 150 still serves up some of the better cocktails in town for the price point.
Before its official launch in mid-January 2016, PS 150 was a poorly-kept secret hidden away in the same building as Merchant’s Lane. Slightly outside of Chinatown-proper (ie. the garish crossroads packed with consumeristic spoofs and once-good food), there wasn’t even a front entrance in place. Thirsty patrons entered through a door in the back alley. Reservations were made through a mobile phone.
Six months on (give or take), PS150 has quite firmly established itself as one of the leading purveyors of cocktails in Malaysia. To understand why, let’s go for a brief detour:
Malaysia has no real cultural cachet of its own. Or more precisely, the urban middle class of KL has none. We largely trail in the slipstream of other soft powers and bounce from trend to trend as they expand, pivot or burn out. As a consequence, KL is currently in the midst of a curious wave of faux-speakeasies and earnest “conscious” consumerism. Aesthetics must now be backed by narratives – but more on this later. While I stop short of completely condemning the hypocrisy, as Zizek does, it’s interesting to note how pervasive this mindset is amongst the privileged.
Back to alcohol though, the crux of the current zeitgeist is the blurry line between experimentation and tradition. While some opt for a specific camp, it’s become increasingly common to find new bars comfortable with operating in both zones. So where does that leave PS 150?
First of all, it’s gorgeous. It’s part of a refurbished former-brothel, there are now three visually distinct areas to the bar, and everything looks both vintage-nostalgic and authentic. The chairs are heavy, substantial, luxuriously comfortable. The walls are exposed brick. The new entrance mimics a toy shop display and leads into a quiet alley of seats. The lighting, and lack thereof, speak of a Chinatown somehow more authentic than the ugly, real, 2016 Chinatown just outside. Everything is a haze of desaturated beauty. When I’m there, I’m typically the ugliest thing in the bar.
The drinks themselves are delectable for the most part, with a standout or two amongst the rotating menus. The Nikka from the Barrel shines without help but of course that’s a given. It’s one of the fruitiest whiskies out there, with a smoky vanilla-toffee aftertaste and a smooth top note. It’s good, but how can you judge a bar by it? The proof is not in the raw, unadorned high-proof spirits, but in the cocktails – more specifically, in the finesse of execution, in the way the disparate elements complement and contrast, in the flourish of the preparation (remember, the narrative of the experience is as important as the product), and in the layers of flavours that hit the palate and build in the mind.
By most subjective measures, it’s hard to say that PS 150 is anything but a success. The profiles are nuanced, the drinks are interesting without being overtly experimental (like, say, Bitters and Love from Singapore), and perhaps most importantly, they lack the distinct cloying sweetness that plagues most of KL’s old bar scene. In this instance, it’s handy to borrow terminology from the coffee world: PS 150 plants itself quite firmly in the new second wave renaissance of bars.
Most of the concoctions hover around the RM 40 price point, which is pretty good value for what you get.
Note: Some of the drinks below may no longer be available, PS 150 refreshes their menu every couple of months.
The lychee no. 3 is as tasty as it looks. It’s a great pick for those who prefer their drinks to be slightly sweet, and just a generally good pick for anyone looking for an interesting drink.
The Dragon Eye Fist is good. The Assamboi Margarita is even better. The Pandan Flip features pandan-spiced rum, the Southside in the East relies instead on the pairing of lemongrass and lime.
Now for the interesting part. Let’s place PS150 in its larger context. What does the proliferation of replica-speakeasies say about KL? And before you whip out gentrification, no. That’s not the answer. Never mind the obese body of research proving its effect has been grossly overstated, gentrification is a hilariously overblown bogeyman when slapped into the Malaysian landscape. This is Kuala Lumpur. There isn’t a mass of affluent Gen-whatever-we’re-called swarming over Melbourne-makeover neighbourhoods and snapping up property. We don’t have thousands of startup millionaires and billionaires descending into, and colonizing, Petaling Street. The majority of the upper-middle class come from families that were already in the same economic band.
I think it’s more valid to posit that the explosion of the 2nd wave is instead intricately tied to the cultural values of our time. Which, thanks to the good ol Interwebs, happens to be values that are largely shared across the middle class all over the world, values that look suspiciously like conscious consumerism. It’s not hard to see the innate appeal of the speakeasy. The bartender is an artisan dedicated to the intertwining of life and craft. The bar is their canvas and exhibition space alike, the physical location is masked from the commonfolk, the drinks are cheeky nods to childhood and tradition. The speakeasy comes from a time long past – a time that most of the current consumers have only experienced through arthouse movies, articles and the odd listicle or two. At the end of the day, what defines our modern generation more than our rabid hunger to romanticize nostalgia, even if it’s for a past we’ve never actually experienced? There are a whole lot of people born in the 90s who are going crazy over Stranger Things (myself included), a show that’s very deeply rooted in the 80s.
Anyway, PS 150 dishes out some good (and some great) drinks in one of the prettiest bars in KL. You should try it. Most people already have.
Facebook page: PS 150
New fancy website: PS 150
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