Bars in the KL Chinatown area tend to steer between two extremes: do they appeal to the tourists with an easygoing menu, or cater to the discerning palate with experimental drinks? The Venn diagram rarely meets, but Cabinet 8 KL successfully manages a menu that caters to both, and then some more. Not to be confused with Neighbour Club, the cocktails-on-tap bar that shares a space with Oloiya, entering Cabinet 8 requires the confidence and audacity only the most curious have equipped in them.
Once you enter Neighbour Club, make your way all to the back of the shop, where the bookshelves are. Press a secret button next to the Oloiya rooster statue, and the bookshelf will pop open, revealing a hidden passageway into the world of Cabinet 8. Dim and cosy with intimate booth seats, settling here feels like entering a secret world to sip on cocktails, laugh at inside jokes, and whispery conversations.
Taking care of us is head bartender Marcus Kwok, the brains behind the cocktail programme here at Cabinet 8. Formerly part of the team at Bar Trigona, Kwok still brings with him the impeccable service that bar was known for, while those who have known him throughout his career can finally see his true flair of building a cocktail—and it shows here in the menu.
It may not be a thing that stands out to most, but designing a menu is a real art form that F&B spots often miss the mark on. Not Cabinet 8. It’s designed to look like a magazine, but they know what customers want—which is why the Signatures are front and centre, ready for you to order at a glance. Next is the tea specialty cocktails—a must order, we’ll get to that. Only after you’re done ordering the first round, would you slowly flip through the “magazine”, enjoying the glossy photos of the drinks and the story behind the bar.
Going back to the Signatures, you’ll find that it is immediately easy to decide what to get, because the team at Cabinet 8 has divided their offerings into four different sections: Gentle, Refreshing, Richful, and High-Proof. Within these sections, you’ll find some cocktails contain localised ingredients, but Kwok was careful to mention that he didn’t want your usual pandans or coconuts. Instead, we see ingredients that foreigners may not be used to in cocktails, such as Johor roselle, guava, Cameron Highlands corn, Sarawak black pepper, jackfruit, kedondong, and most curiously, bambangan.
Diving into the Signatures
We jump headfirst into Ang Ang Politan, a fun drink with an interesting flavour combination of roselle and coffee. You wouldn’t think to pair the two, yet the coffee flavour is mellowed out with the freshness of roselle. However, when it comes to first drinks, a refreshing one is a must. The Guava Paloma is an ode to the classic Paloma cocktail, except instead of grapefruit, Cabinet 8 has chosen an underrated Malaysian favourite—the guava. The sweet floral flavours of guava are subtle yet enticing enough, while the laksa leaf adds another level of nuance to the drink.
We did say that Cabinet 8 knew how to juggle pleasing the touristy crowd, and Berry Mary is a crowd pleaser, yet maintains its finesse. It’s a drink for those with a sweet tooth, with immediate flavours of berry against the tartness of tomato in the aftertaste. If you’re feeling adventurous, challenge yourself with the Americornut. It’s slightly savoury on the palate with hints of corn, and dare we say, even bean sprouts? There is a certain greenness to the drink, but it’s not at all unpalatable. A personal favourite, however, has to be the Wild Colada. Think of a thick, luscious pineapple smoothie that appeals to the palate, except it’s fortified with Bacardi 8. This is also the drink that contains bambangan, which adds to the depth and punchiness of the drink. If there were a cocktail that screamed “Tropical!”, this one is it.
Tea-rrific Combinations
Flip over to Cabinet 8’s tea menu and you’ll find their Tea to Classics section. This part encourages guests to be their own bartenders, choosing a tea base and what style of cocktail they’d like it to be. It comprises four types of teas that have gone through a distillation process, turning them into tea spirits. The distillation process begins by infusing the teas (oolong, pu er, lapsang souchong, and jasmine tea) with vodka, straining the tea leaves out, and then distilling it with a different spirit, essentially turning that tea into a base spirit for the cocktail you’ll build.
We begin with something refreshing: Oolong Tea Tonic, a tall and fizzy drink that allows the rich, floral, and sweet flavours of the oolong to truly shine. It’s a fairly clean-tasting cocktail, perfect for when you don’t want something overpowering or sweet. The Jasmine Tea Sour is made with Vietnamese green lime zest, imparting a really refreshing green and sour aroma. Despite not being a tall drink, it’s one of the most refreshing ones on the menu. It also contained the right amount of foam—made using AÉR, an eggless cocktail enhancer—making it feel like a freshly made orange juice.
What’s the difference between a tonic cocktail and a fizzy cocktail? The former uses tonic water to top up a base spirit, while the latter is a lengthened version of a sour made with soda. With that in mind, we tried the Pu Er Tea Fizzy. First impressions had us feeling that the cocktail tastes like winter melon tea, but with the greenness from the lime zest. The bartender has also enhanced the drink with droplets of menthol, which adds another layer to the experience at the start and finish. Finally, we wrap our night with a spirit-forward drink: the Lapsang Souchong Old Fashioned. For a tea as prominent as lapsang souchong, you’ll need a spirit that can hold its own against it: tequila. It’s been a while since I enjoyed a good Old Fashioned—this one is beautiful and clean-tasting with the added depth of smokiness.
Address: 70, Jalan Sultan, City Centre, 50000 Kuala Lumpur
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