The hottest menu in Asia reimagines a cocktail list as a passport to the Malaysian island of Penang, one sip at a time.
Tucked away behind a retail shopfront in Penang, Malaysia, Backdoor Bodega has gained cult status not only for its irreverent 'merch store with a bar menu' approach but also for its drinks programme that goes big on local flavours.Its latest menu, The Backdoor Bodega Guide to Penang – recently crowned winner of the Siete Misterios Best Cocktail Menu Award as part of Asia's 50 Best Bars 2025 – offers more than drinks, it's an all-encompassing guide to the flavours, culture and history of the island.
To achieve this, each page of the menu acts as a local guidebook annotated with where to eat and what to try, linking every cocktail to a street, dish or memory associated with Penang. The menu design echoes the tone of indie travel-zines, complete with candid blurbs about local institutions, from Peranakan food favourites that fuse together Chinese and Malay flavours to Chung Ling High School's canteen.
The Backdoor Bodega team collected its trophy at the awards ceremony in Macau
"We'd been thinking for a while about how to showcase Penang not just as a setting, but as an ingredient," says the bar's founder Koh Yung Shen. "When I started the bar in 2016, I had zero bartending experience. I was just picking up local ingredients from the market and seeing what I could make work," he adds. "Over time, we realised the things we took for granted, like native ginger flower, were completely new to our guests. That's what sparked the idea of writing it all down."
As Penang finds itself more frequently highlighted on the global drinks map, Backdoor Bodega has created the ultimate flavour directory for locals and tourists alike. Here are five drinks from the bar's award-winning menu that celebrate the island's ingredients and culture.
Ulam Mojito
The entrance to the bar is obscured behind its 'overpriced pin shop' façade
If you've ever wondered what a Penang garden in a glass might taste like, the answer is probably an Ulam Mojito. This cocktail distils the island's herbal lexicon into a vibrant, aromatic fizz that surprises with every sip. Ulam raja and daun kesum, two staple leaves in Malaysian herbal salads, are paired with torch ginger and galangal to create a deeply perfumed profile that is refreshingly savoury rather than sweet. The drink reads like a remix of ulam salad – a staple Malaysian dish – and fizzy lime cordial, familiar to anyone who's stopped for a nasi ulam lunch.
"The idea was simple: What would happen if we replaced a mojito's mint with ulam," Shen explains. "The challenge was finding balance across all those strong flavours as raw botanicals like torch ginger and lemongrass can easily overwhelm. But when it works it's like drinking a Penang salad."
Spellbinder
The Spellbinder was inspired by a team member's childhood snack of soy sauce and apples
On paper, soy sauce and apples don't belong in the same glass, but the Spellbinder plays with contrast in a way that captures Penang's layered culinary codes. The aged soy's umami depth is cut with tart fruit and cane molasses, lending the drink a depth reminiscent of a dark sour. The sago cracker served on the rim isn't just garnish, it's a nod to the common street snack known locally as keropok – a cracker usually sold in jars at sundry shops or scooped out onto plastic sheets at roadside stalls.
"The idea came from Zach Ch'ng, one of our ex-bartenders. He used to dip green apples in soy sauce as a kid to balance the acidity. So he took that memory and layered it with cognac, molasses and bubbles. The sago on the rim helps soften the savouriness, it's not just for crunch," Shen says.
Kelapa Hotak 2016
The Kelapa Hotak was the first cocktail Backdoor Bodega's owner Koh Yung Shen ever created
Coconut and pandan have long defined Malaysian desserts, from kuih to kaya toast. Here, they're recontextualised into a crystal-clear cocktail with nostalgic undertones for its local guests. The Kelapa Hotak 2016 is minimalist in appearance but layered in execution. There's creaminess from the kaya, tropical lift from coconut, and a hint of pandan leaf bitterness, all brightened by clarification. Served over a single cube, the drink references both childhood breakfasts and contemporary mixology in one sip.
"It was the first drink I ever created," recalls Shen. "Back then it was just rum, fresh coconut, pandan syrup and a spoonful of kaya. Now it's clarified with agar, still with the same ingredients but cleaner and more precise." The drink also carries added cultural weight for Shen, who is Peranakan Chinese.
Georgetown Gimlet
Many of the bar's cocktails take inspiration from Penang's famous hawker street food stalls
Named after the historic capital of the island, the Georgetown Gimlet is as bold and raucous as the city's famed hawker stalls. The drink finds unexpected synergy between gin and belacan (fermented shrimp paste), bolstered by tamarind and lime for acidity. The result is a punchy, almost savoury gimlet that mimics the sensory overload of eating Penang assam laksa beside a roadside drain. It's unapologetically local.
"I've always thought assam laksa could make an incredible cocktail. But we didn't want to simply replicate it. Using the gimlet as a base, just gin and lime, we built a belacan-tamarind cordial with subtle funk and bright acidity," says Shen.
R.B.S.
Ramly burgers are a common late-night snack in Malaysia, re-imagined here as a drink
The most irreverent of its drink selection, the R.B.S. is a tequila milk punch built around the flavour profile of a late-night ramly burger, one of Malaysia's most iconic street food creations that combines egg-wrapped patties with shredded cabbage, Maggi seasoning and a host of sauces. As an initialism for 'Ramly Burger Special', the drink combines tomato, vinegar and chicken stock in a savoury base, given clarity through milk and a hit of smoke thanks to a scorched cheese garnish. It arrives wrapped in branded burger paper, blurring the line between cocktail and street food parody. It's a love letter to Penang's post-clubbing scene, specifically the island's iconic burger stalls that operate until dawn.
"Savoury cocktails were trending at the time and we thought, how far can we push this? We didn't want to use a rotovap, so we clarified it using tomato acid instead of citrus. Flavour-wise it's a tequila gibson with a hint of chicken. But what makes it work is the burnt cheese aroma and the wrapping because half the experience of eating a ramly burger is holding it in your hand at 2am," Shen explains.
The list of Asia's 50 Best Bars 2025, sponsored by Perrier, was revealed at a live awards ceremony in Macau on 15 July.
