Pahit — Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur

Having visited KL countless times over the past 5 years, I have settled on Pahit as my favourite late night-time spot for a nightcap or two.

I'm always impressed by the impeccable attention to detail at Pahit; from the careful attention to the relaxing interior decor and lighting, the impressive bar selection, and most importantly of all, the drinks preparation.

The vibe here is very relaxed/chill, with some carefully put together music playlists for different nights of the week, and a DJ on Saturday nights playing laid-back disco tunes and house.

This is a gin bar, so don't come here looking for a fine single malt or a jaegarbomb. With the focus on gin comes perfection in gin cocktails, gin & tonic mixers/garnishes (they stock different garnishes/bitters for combination with 80+ bottles of gin from all over the world), and homemade fruit gins (pandan, jackfruit, asamboi, pineapple, etc.). Bartenders Boy and Jordan are at the top of their trade and have raised the profile of Pahit to be one of the best gin bars in Asia.

I recommend the Starlight cocktail (RM42) if you're stuck for choice, or a Jackfruit gin and tonic (RM26) for the budget drinker, or just delve into the many pages of gins if you're the gin connoisseur. Pahit also offers a selection of non-alcoholic cocktails, one craft beer on tap, and a selection of food from the nearby 8-haus restaurant. Visit on weekdays for very chilled atmosphere, nice place to talk, date, solo drinking. Visit on weekends for more upbeat stylish crowd.

Finally, Pahit offers the best Negroni I've ever tasted -- and that's...

Honestly, pahit is alright. Very small space means that seating is limited both inside and outside and the place might get pretty warm due to the proximity of all the patrons in a small space, furthermore the service was rather lacklustre, it took up to 15 mins to order even though we already had an table and up to another 15 mins to get your drink, coupled with the bars early closing time this can be rather annoying. The drinks however are great (though tending to the sweet side) especially if you like gin, with more flamboyant concoctions going up to 50rm but also cheaper, simpler options costing about 25rm per glass. I like the fact that the place offers a wide price range for all customers. Unfortunately due to the size of the lot there's only 2 toilets in the entire lot and by the end of the night they get pretty nasty so I would recommend holding it in the later it gets. Altogether the experience was alright, one thing that bothered me was that even though we had a table only 2 of us out of a group of 4 had seats with a back on them , this means you may spend extended periods of time hunched over and this just isn't comfortable. Also while the music is good it gets very loud in such a narrow space and makes it an uncomfortable talking space. If you're in the area maybe give it a shot, but I wouldn't go out of my way to...

Small, hipster bar with a difficult to find ( and see) location. The dark, soothing atmosphere and great old American music (on my visit) were delightful, and their gigantic selection of displayed gins is totally cool. The service is top-notch and very personable, with Mai and Rosa running a very tight ship! You can tell by watching their bar staff that Pahit is big on training and consistency. Admirable. My first drink, the lychee ginger flower gin and tonic was...well mildly lychee flavored with a ginger flower garnish, but no ginger flavor...yawn. My second was their "signature drink" a Pahit #2, which is a somewhat lackluster gin old-fashioned. I was going to have a 3rd, and final drink, but sadly since they did not have large pimento-stuffed green olives (how you can run a gin-centric bar and NOT stock them, I do not know) I passed on a last cocktail...lost revenues. On the food front, the smoked eggplant is a wonder to behold...attractively presented and compketely delicious! But, the tagliatelle with chicken and prawns was a big disappointment. Both the chicken AND the prawns were overcooked and dry, and the sauce, which was supposed to be spicy, was too sweet for my taste. In my opinion, Pahit creates a strong hipster vibe, which results in an overpriced and a bit...