Farmer’s Bar Avenue K – Craft Beer Kuala Lumpur
Photos: Matt Wehner
Words: Jacob Weber
Who would have thought that a place called ‘Farmer’s Bar’ would serve excellent Japanese food?
I was pleasantly surprised, that’s for sure.
Turns out, not only does Farmer’s Bar in Avenue K boast one of the best craft beer selections in KL, but it pairs these speciality ales pretty perfectly with a brilliant Japanese-inspired menu. (And there are plenty of Western classics to help soak up the booze as well.)
Founded by craft beer enthusiasts Mok Yii Chek and Mei Ling, Farmer’s Bar currently has three outlets across the city, each offering a slightly different food menu to suit the local crowd. (All of them offer the same outstanding choice of premium imported craft beers.) The Puchong outlet serves local hawker-style food. The Subang and Avenue K outlets offer Western, yakitori and Japanese — and Avenue K even has special set lunch deals to satiate the office crowd nearby.
Luckily, we came hungry and thirsty.
Farmer’s Bar Menu – Avenue K
We have the pleasure of sampling some of the latest items on the menu as well as some “all-time favourites.” Award-winning Chef Fifi Leong is the brains behind the bar food at Avenue K, and although we don’t get the chance to meet her today, her influence is clear to see. (And taste, but that sounds a bit weird.)
The Seafood Hambagu Don (RM32) is an interesting place to start. It’s a seafood hamburger patty made of prawn paste, squid, and minced chicken. Distinctive, delicious, and with plenty of depth, with layers of sweet, salty, and savoury flavour, it’s served on rice, drizzled with sweet tare sauce and garnished with tobiko roe and bonito flakes, with an onsen egg and furikake seasoning for good measure. It’s a bowl of classic East-West comfort food.
The Crispy Chicken Chop (RM28) is one of the all-time favourites, and we can see why. A juicy whole chicken leg is fried, breaded and generously seasoned, and served with your choice of Japanese potato salad or American-style fries. We choose the fries, and regret nothing. They dip very nicely into the spicy black pepper sauce.
The Salmon Mentaiko Pasta (RM30) turns up the East-West fusion dial a notch, combining creamy fish roe-based sauce with a classic spaghetti base. Fresh salmon slices and a bonus prawn roe topping complete the pretty picture. I like this dish a lot; it’s rich, filling and extremely tasty.
Believe it or not, the Beer-Battered Fish & Chips (RM38) is actually a new item on the menu. (I thought everything would be beer-battered, to be honest. Possibly slightly disappointed it wasn’t.) Still, it was worth the wait; the crispy pale-ale-battered hunk of flaky white fish comes with more excellent US-style fries and a delicious tartare sauce to dip them in. This is an excellent option — and you can trust me, I’m British.
Beer Bites Menu
Despite the generous main courses, it appears we’re just getting started; a Tori Sharing Platter (RM30) arrives, a splendid combination of two teba (chicken wings) and two negima (chicken thighs with leek). And it turns out to be the first of several sharing platters from this excellent menu; we also get a vegetarian-friendly Yasai (RM30), with skewered mushrooms and tomatoes and baby corn, a Meatball Madness (RM30), with juicy chicken thigh and teriyaki chicken balls (which include soft bone for some extra texture), and Chicken Tenders (RM35) paired with five different and delicious dipping sauces. (I like the spicy miso, but you have to try them all.)
You can order all of these by the skewer or the sharing platter, so I highly recommend trying a wide selection—to go with the wide selection of craft beers you will inevitably be trying, too.
Premium Craft Beers at Farmer’s Bar
The food menu could stand on its own without the added benefits of the craft beer selection, but we’d obviously be doing this place an injustice without trying at least a few of them. So we do.
First up, an NBeer Mango Gose (RM33), a refreshing fruity number on the right side of sour that is extremely — almost dangerously — pleasant to drink. It’s a great place to start (and finish, to be fair).
The Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale (RM35) is equally drinkable in its own right. It is crisp, clean, and has subtle hints of caramel. I recommend this with anything or by itself. You can’t go wrong.
Next, we’re back on the tropical tip with the Heretic Juicier Than Thou Mango (RM39). This Hazy IPA is exactly as described; a sweet and juicy adult beverage with a little bit of milk sugar to kick up the sweetness a notch further. I like it very much. The Heretic IPA (RM38) also features tropical fruit, although with a strong and bitter backbone to balance things out. Hoppiness = happiness.
The Stone 27th Anniversary Lemon Shark Double IPA (RM49) boasts a punchy 9.6% ABV, apparently in homage to the year it started (1996). Despite the hefty alcohol content usually associated with darker (and generally pretty disgusting) extra-strength beers, this double IPA is very pleasant — although unsurprisingly punchy. It features a special ingredient called Phantasm, an extract from sauvignon blanc grape skins from New Zealand. I’ve never tried Phantasm before, but I’d definitely drink this again.
Time for something a little smoother: the Heretic Chocolate Hazelnut Porter (RM59). It tastes as good as it smells: lovely. It’s a rich, sweet, and robust porter ale with notes of coffee, caramel, and premium cocoa. It sounds like a nightcap, and I’d be happy to drink a couple of these to put myself to sleep.
To finish, a Lion City Meadery Classic Mead (RM49), a classy, crisp beer that smells like kombucha and doesn’t taste all that different. It’s got all-natural ingredients (just as medieval kings enjoyed their mead) and goes very well with the excellent sharing platters and bar bites.
Farmer’s Bar Avenue K Dessert Menu
Unbelievably, we still haven’t finished our food. We get to try two desserts that are so fresh they’re not even on the menu yet. The Carrot Cake is absolutely incredible — one of those mouthfuls that immediately shuts you up so you can divert your entire attention to it. (Probably a good thing after a few of these beers.) Rich, moist, and there’s even fresh grated carrot on top; we have to remind ourselves that we’re at a bar, and not a specialist bakery.
The Burnt Blueberry Cheesecake is possibly even better: perfect creamy consistency with a sweet and generous blueberry coulis topping. I thought a 9.6% brew was indulgent, but this takes the cake. (Geddit? Yeah you do.)
We clink our glasses one more time, and then it’s time to wander home/into the city centre/wherever the Mead takes me.
Reasons to visit Farmer’s Bar Avenue K: an outstanding selection of premium imported craft beers to suit any preference or occasion; excellent Japanese-inspired menu that many standalone restaurants would be proud of; friendly service; pleasant ambience with some funky decor and toe-tapping music.
Farmer’s Bar Avenue K
L3-14B, Avenue K Shopping Mall (same floor as Natalina)
156 Jalan Ampang, 50450 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
Farmer’s Bar Avenue K Opening Hours
Daily: 10 am-12 am
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