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Actors Studio Bangsar
Theatre and comedy are staged at this studio located in a shopping centre a couple of kilometres north of the Bangsar Baru. Prices depend on the performance.
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Bar Flam
A stylish, modernist lounge bar attracting design darlings and Bangsar trendies. Most people dine at the attached restaurant before they dance.
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Bar Upstairs
The bar at this popular bistro is probably the most chilled-out drinking spot in Bangsar Baru. Comfortable chairs and soothing sounds on the decks.
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Bed
The famous Bed concept has been imported from Bangkok to KL. The resulting bar is small but ubercool, with an upbeat DJ soundtrack and glowing neon furniture.
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Black Hole
Older locals come to this big Desa Sri Hartamas party pub to wine and dine outside and dance upstairs. It's brash, boisterous and good honest, fun.
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Blue Boy
At the bottom of the heap is this grungy pick-up joint just off Jln Sultan Ismail behind the rebranded Millennium Hotel. Come before to sing karaoke with the winking lady boys; later it gets packed with a rent-boy crowd.
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Ceylon Bar
Big, comfy lounges, inexpensive drinks and a genuinely convivial mood make this one of the friendliest drinking holes in KL. Come early to bag one of terrace tables or the sofas inside.
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Chinatown Liquor Shop
Join the hardened Chinese drinkers for a tumbler of rice wine at the Chinatown Liquor Shop.
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Espanda
A long-established club in the Jln P Ramlee entertainment district with resident DJs and regular theme nights. Zouk has stolen some of Espanda's thunder but it still gets busy at weekends.
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Finnegan's in Bangsar
A popular branch of the Irish pub chain Finnegan's.
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Finnegan's in Desa Sri Hartamas
A popular branch of the Irish pub chain Finnegan's.
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Finnegan's in Golden Triangle
This Irish chain-pub faithfully recreates the mood of a local boozer. It's a good place for a knees-up, with stout and bitter on tap and a decent pub-grub menu. Happy-hour prices apply before .
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Frangipani Bar
On Friday nights, the seductive bar above the restaurant of the same name hosts a stylish and discrete gay crowd.
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Garçon at Maison
This is the Sunday night gay-friendly session at club Maison in Asian Heritage Row. It's a glam space that attracts a glam crowd, with the DJs from former gay haunt Bliss.
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Green Man
Another Irish-ish pub with Guinness and bitter on tap, plus a menu of stodgy British food and a pool table. It's calmer indoors than on the busy terrace.
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Ivy
The Ivy faithfully recreates the feel of a British gastro pub. The downstairs bar has draft beers (including Guinness) and bar snacks, while the upstairs restaurant showcases modern European cooking.
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La Queen
This unashamedly hedonistic gay venue at the Nouvo club is rapidly growing in popularity. It's big on theme parties with lots of events supporting local gay organisations.
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Luna
With all of KL's towering skyscrapers, it would be unthinkable for there not to be some bars to enjoy the sky-high views from. Some of KL's most exclusive nightspots are perched on top of cloud-busting towers, offering dizzy views over the whole of the city. Topping the bill is Luna, which lords it over the city from the top floor of the Pacific Regency Suites.
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Old Town Kopitiam
A convincing recreation of an old-fashioned kopi tiam (Malay Chinese coffeeshop) serving teh, and breakfast snacks like eggs, toast and soup. There's another branch in Plaza Low Yat.
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Olé Café
A roomy coffeeshop with free wi-fi, blissful air-con and good tea, coffee and cakes.
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Purple Cane Tea House
Serves a broad range of Chinese green and jasmine teas.
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Reggae Bar
Deep booming bass thumps endless Bob Marley while punters escape the interior gloom to tables on the pavement outside. The bar occasionally stages theme nights to give other music genres airplay and there's a DJ spinning house, jazz and blues after .
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Rum Jungle
Jln P Ramlee has numerous theme bars with live music or DJs and happy-hour specials. Unfortunately, these places tend to attract lots of sex workers and sexpats. Beach Club Café and Rum Jungle are the most popular places in this part of town.
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Ruums
A huge dance club in the Life Centre complex, with acres of floor space and a booming sound system playing straight-forward commercial club sounds.
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Sanctuary
A very slick concept nightspot, Sanctuary has indoor and outdoor bars, a swish Southeast Asia restaurant and an 'ice bar' serving chilled vodka in (dare we say it) chilled-out surroundings.
