Behind a row of fashion retailers in George Town, Penang, there’s a bar that wasn’t supposed to exist. No signage. No front door. Just a discreet entryway through a streetwear store called The Swagger Salon. Walking through to the bar, the inside looks cheeky, cryptic, and unmistakably Malaysian. This is Backdoor Bodega, one of Southeast Asia’s most unconventional and celebrated watering holes.

Since 2016, Backdoor Bodega has evolved from an underground hangout into a staple haunt for the Asian cocktail scene. It was placed on Asia’s 50 Best Bars in 2022, and in 2025, it was awarded The Siete Misterios Best Cocktail Menu by the same organization.

But behind its accolades is a story of mischief, design, and a strong sense of place steered by Koh Yung Shen—or Shen—a graphic designer and streetwear entrepreneur who turned an inside joke into one of Malaysia’s most significant contributions to cocktail culture.

From Streetwear to Speakeasy

Shen never intended to open a bar. A creative at heart, he began his career in copywriting and graphic design before founding The Swagger Salon, a streetwear label that found viral success with its now-iconic LANSI snapback, a statement piece laced with Hokkien-Malay slang and Penang pride. Shen’s designs have always poked fun at authority, conventions, and formality, so it makes sense that his bar would do the same.

Backdoor Bodega started as a way for Shen to serve drinks for his group of friends. It wasn’t planned to be a business until strangers started showing up at his door asking for a cocktail fix. “The plan was just to build a small ‘staff pantry’ that was well-stocked with bottles of spirits so I could fix drinks up just for myself and my friends,” he told Tatler Malaysia.

To add to the mix, Shen offered enamel pins that “came with a free drink.” It was a creative workaround to licensing restrictions and a sly nod to Malaysia’s often gray regulatory zones. The idea stuck. Word spread. The “pin-for-drink” model became the bar’s signature, hence the “An Overpriced Pin Shop” handle on Instagram.

The term is often thrown around these days, but Backdoor Bodega is truly built around—and for—“good vibes.” The space, carved out of the back of The Swagger Salon and now part of the Hin Bus Depot creative compound, doesn’t follow conventional bar playbooks. It doesn’t need to. Shen’s design background informs every corner, from the branding to the drink boards to the zine-like menus. It’s a bar as much as it is an ongoing creative project.

Cocktails With a Point of View

Many of the drinks here tell a tale about the intricacies of growing up in Penang, about local food culture and the textures of daily life in Malaysia. Take, for example, the Georgetown Gimlet, which is a riff on the classic gin-based tipple with torched ginger, tamarind, belacan (a heady fermented shrimp paste), and lemongrass. The Rasa Rasam (whiskey, tamarind, turmeric, clarified milk, cumin, and papadom) nods to Little India’s spice trails, while the Kelapa Hotak reimagines kaya toast as a clarified drink made with coconut, pandan, and burnt sugar. These are experiments rooted in memory and local references, making them unmistakably unique and hard to forget.

But it’s their 2025 cocktail menu, titled Bar Guide to Penang, that truly cements their reputation. Awarded Asia’s Best Cocktail Menu by The World’s 50 Best, the guide is part drinks list, part cultural journal. Many pages double as field notes: maps of the team’s favorite late-night char kway teow (charcoal-fried flat noodles) stalls, musings on Penang’s heat and humidity, and recommendations for cooling off with ais kacang (sweetened shaved ice) after a long shift. Each page is accompanied by photography and footnotes explaining local terms that often confuse tourists.

Through ingredients like pandan, belacan, Milo, and tamarind—as well as a menu designed around the pride of Penang—Backdoor Bodega doesn’t mimic foreign trends; it pays homage to its home ground through booze and the aforementioned good times.

It’s a Vibe

Step further inside Backdoor Bodega and you’ll find a long, narrow room lit in soft glows, lined with graphic prints, vintage ephemera, and zines. It feels part dive bar, part design studio. The aesthetic leans DIY, but everything feels right at home. Typography choices echo Shen’s design roots. Menus look like indie publications. The bar’s brand language, both offline and online, is equal parts witty, warm, and weird.

Backdoor Bodega is part of the Hin Bus Depot, an old transit terminal transformed into an arts hub. Its surroundings reinforce the bar’s ethos: creativity over commercialism, collaboration over competition. Shen has used the space to host guest bartenders, underground parties, and community events. He also co-organized Penang Cocktail Week, which draws regional bartenders into Penang’s often-overlooked drinks scene.

It’s All About Penang

Sure, there are plenty of bars out there “doing things differently.” But what makes Backdoor Bodega stand out isn’t just its inventive drinks or subversive beginnings—it’s its unabashed embrace of the island where it stays. Whether you’re sipping a belacan-infused gimlet or flipping through their zine menu for late-night food tips, the experience is immersive and hyperlocal.

In an age when many Asian bars aspire to resemble something out of New York or London, Backdoor Bodega refuses to translate itself. It’s proudly regional, playfully rebellious, and refreshingly sincere.

So, if you’re now finding yourself a little thirsty for some good times and pins in Penang, and are thinking of making a trip out to the stunning city, check out more things to do that are on offer through one of our partners here.

Cover image via Pelango.