New Hidden Bar in George Town, Penang – Magazine 63 Bar

Magazine 63 Bar (天下第一客棧 ) is the new speakeasy bar hidden in George Town behind an unmarked shop lot. Located on Magazine Street (hence the name Magazine 63), the first clue is to look for the Da Ma Cai lottery shop which is just beside it, then find the furniture centre banner hanging outside the shop. That is where Magazine 63 Bar is hidden behind the wooden doors after you entered through the half-shut wrought iron gate at the front.

Once Big Teddy and I pushed through the wooden door, it was like another heaven just opened up right in front of our eyes. The decor inside was the trendy old Shanghainese style where they hung the traditional Chinese umbrellas all over the ceiling. I loved the tall bar counter and their DJ station positioned high up on the mezzanine floor overlooking the bar.

We didn’t feel that it was very crowded when we arrived around 10pm, however, the staff told us that all the tables had been reserved and the bar was full. They tried to turn us away but I didn’t want to leave so easily since we were only in town for 2 nights. So we insisted that we ordered a round of drinks and stood at an empty table that was reserved at 10pm, hoping that whoever reserved the table won’t turn up so early.

The night was smashing as we enjoyed the DJ with the great hip-hop music that he was playing. Magazine 63 Bar reminded me a lot about Suzie Wong in Kuala Lumpur but in a more casual way. No fancy dresses, no fancy dancers, just a busy bar and a good DJ. They even endorsed one of my favourite whiskies, Auchentoshan when we were there although they don’t sell it by the glass only by the bottle.

I could see so much potential here for Magazine 63 Bar. However, what irked me the most was the way they kept turning away guests who didn’t make any reservations, but kept the empty tables way after their reservation times. We stood by a small table that was supposed to turn up by 10pm, but the arrogant couple (I labeled them as arrogant as the guy pushed his chair rudely into me as if I was transparent!) only turned up after 11.20pm, which was almost an hour and a half late from their original booking time! Anyone who has better business sense would have cancelled the reservation and gave it to those who were already there and ready to spend. Anyway, after 3 rounds of drinks (that’s Big Teddy) and over an hour time spent at Magazine 63 Bar, we were ready to retire back to our lovely hotel, The Edison George Town.

So, is Magazine 63 Bar in George Town, Penang worth a visit? The ambience is probably one of the best in George Town so I’d say yes but do make a reservation before you go. Hopefully they will also resolve the service issue where they had to keep turning away people even though there were empty tables kept for people who were late. This is a fairly new bar therefore I shouldn’t be too harsh but I sure hope they would improve by the time return for another visit.

Do tell me your experience if you had been to Magazine 63 bar, or any other new bar that you’d recently discovered.

Office Facebook Page of Magazine 63: https://www.facebook.com/magazineM63/

Address of Magazine 63: 63, Jalan Magazine, 10300 Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia
Tel: +6016-4992299
Business Hours: 8pm – 3am daily

Check out my other posts on Penang here.
Check out my other posts on Malaysia here.

Do follow my adventures on Facebook here and Instagram here.