Kuala Lumpur
You're flying out of Kuala Lumpur Airport, you have 90 minutes to kill, and you'd like to do better than a Pret. Good news: airport drinking has improved more in the last five years than the previous fifty. Pre-flight drinks at Kuala Lumpur Airport range from chain reliability to surprisingly polished hotel-style bars in the airport hotels. This is barsforKings's editor-curated guide to drinking better at Kuala Lumpur's airports.
Bangsar · $$$
KL's most awarded cocktail bar.
Damansara · $$$
Hidden speakeasy reached through a curtain in a casual kitchen.
Bukit Bintang · $$$
Speakeasy inside the basement of an office building.
Damansara · $$$
Tiki bar that takes the genre as seriously as Trader Vic's did.
Want a real drink before flying? The fastest play is to get to airport hotels next door — most run polished bars that beat anything post-security. We list them at the bottom. If you've got 60 spare minutes pre-airport, see our shortlist of bars in Kuala Lumpur proper at the end.
Plays for Kuala Lumpur Airport: post-security, pre-security, lounges, and the airport-hotel cheat code.
Pre-flight drinks, hotel-bar reviews, and the openings we're watching across 176 cities. Friday mornings, no filler.
Looking beyond Kuala Lumpur? See our guide to the best airport bars worldwide, or compare airport bars city by city.