Izakaya in Kuala Lumpur: 12 Best Spots for Sake & Highballs

The best izakaya in Kuala Lumpur are no longer the polite Japanese restaurants with a sake list tacked on.

They are rooms built for a second round: charcoal grills facing the counter, highballs poured at izakaya prices, and closing times that run past midnight. Jalan Mesui alone now holds five of them on a hundred-metre stretch.

This list takes the twelve with the strongest nights, all within Kuala Lumpur city limits. Expect pork at most of them, chicken-only skewers at a few, and sake lists that range from a RM10 house pour to an RM8,000 bottle in a hotel bar.

12 Best Izakaya in Kuala Lumpur

Yaki Soul, Jalan Mesui

Yaki Soul is the late shift of Jalan Mesui. It opens at 4pm and keeps grilling until 3am, which makes it the last izakaya standing in Bukit Bintang on any given night.

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The room runs on red light, hand-painted dragon koi murals and a house cat at the door, and the kitchen grills over Japanese charcoal and sand, a technique almost nobody else in the city attempts.

Order the sand-grilled kinki fish once, then settle into skewers and Suntory highballs. Live music most nights, and a crowd that only thickens after midnight.

Address: 1, Jalan Mesui, Bukit Bintang, 50200 Kuala Lumpur
Opening hours: 4pm to 3am daily
Prices: about RM20 to RM40 per person
Contact number: +6012-458 1683

Fire Izakaya, Jalan Ampang

Fire Izakaya holds a Malaysia Book of Records entry for the longest robatayaki island bar, and the circular grill is the whole point of the room.

Counter seats face the flames, the kitchen is led by Japanese chef Ricky Kamiishi alongside chef Johnny, and the menu runs from skewers and kinki fish to sushi and wagyu. Opposite Avenue K, under red lanterns on the ground floor of De King Boutique Hotel.

This is the izakaya in Kuala Lumpur for a client dinner that still needs energy. Budget RM200 and up per head.

Address: 160, Jalan Ampang, Kampung Baru, 50450 Kuala Lumpur
Opening hours: 11.30am to 11.30pm daily
Prices: RM200 and above per person

Tono Izakaya, Changkat Bukit Bintang

Tono Izakaya is the neon one. The Changkat flagship on the corner of Jalan Angsoka and Jalan Nagasari is lit like a city pop video, with pink light on long tables, robata skewers, sushi and a sake lineup that goes well past the usual house junmai.

Tono also runs outlets in Publika, TTDI and Sri Hartamas, so the same neon can be had on the Mont Kiara side of town without the Changkat parking.

Address: 17G, Jalan Angsoka, Off Changkat Bukit Bintang, 50200 Kuala Lumpur. Also at Block C4, Lot 21 and 23, Level G3, Publika, 1 Jalan Dutamas 1, 50480 Kuala Lumpur; 30, Lorong Datuk Sulaiman 1, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, 60000 Kuala Lumpur; and Sri Hartamas
Opening hours: 11.30am to 2.30pm, 5pm to midnight daily
Prices: about RM40 to RM140 per person
Contact number: +6011-1103 1330 (Publika), +6019-694 2377 (TTDI)

Zuka Izakaya, Mid Valley

Zuka opened on Level 7 of the St Giles Mid Valley hotel with a ceiling of hanging lanterns, sake barrels and a live music slot that turns the room into a bar after 10pm.

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Sashimi and sushi lead the menu, with a fusion side that keeps the Rotol Group founder, Datuk Seri Garry Chua, on message about pricing: it is deliberately cheap for a hotel floor. Open until 1am daily, with a view over the Mid Valley towers from the bar.

Address: Level 7, St Giles Hotel, The Gardens Mall, Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra, 59200 Kuala Lumpur
Opening hours: 11am to 1am daily
Prices: about RM20 to RM100 per person
Contact number: +6016-227 7102

Yakitori Izakaya Kin No Tsubo, Jalan Mesui

Kin No Tsubo is Japanese-owned, tucked under The Mesui Hotel, and it is the one izakaya on this street where the food outranks the drinks promotions.

Yakitori is grilled part by part, the oden pot runs all night, and agedashi tofu arrives the way it does in Tokyo. The room is small, wooden and hung with lanterns and shop flags.

Lemon sours are the house move: shochu, soda and lemon, the izakaya standard. Beer and whisky highballs come close behind.

Address: 13, Jalan Mesui, Bukit Bintang, 50200 Kuala Lumpur
Opening hours: 11.30am to 2.30pm, 5pm to midnight daily
Prices: about RM20 to RM120 per person
Contact number: +603-2110 3577

Fujisawa Izakaya, Mont Kiara, Sri Petaling and Kepong

Fujisawa keeps the same layout: a common room, a bar and a tatami corner, with a torii gate at the entrance and a sake wall behind it. Sushi, unagi don, skewers and oysters anchor the menu, and the bill stays under RM100 a head.

Book Eat All You Can Tabehodai Yakitori

Within Kuala Lumpur, choose between Mont Kiara for the newest Izakayas, Sri Petaling and Kepong for pet-friendly terraces.

Address: G-03-1, Steppes, 32, Jalan Kiara 3, Mont Kiara, 50480 Kuala Lumpur. Also at 12-1, Jalan Radin Bagus 1, Bandar Baru Sri Petaling, 57000 Kuala Lumpur, and 21, Jalan Metro Perdana Barat 1, Taman Usahawan Kepong, 52100 Kuala Lumpur
Opening hours: Mont Kiara 11.30am to 2.30pm and 5.30pm to 11pm Monday to Thursday, until midnight Friday, 11.30am to midnight Saturday, 11.30am to 11pm Sunday. Sri Petaling and Kepong 12pm to 11pm daily, until midnight Friday and Saturday, with a 3pm to 5.30pm break
Prices: about RM40 to RM100 per person
Contact number: +603-9054 8723 (Sri Petaling), +603-6243 4633 (Kepong)

Butaya Izakaya, Sri Hartamas

Butaya is the cheapest proper izakaya in Kuala Lumpur, and it looks the part: wooden walls papered with hand-written menu planks, paper lanterns, stools at a long kitchen counter.

Saito Karakuchi sake comes in four sizes, and the Kakubin highball is stirred the Suntory way. Reservations matter on weekends; the room is small and Jalan Sri Hartamas 8 is a one-row street.

Address: 14, Jalan Sri Hartamas 8, Taman Sri Hartamas, 50480 Kuala Lumpur
Opening hours: 4.30pm to 11.30pm daily
Prices: about RM20 to RM100 per person
Contact number: +603-2389 4172

Last Project Handroll and Yaki Bar, Bangsar

Last Project comes with a counter where chefs build open hand rolls on curved wooden boards. The yaki side grills tsukune, smoked duck and wagyu off-cuts, and the kitchen is pork-free. Weird Noodles and wagyu-fat ice cream are the dishes people remember.

Drinks are the reason it belongs on an izakaya list: a Lemon Highball, Asam Boi Soda, a Shaoxing-and-vodka Chinese Wine and Co, and wine by the glass.

Address: 11B-1, Lorong Kurau, Bangsar, 59100 Kuala Lumpur
Opening hours: 5.30pm to 11pm Tuesday to Sunday, with lunch from 1pm to 4pm on Saturday and Sunday. Closed Monday
Prices: about RM60 to RM140 per person
Contact number: +6017-527 7285

Teppan Sakaba, Taman Desa

Teppan Sakaba is the Faber Towers izakaya, built around a hot plate instead of a charcoal grill.

Book Eat All You Can Tabehodai Yakitori

Teppan gyoza in a cast-iron pot and okonomiyaki come off the iron, with kushiyaki and karaage on the side. Lanterns, shop banners and barrel-top tables give the ground-floor unit a Shinjuku alley feel.

Sapporo draught and sake carafes are priced for the suburb, and the room books out on weekend nights. Arrive at opening or reserve.

Address: Lot G13, Ground Floor, Faber Towers, Jalan Desa Bahagia, Taman Desa, 58100 Kuala Lumpur
Opening hours: 12.30pm to 3pm, 5pm to 10.30pm daily
Prices: about RM20 to RM100 per person
Contact number: +603-7971 7678

Iki Lounge Yakibar, Imbi

Iki Lounge Yakibar is the night-time face of the Iki Omakase house on Jalan Kamuning, a bungalow with a Japanese garden off Jalan Imbi.

The yakitori list reads like an anatomy chart: heart, liver, neck, gizzard, tail, skin, tender with yuzu or wasabi, all chicken, all around RM8 to RM12 a stick. Hand rolls and an A5 wagyu sando fill the gaps.

Cocktails, live performances and bar games make it the most lounge-like izakaya in Kuala Lumpur, and the garden view is unmatched in Bukit Bintang. Open until 1am.

Address: 16-1, Jalan Kamuning, Off Jalan Imbi, Bukit Bintang, 55100 Kuala Lumpur
Opening hours: 5pm to 1am daily
Prices: about RM80 to RM200 per person
Contact number: +6012-885 5184

Ni.KIZOKU Modern Japanese Dining Bar, Chinatown

Ni.KIZOKU is a dining bar with European flourishes on a Japanese base: nori tacos, Inaniwa udon, a tomato sake sangria that steeps for 72 hours. The open kitchen and the collection of Japanese whisky behind the bar set the tone.

The Okinawa Highball, whisky and soda with citrus and berry, is the drink to start on. Private dining room for groups, vegan options on the menu.

Address: 59A, Jalan Sultan, City Centre, 50000 Kuala Lumpur
Opening hours: 12pm to 3pm and 5.30pm to 11pm daily, until midnight Friday and Saturday
Prices: about RM60 to RM150 per person
Contact number: +603-2022 3889

ENSŌ Izakaya and Bar, KL Midtown

ENSŌ is the hotel izakaya, on the fourth floor of Hyatt Regency Kuala Lumpur Midtown, and it carries the deepest Japanese drinks list in the city.

Sake is sorted by prefecture from RM250 to RM8,000 a bottle, Mùa sake from Vietnam pours on tap, and a kimoto junmai daiginjo brewed exclusively for the bar with Aramasa Kyokai No. 6 yeast comes by the 180ml carafe at RM200.

Four shochu highballs at RM38 and the Umecon, scotch with kokuto umeshu and hinoki bitters at RM45, keep the izakaya promise. Dark lattice, a daruma mural and a 30-year-old bonsai do the rest.

Address: Level 4, Hyatt Regency Kuala Lumpur Midtown, 7, Jalan Dutamas 2, Dutamas, 50480 Kuala Lumpur
Opening hours: 5pm to midnight Tuesday to Saturday. Closed Sunday and Monday
Prices: RM200 and above per person
Contact number: +603-3093 1234

What Is an Izakaya

An izakaya is a Japanese tavern where drinks come first and food is ordered in small plates to keep pace with them.

The word comes from sake-ya, a sake shop where customers were allowed to stay and drink. Skewers, sashimi and a rice or noodle finisher are the standard order, with beer, sake, shochu and highballs behind the bar.

In Kuala Lumpur the format splits two ways. Neighbourhood izakaya in Sri Hartamas, Taman Desa and Sri Petaling keep the cheap-and-loud original. Bukit Bintang and the hotel bars run a dressier version with cocktails and a longer sake list.

How Much Does an Izakaya in Kuala Lumpur Cost

A night at an izakaya in Kuala Lumpur costs about RM60 to RM140 per person at neighbourhood rooms. Skewers run RM8 to RM16 a stick and a 720ml bottle of house sake about RM85. Hotel izakaya such as ENSŌ and Fire Izakaya start at RM200 a head.

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Happy hours cut that further. Butaya, Kin No Tsubo and Tono all run drink promotions before 8pm, and Eatigo discounts of up to 50 per cent on food apply at Kin No Tsubo during off-peak slots.

Which Area Has the Best Izakaya in Kuala Lumpur

Jalan Mesui in Bukit Bintang is the best single street for izakaya in Kuala Lumpur, with Yaki Soul and Kin No Tsubo on the same hundred-metre stretch and Tono Izakaya a short walk away on Jalan Angsoka.
Sri Hartamas is the best neighbourhood for the cheaper original, with Butaya leading a row of Japanese shoplots along Jalan Sri Hartamas 8.
Mont Kiara and Dutamas now hold the premium end, with Fujisawa at Steppes and ENSŌ at Hyatt Regency.
Bangsar, Chinatown and Taman Desa each have at least one Izakaya worth the drive.

Best Time to Go

Go between 6pm and 8pm on a weeknight. Every izakaya on this list is open by then, happy hour prices are still running, and counter seats at Kin No Tsubo, Butaya and Last Project are easier to get than after 8.30pm. Weekend dinners at Teppan Sakaba, Butaya and Tono need a booking.

For the late round, Yaki Soul runs until 3am daily, Zuka and Iki Lounge until 1am, and Tono, Kin No Tsubo and Butaya until midnight or just before.

Is an Izakaya in Kuala Lumpur Worth It

Yes, if you treat it as a night out, not a sushi dinner. An izakaya in Kuala Lumpur gives you charcoal yakitori, a highball and a counter seat for less than a cocktail bar charges for two drinks, and the best rooms on this list run until 1am or later.

Choose Kin No Tsubo or Butaya for the most faithful version, Yaki Soul or Tono for the loudest, and ENSŌ for the sake list.

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