Marimbar is the highest rooftop bar in Petaling Jaya and offers a hip atmosphere with great views, food, drink and music. Overall, it is a comfortable place to hang out with a group of friends.
Since Marimbar is a bar, we should of course start with the drinks review. And, the first thing many of us look for is Happy Hours since drinking in Malaysia can be a pricey affair. Marimbar offers a generous Happy Hour that runs daily from 3 – 9 pm. Unfortunately, none of the cocktails is in the Happy Hour list, but otherwise, the list covers a good assortment of beers, wines and spirits.
The bar offers the gambit of alcoholic drinks. A number of bottle beers and four beers on tap - Carlsberg, Asashi, Kronenbourg Blanc and Conner’s stout. The wine list is long and offers a great selection by the glass or bottle, with wines from Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Italy and France. Of course, there is bubbly and bubbly rose for those really in a festive mood.
But the cocktails are an important part of Marimbar’s charm and they offer a list of the classics including the Jungle Bird (RM38), the Classic Margarita (RM30), Pina Colada (RM35) and Negroni (RM40), to name a few. Their signature cocktails are particularly delicious and quite strong.
We enjoyed The Red Rimba (RM40), which is a lemongrass infused gin with pandan syrup, which was sweet and strong. The Blue Moon (RM45), which was more refreshing and crisp, was gin with sweet & sour pineapple juice and blue curacao.
We continued to treat ourselves to the Pisco Disco (RM38), a chrysanthemum infused pisco with lychee liqueur and pandan syrup.
And we capped off our cocktail experience going native with the Jungle Rose (RM42), a mix of vodka, gin and cranberry juice, with a splash of grenadine syrup to sweeten it up.
An important function of a bar is the ability to hang out with your friends – to talk, mingle, and maybe even dance a bit. Marimbar hits all of these marks. The music is good and gets progressively more energetic as the night goes on, but it is not too loud, so you can easily carry on a conversation with your friends.
There are two outdoor veranda areas, one that overlooks PJ, Bangsar and KL, and the other that overlooks Sunway and has a beautiful sunset view. As the cities light up, the view outside is quite stunning, and throughout the bar, there are many comfortable sofas, tables and chairs, as well as standing areas. For the cigar enthusiast, Marimbar offers a range of stogies that you can slowly smoke throughout the evening.
Marimbar has a long list of wide ranging food that should not be missed. With light bites, pasta, pizza and even a shortlist of mains, there is a wide variety of dishes to choose from, including a number of vegetarian options. When we heard that the Marimbar falls under The Marini Group, our expectations for the food became quite high, and we weren’t disappointed.
From the light bites list we noshed on Beef Crostini with Jalapeno Pepper and Goat Cheese (RM53), which was absolutely delicious. The beef was crispy and the goat cheese soft, with the jalapeno tying it all together with a spicy kick. The Fried Vietnamese Spring Rolls (RM20) had a light crispy batter that surrounded a seafood cake and was just yummy.
We also indulged in the Feta Cheese & Spinach Samosa (RM33), which was a generous portion of samosas where the spinach inside was freshly blanched and the pastry outside flakey.
They also offer other light bite favourites such as Classic Buffalo Wings (RM19), Shoestring Fries with Truffle Mayo (RM15) and Chicken Quesadillas (RM35), to name a few.
We moved on to sample a few items from the pasta and mains list. The House-made Porcini Mushroom Ravioli with Truffle Butter (RM49) was absolutely gorgeous, with buttery sauce and parmesan slices that complimented the pasta and mushrooms but didn’t overwhelm them.
The Lamb Shank with Sautéed Vegetables and Mashed Potatoes (RM69) was a generous portion, but the lamb could have been a bit more tender for us, but it was still very enjoyable.
While it is a bar, and probably not know for its desserts, we were enjoying the food so much that we had to sample a sweet ending and a coffee. The Tiramisu (RM25) is Marimbar’s most popular dessert, and it didn’t disappoint. It was light, sweet and delicious. And the long black washed it all down nicely, and gave us a nice caffeine energy burst to drive ourselves home! They also offer Crème Brulee (RM20), Panna Cotta (RM18) and Tartufo (Rm18), so clearly we aren’t the only ones in need of something sweet at the end of the night.
Marimbar is a great place to hang out with your friends in the evening and into the late night. They offer a variety of evening themes, including live music, throughout the week. Conveniently located at near the Asia Jaya LRT, and with ample parking at the Sheraton, Marimbar can help you have an awesome nighttime experience. Overall we give it 5 stars.
Marimbar, Lorong Utara C, Pjs 52 Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. Opening Hours are everyday from 15:00 - 02:00. To make a reservation contact them at +60 3-2386 6030 or email reservations@marinisgroup.com
