Not too long ago, Fifty Tales in Petaling Jaya revealed a new addition to the restaurant: a full-fledged bar where people can finally see the ongoings of how their Chinese tea is prepared, and serves as a playground for co-owner Aaron Phua to create a full cocktail menu that goes well with the restaurant’s Cincai Dinner experience.
Loyalists of the restaurant may wonder: are they venturing into the bar scene? Not to worry—they’re still very much serious about their food. The cocktails, while delicious, were not crafted to overshadow the food items. Instead, it’s light enough to complement the food, supporting the experience without overpowering it, and it most certainly won’t get you inebriated before dessert. I would know—I tried it.
The evening began with two original dishes dating back from Fifty Tales’ original Kepong location, brought back by popular demand. We begin our night with a welcome drink: East Meets West, essentially luo han guo (monkfruit herbal tea) and beer, which was delightfully thirst-quenching. It was served with the duck, poached and marinated in wine, dressed in gula apong vinaigrette and fragrant chive oil. Both dishes carried a subtle sweetness that set a comforting tone for the meal ahead.
While these opening dishes didn’t come with specific cocktail pairings, the team at Fifty Tales curated a selection of wines and teas designed to complement the overall menu harmoniously.
The scallops with glass noodles exemplified classic Cantonese cooking at its finest. Steamed with wine and layered with delicate glass noodles and ginger paste, the dish was warming and comforting. The accompanying Spanish white wine proved to be an excellent match, its lightness allowing the natural sweetness of the scallops to shine through.
One of the evening’s standout moments came with a cocktail that challenged expectations. Phua introduced DongFang Bubai—and he described it as a “feminine drink”. Now, I’ve heard enough from bartenders claiming to create a girly drink that’s typically sweet, fruity, and pink. However, this isn’t one of those—Phua says it was inspired by femininity itself: bold and punchy rather than delicate. His version of femininity tasted like: wasabi, pepper, lychee liqueur, and kaffir lime leaf. It was something unique and quite certainly one of my favourites of the night.
Savoury cocktails are having a moment now, and Fifty Tales’ cocktail menu has a Kepong-style bak kut teh-inspired cocktail: it contains gin, angelica-steeped soda, and is rimmed with celery salt. The cocktail was surprisingly clean-tasting despite its herbaceous character. It accompanied the budu char siew—topped with kaffir lime and served with pork lard rice—in a pairing that seemed unusual on paper but surprisingly worked on the palate.
The creativity continued with a cocktail designed to emulate the tang yuan eating experience. Made with pandan, sesame oil, egg white, and ginger cordial, this drink captured the essence of the Chinese dessert in liquid form—a playful and nostalgic touch.
As for desserts, you can’t leave Fifty Tales without having at least one of their iconic mua chees. The drink selection concluded with three options: Cina Teh Ais, Drunken Flower, and the Landlady’s Love Potion. A word of caution about the last one: the Landlady’s Love Potion is deceptively strong. It goes down smoothly without revealing its potency until later—consider yourself warned.
Fifty Tales has elevated its offering with the addition of the bar and thoughtfully crafted cocktails. The cocktails aren’t just an afterthought but are creative expressions of Malaysian Chinese culinary cultures.
Address: 19, Jalan 21/11b, Sea Park, 46300 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
Make a reservation here.