There’s a lot of buzz around PJ – how great a neighbourhood it is, how it’s got so much to offer than the usual stereotype that KL has it all and that PJ is just a bedroom community. We even devoted one of our issues to it last year, ‘KL vs PJ’, and PJ did alright. But not in the nightlife category, KL trounced there.

Oh what a difference a bar can make, how the tipping point can be achieved with an entry. For Ecoba is so good that it really warrants KL being a bit worried about keeping its unassailed status if more bars like Ecoba came along. There’s a discernible buzz over the place, a ‘you’re here too? I love this place!’ about Ecoba, a place where media elite, the design community and proud PJ-ites like to hang out, enjoy what they’ve got.

Located in the ultra cool PJ Trade Centre building, Ecoba is all about its groovy factor (designed by Chin Pak Long from MAA Space Design), an iconic tree branching out over the bar like an eagle spreading its Nordic design wings. It’s a damn cool space to hang out. But really, its true power lies in its outside area, the place where you can sit on the grass with comfy seating when the weather permits as you stare up at the very, very interesting architectural features of the PJ Trade Centre. I mean even the bar has a name, Elmo. You know, from Sesame Street. What does that tell you?

With good drink promotions and food offerings, make the effort to find this place.  Ecoba, a small salute from the downtown posse: you’ve done well. Sam Coleman