Our Water God: Shawn Chong Launches The Mizukami Collective

Mizukami Highball is the first concept under the Mizukami Collective | Mizukami Highball | Food For Thought

Shawn Chong is one of Kuala Lumpur’s most renown bartenders, having a plethora of accolades under his belt, including bar owner of the institution Omakase + Appreciate has launched Mizukami Highball, part of the Mizukami Collective, a concept that is quintessentially Shawn, a Japanese focused bar, the first of many to come.

Mizukami Highball at MiCasa All Suites Hotel

The new bar is located within the newly refurbished Shiso at MiCasa All Suites Hotel and is an amalgamation of mizu (water) and kami (god in Japanese, us in Malay), exploring their ethos of Chong’s drive to elevate and stimulate the KL cocktail scene, as well as his passion for drinks education, particularly when it comes to the fundamentals. Mizukami Highball will be one of the few bars to serve Chikusen Junmai sake by draft, in addition to Shawn’s penchant for great classic cocktails.

Shawn Chong, Founder of the Mizukami Collective | Mizukami Highball | Food For Thought

“The Highball has become synonymous with Japanese bartending because of its popularity as an after-work drink in Japan, as well as the technique they developed to produce a well-balanced whisky highball. One of the key things I learnt over the past few months was to go with the flow. Sometimes we can’t force things to go our way, but we can instead adapt to each situation — like water, hence ‘Mizu’. In respect to ‘Kami’, I want this collective to build a community and following of people who appreciate not just the drink itself, but the overall experience.” — Shawn Chong, Mizukami Collective.

The Mizukami Highball team_ (L-R) Avril Chin, Shawn Chong and Tobyn Low | Mizukami Highball | Food For Thought

The Mizukami Collective

While Mizukami Highball will focus on Highball style cocktails, his other bars will also have an element of Japanese bartending with a Malaysian touch. Chong’s experience in creating and curating a Japonesque experience is not lost on those who are familiar with his work, and all we can do now it wait to experience it for ourselves. The second concept under Mizukami Collective is slated for Q2 of 2021.


Mizukami Highball
Ground Floor,
MiCasa All Suites Hotel,
368B, Jalan Tun Razak,
Taman U Thant,
50400 Kuala Lumpur
+603 2179 8000
Opening Hours:
4.00 pm to 11.00 pm

| PHOTOGRAPHY: RAD IMPRESSIONS | WEBSITE: BAR MIZUKAMI |

Nicholas Ng

Nicholas Ng is a restaurant critic and drinks writer and is the editor of independent publication Food For Thought. He has been a freelance journalist for the 15 years and has previously worked as a lawyer and in digital marketing. He currently is the Principal Consultant of A Thought Full Consultancy, a food and beverage marketing consultancy.