Guide to Plaza Batai

A yakitori joint kitted out like an upscale gentlemen’s club – this combination is unique enough to warrant a visit, surely. Sleek leather sofas, wooden flooring and an impressive walk-in whisky ‘closet’ up the dining experience, which usually revolves around grilled skewered meat. Chicken, duck, lamb and wagyu beef, although immaculately prepared, look common next to the restaurant’s bizarre offering: air-dried sting ray. 

Tucked away in the corner of lifestyle boutique store Merchant & Sisters is The Burrow, a barbershop co-owned by Subang-based OTHRS Barbers and resident barber Al Siew, a former law graduate who traded textbooks for clippers after apprenticing with OTHRS Barbers. Unlike other modern barbershops of its kind, The Burrow is hidden away from public view, making it an ideal place to get some peace and quiet while you get an hour-long haircut. 

Co-owner Sunitha Petrus describes Merchant & Sisters as a modern take on the old general store, where people can feel relaxed, meet other people and be a part of a community. Aside from its selection of casual outfits, denim wear, accessories and bags, the store also houses a small café, a branch of The Tattoo Parlor, and The Burrow barbershop – all within a cosy upstairs shoplot on the corner of Jalan Batai.

A sister outlet of popular saké bar Nomi Tomo and sharing a similar concept, Tabe Tomo is a casual bar and restaurant that specialises in yakitori, sake and other Japanese-style drinks. We recommend you try out their signature dish, the rosuto bifu – roast beef with mashed potato topped with softboiled egg yolk. The highballs here are also worth exploring – you could go for the oolong high, the Calpis high, the Yuzu high, the Chu high and the Suntory high. We recommend the Suntory high, which has a nice carbonated flavour that’s very well balanced with the whisky.