Asia’s 50 Best Bars Have Been Named (And Hong Kong Still Reigns Supreme)

For the second consecutive year, some of the drinks industry’s best and brightest gathered en masse at Rosewood Hong Kong to celebrate the reveal of Asia’s 50 Best Bars for 2024.

The annual awards list — compiled, reviewed, and published by British media house William Reed — offered plenty of revelations for lovers of award-winning mixology: starting with the announcement that Bar Leone, a Hong Kong-based hole in the wall specialising in cocktail popolari, is now the Best Bar In Asia.

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This, despite the fact that the venue — led by co-founder Lorenzo Antinori, formerly of the also award-winning Hong Kong hotel bar ARGO — is making its first-ever appearance in the Asia’s 50 Best list… a virtually unprecedented result.

During this year’s awards ceremony, Antinori said that he was “speechless” at his small, independently-owned venue’s impressive result.

“We want Bar Leone to be a celebration of simplicity. We want a place where people feel welcome,” he continued. “We are a Hong Kong bar, and we are very proud of that.”

Broadly, the bar scene in Hong Kong is extremely well-represented in the upper strata of this year’s 50 Best shortlist.

Leone notwithstanding, The Savory Project (fronted by the same team behind Coa) came away with the laurels for Best New Opening — debuting at #19 on this year’s list. It’s also worth recognising the team at Mandarin Oriental’s The Aubrey.

Led by star bar manager Devender Kumar, the venue has been climbing steadily through the rankings over the past three years, finally cracking #10 in 2024.

In total, Hong Kong comes away with 9 of the best bars in Asia for 2024, half of which ranked inside the Top 10.

Unsurprisingly, Singapore presents the other major source of competition: feted with the highest overall number of award winners (11) in the region.

These include such notable and globally recognised fixtures as Atlas Bar and Jigger & Pony — the latter of which won the coveted title of Asia’s Best Bar back in 2020.

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Finally, Korea continues to emerge as an exciting new hub for high-end mixology in Asia.

This year, Zest Seoul came away with the award for Asia’s #2 bar; combining this formidable achievement with recognition for its founder, Dohyung “Demie” Kim, in the form of the Altos Bartenders’ Bartender Award.

You can peruse the complete list of Asia’s 50 Best Bars for 2024 below. For all of the other outstanding awardees ranked between 51-100, visit the Asia’s 50 Best Bars website.

Asia’s 50 Best Bars (2024)

1. Bar Leone, Hong Kong
2. ZEST, Seoul (Bartenders’ Bartender Award)
3. Jigger & Pony, Singapore
4. Coa, Hong Kong
5. Bar Benfiddich, Tokyo
6. Nutmeg & Clove, Singapore
7. BKK Social Club, Bangkok
8. Penrose, Kuala Lumpur (Highest Climber Award)
9. Argo, Hong Kong
10. The Aubrey, Hong Kong
11. VIRTÙ, Tokyo (Art Of Hospitality Award)
12. The Cocktail Club, Jakarta
13. Vesper, Bangkok
14. Hope & Sesame, Guangzhou
15. Sago House, Singapore
16. Night Hawk, Singapore
17. Darkside, Hong Kong
18. Mahaniyom Cocktail Club, Bangkok
19. The Savory Project, Hong Kong (Best New Opening Award)
20. Bar Cham, Seoul
21. Bar US, Bangkok
22. The St. Regis Bar, Macau
23. The SG Club, Tokyo
24. Penicillin, Hong Kong
25. Offtrack, Singapore
26. Quinary, Hong Kong
27. Pantja, Jakarta
28. Craftroom, Osaka
29. Smoke & Bitters, Hiriketiya Sri Lanka
30. Vender, Taichung
31. Native, Singapore
32. Origin Bar, Singapore
33. The Curator, Manila
34. The Bellwood, Tokyo
35. Analogue Initiative, Singapore
36. Bar Trigona, Kuala Lumpur
37. Bar Mood, Taipei
38. Employees Only, Singapore
39. Barc, Kathmandu
40. ZLB23, Bengaluru
41. Reka, Kuala Lumpur
42. Fura, Singapore (Sustainable Bar Award)
43. CMYK, Changsha
44. The Public House, Taipei
45. Mostly Harmless, Hong Kong
46. Alice, Seoul
47. The Haflington, Hanoi
48. Le Chamber, Seoul
49. Atlas, Singapore (Legend of the List Award)
50. Pine & Co, Seoul