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)
- Bar Leone, Hong Kong
- ZEST, Seoul (Bartenders’ Bartender Award)
- Jigger & Pony, Singapore
- Coa, Hong Kong
- Bar Benfiddich, Tokyo
- Nutmeg & Clove, Singapore
- BKK Social Club, Bangkok
- Penrose, Kuala Lumpur (Highest Climber Award)
- Argo, Hong Kong
- The Aubrey, Hong Kong
- VIRTÙ, Tokyo (Art Of Hospitality Award)
- The Cocktail Club, Jakarta
- Vesper, Bangkok
- Hope & Sesame, Guangzhou
- Sago House, Singapore
- Night Hawk, Singapore
- Darkside, Hong Kong
- Mahaniyom Cocktail Club, Bangkok
- The Savory Project, Hong Kong (Best New Opening Award)
- Bar Cham, Seoul
- Bar US, Bangkok
- The St. Regis Bar, Macau
- The SG Club, Tokyo
- Penicillin, Hong Kong
- Offtrack, Singapore
- Quinary, Hong Kong
- Pantja, Jakarta
- Craftroom, Osaka
- Smoke & Bitters, Hiriketiya Sri Lanka
- Vender, Taichung
- Native, Singapore
- Origin Bar, Singapore
- The Curator, Manila
- The Bellwood, Tokyo
- Analogue Initiative, Singapore
- Bar Trigona, Kuala Lumpur
- Bar Mood, Taipei
- Employees Only, Singapore
- Barc, Kathmandu
- ZLB23, Bengaluru
- Reka, Kuala Lumpur
- Fura, Singapore (Sustainable Bar Award)
- CMYK, Changsha
- The Public House, Taipei
- Mostly Harmless, Hong Kong
- Alice, Seoul
- The Haflington, Hanoi
- Le Chamber, Seoul
- Atlas, Singapore (Legend of the List Award)
- Pine & Co, Seoul
