Asia’s 50 Best Bars Announced: Bar Leone in Hong Kong Comes Out Top, Five Singapore Bars Make The List

The votes are in for Asia’s 50 Best Bars this year: Bar Leone in Hong Kong is now the best bar in Asia for two years running. Five Singapore bars have made the Top 50 list, following a brilliant showing from Southeast Asian bars in the rankings this year: Jigger & Pony appears again on the list at #3, and music bar Offtrack clocks in at #23.

_{Jigger & Pony receives Best Bar in Singapore by Torres Brandy.}

More than 300 bar industry experts across the world have voted and gathered in Macau to reveal the best places to drink in Asia. Like sister competition The World’s Top 50 Restaurants, the Academy’s confidential voters are chosen for their knowledge, expertise and personal experiences with the industry, and are strictly unaffiliated with participating bars in any way. They comprise bartenders, educators, drinks writers, cocktail specialists, and other drinks experts from across the continent.

_{The Bartenders’ Feast and awards ceremony, Macau 2025.}

There is absolutely no criteria a bar needs to meet to be on the list: newly opened bars qualify, they do not need to have a certain amount of recognition or to have won other awards, and they certainly do not require certain drinks on the menu. Anything and everything goes that keeps the Academy’s minds open and their palates curious.

_{Image credit: Bar Leone on Facebook}

Bar Leone, Hong Kong – Asia’s 50 Best Bars #1, Best Bar in Hong Kong

Serving up “cocktails for the people”, Bar Leone in Hong Kong resembles a small-town Italian bar, but its impact has been anything but minuscule. As of this year’s 50 Best Bars ceremony, it’s already been named Asia’s best bar twice: it made history by debuting at #1 last year.

This bar opened in 2023: it’s the first solo venture by Lorenzo Antinori, previously of Charles H, Caprice Bar and Argo. The menu is deliberately free of pretence, and drinks are spirit-forward with particular emphasis on Italian spirits. Each cocktail is a classic given a Bar Leone spin: the Leone Martini is poured straight into a chilled glass with a touch of smoked olive, and the King Kong Negroni uses toasted coconut chips and banana liqueur.

Bar Leone is at 11-15 Bridges St., Central, Hong Kong. No reservations are required.

_{Image credit: BAR ZEST on Facebook}

Zest, Seoul – Asia’s 50 Best Bars #2, Best Bar in Korea 2025 sponsored by Tia Maria

Zest in Seoul brings Korean cocktail craftsmanship firmly into the modern age. Founded by Altos Bartenders' Bartender Award 2024 winner Dohyung 'Demie' Kim and fellow industry names Sean Woo, Jisu Park and Noah Kwon, this bar takes uniquely Korean ingredients and turns them into experiences you won’t find anywhere else. Zest has been voted Best Bar in Korea for the third year running.

From the minimalist, warmly-lit bar, customers are served a small selection of cocktails made with Korean produce and a zero-waste philosophy. The Jeju Garibaldi is made with specialty regional oranges (peels from the famous Hallabong orange are upcycled and distilled into gin) and Gujwa village carrots. The Oh. My. G!bson mixes citrus cardamom gin, Italian vermouth, seasonal pickles, and Omegi artisanal sour yakju: a traditional Jeju rice wine.

Zest is at 26 Dosan-daero 55-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea. Reserve a spot on Catchtable.

_{Image credit: Jigger and Pony on Facebook}

Jigger & Pony, Singapore – Asia’s 50 Best Bars #3, Best Bar in Singapore 2025 sponsored by Torres Brandy

Singapore’s Jigger & Pony has made the Top 10 every year seven times in a row. This year, it appears at #3, beating the four other Singapore bars on this list to clinch Best Bar in Singapore 2025. This bar has a signature style that has come to influence many other Singapore-based bars: contrast in every sip, with pairings of unexpected ingredients.

The team at Jigger & Pony refreshes the menu frequently: the current menu features 20 cocktails and non-alcoholic mocktails that celebrate creativity and whimsy. The Ugly Tomatoes blends heirloom tomatoes, gin, kummel and elderflower, and the Smashing Sundae is an interesting concoction of melon, green tea, shiso, ice cream, gin and vodka. Some crowd-pleasing mainstays of the menu include the Yuzu Whisky Sour and lighter Pear & Hops.

Jigger & Pony is at 165 Tanjong Pagar Road, Amara Hotel, Singapore 088539. Reserve your place online.

_{Image credit: Dry Wave Cocktail Studio on Facebook}

Dry Wave Cocktail Studio, Bangkok – Asia’s 50 Best Bars #5, Disarrono Highest New Entry Award

Highest New Entry this year goes to Dry Wave Cocktail Studio in Bangkok, which opened in January 2024 in lively Thonglor. Founded by famous bartender Supawit 'Palm' Muttarattana of Backstage Cocktail Bar and Vesper, this new bar embraces gentle contrast and fluidity: it’s in the wave-patterned wall designs, genre-bending music and inventive drinks. Dry Wave Cocktail Studio won One To Watch last year at its first Asia’s Top 50, and debuts on the list proper this year at #5.

The Super Classic menu takes elements from historical cocktails and combines them into a harmonious modern drink: take the 1806-1988, which fuses a boozy bourbon old-fashioned and a citrusy cosmopolitan, or the Love Birds in Venice, a Bellini-Paloma hybrid. Tasting your way through this menu becomes a journey through eras and cocktail trends over the ages. Sure, you can order each component cocktail separately, but where’s the fun in that?

Dry Wave Cocktail Studio is located at 263 Thonglo 13 Alley, Level 2,  SODALITY, Bangkok 10110, Thailand. Reservations before 9:30 pm can be made here: no reservations after are needed.

_{Image source: modernhausjkt on Instagram}

Modernhaus, Jakarta – Asia’s 50 Best Bars #12, Three Cents Best New Opening, Best Bar in Indonesia 2025

Modernhaus in Jakarta, a cosy mid-century bar that resembles a friend’s living room, is Best New Opening this year and Best Bar in Indonesia, making the list at #12. Opened in May 2024 by Mirwansyah 'Bule' of the Union Group, the name is both a play on the Indonesian word for “thirst” and a homage to modern architecture.

The menu focuses on Indonesia’s rich biodiversity, with an ingredient-first and zero-waste philosophy. It’s divided into four categories, named for parts of a plant: roots, fruit, leaves and flowers. Modernhaus’ signature drinks like the Pohpohan, with refined mint liqueur, champagne lactic, limeade cocktail and locally-sourced pohpohan, all contain some sort of house-brewed liqueur: the bar makes its own makgeolli and fruit wines with local berries and spirits.

Modernhaus is at Jl. Senopati No. 79, Selong South Jakarta, Indonesia. To reserve, send a message on WhatsApp to   (+62 ) 817-7233-3368.

_{Image source: Offtrack on Facebook}

Offtrack, Singapore – Asia’s 50 Best Bars #23

Music-centric bar Offtrack, affectionately referred to by its team as Leisuretown, was opened in 2022 by entrepreneurs Dean Chew and Daniel O’Connor. Every night, the bar brings a thoughtful selection of tracks from around the world to a laid-back, acoustically enhanced environment. Against a constantly refreshed backdrop of jazz, soul, and obscure Asian oldies, head bartender Joash Conceciao designs classic cocktails with a twist. 

The Dirty Sonic is made with gin, cucumber, pepper, olive, soda and tonic water, while the Tea Milk Punch refashions the caffeine cocktail with gin, cognac, cacao, matcha, milk whey and vanilla foam. Offtrack frequently welcomes guest DJs and musicians from the region and around the world, all of whom can be listened to on their Tracklist playlist.

Offtrack is at 34 North Canal Road, #01-01, Singapore 059290. Reserve a spot online if you’re visiting before 10 pm: send a message on WhatsApp to (+65) 8748 0408 for reservations after.

_{Image source: Nutmeg & Clove on Facebook}

Nutmeg & Clove, Singapore – Asia’s 50 Best Bars #24

Nutmeg & Clove, coming in at #24 on the Asia’s 50 Best Bars list, takes Singapore’s heritage and reimagines it into cocktails. The bar was founded by industry veteran Colin Chia, who has since expanded it into a food and beverage group named the Nutmeg Collective. Head bartender Yung and the team work with local businesses, individuals and communities for inspiration, turning the seasonal menu into a network of communities and connections.

The Clay it Cool cocktail, a nutty, fizzy drink, pays homage to the Thow Kwang Pottery Jungle, Singapore’s last operating dragon kiln dating back to the 1960s. The experience of the cocktail reminds one of the kiln firing process: invigorating and warming. The Dirty Kopi, a drink created with traditional coffee master Kim Guan Guan, celebrates the regional Nanyang-style coffee in the form of a spicy, fruity, cocktail with rum, cold brew, berry tea and black sesame.

Nutmeg & Clove is at 8 Purvis Street, Singapore 188587. Reserve a spot online.

The Academy has voted: here are the full rankings of the top 100 bars in Asia, plus individual awards. Take a look, and start hydrating: let’s see how many you can visit in a night!