The accolade was for its cocktail service, but it’s a safe bet that a few champagne corks were popped last month at The Lobster Bar in Hong Kong’s Island Shangri-La hotel.
For the first time, the venue was listed in Drinks International’s annual league table of The World’s 50 Best Bars – and it went in at No. 18.
“From out of the 50 to 18 is the biggest leap I’ve ever heard of,” says Drinks World Asia publisher Marc Rodrigues, a member of the voting “Academy” for the list.
“What happened in the US, or Europe, or Australia over ten or 15 years has taken four years here. We’ve always had standout bars in Asia, but now the cities are developing an actual cocktail culture. There are now around 20 good bars in Singapore, 20 in Hong Kong and ten in Taipei – so we are starting to get a critical mass.”
Shaking up Asia
The Drinks International list is to bartenders what San Pellegrino’s The World’s 50 Best Restaurants is to chefs, and Hong Kong now has two venues on it – The Lobster Bar joins Quinary (quinary.hk) at No. 39, up from No. 42 last year.
Singapore has Asia’s highest entry with 28 Hongkong Street (28hks.com) at No. 7, as well as Manhattan (regenthotels.com) at No. 35, while Tokyo’s High Five (barhighfive.com) stands at No. 13.
“Traditionally, the World’s 50 Best Bars has been dominated by North America and Europe, but in recent years we have seen Asia make serious strides,” says Drinks International deputy editor Hamish Smith, one of the organisers of the awards.
“Cocktail culture and speakeasy bars in particular have landed in China. There are so many cocktail bars opened in Shanghai the last two years it’s difficult to count. Shanghai is now close to competing with the historical hubs of Asian bar culture – Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo – which have traditionally done well in The World’s 50 Best Bars.
“Japan is the old master – a country where bartending is a profession and drinks are made with a meticulous, skilful approach. Singapore too, with its fine food culture, has spread its wings to bars that offer fine drinking experiences, particularly the likes of 28 Hongkong Street, which is at the vanguard of the scene.
“Hong Kong is a centre of fine wine and spirits, but has seen an explosion of great cocktail bars in recent years. It has luxury hotel bars, tiki bars and speakeasies aplenty, making it – along with Shanghai – one of the most exciting bar scenes in the world. Beyond that, cocktail culture is emerging in the likes of Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Bangkok and even Phnom Penh,” says Smith.
Cocktail hot spots
So where are the best places in Asia to go for a drink, and why? For the itinerant cocktail connoisseur, the five bars that made the 50 are the obvious places to start.
“28 Hong Kong Street is a great cocktail bar, but is also a bastion of first-class hospitality. By setting up a distribution company, the bar has also been able to bring spirits and ingredients otherwise unavailable to Singapore, and offer cocktails that push the scene forward,” says Smith.
“High Five is where you go to watch Hidetsugu Ueno perform. The Tokyo bartender is famous for having no menu – he creates bespoke drinks to meet everyone’s tastes, carves ice fresh for each drink and has his own shake, the Figure of Eight.”
The Lobster Bar is known for one of Hong Kong’s strongest bartending teams under bar manager Agung Prabowo, and for cocktails which, as Smith says, “are rooted in the classics”, but to which “the team have brought an Asian twist”.
“It’s all about quality drinks,” says Rodrigues. “The Lobster Bar is still the only bar in Hong Kong where if you are sitting at a table and order a Martini they will come to where you are sitting, shake it and pour it cold straight to you, so you get it at the right temperature. That’s driving change.”
Manhattan, like the Lobster Bar, is a bar in a hotel rather than a hotel bar. But it is certainly one of The Regent Singapore’s greatest assets. Bar manager Philip Bischoff draws his inspiration from 19th century cocktails and the bar is known for its range of artisanal spirits including Sipsmith dry gin and Death’s Door Vodka.
Molecular master
“Quinary is Hong Kong’s answer to molecular mixology. Owner Antonio Lai has a multi-sensory approach to his drinks so visual flair is never in short supply,” says Smith of the creator of such modern Asian cocktail favourites as the Earl Grey Caviar Martini and the Milo Dinosaur: vodka, Godiva chocolate liqueur, milk, Milo powder and a Milo ice ball served in a dinosaur egg cup.
Rodrigues says he regards Singapore as the clear leader overall in Asia outside Japan, citing government support for the development of a lively bar scene across the city, and relatively lower rentals than Hong Kong can afford as strategic advantages.
He singles out the well established Tippling Club (tipplingclub.com) where distinctly Asian mixes such as lime and tofu daiquiris and The Sounds of Tokyo (gin, nori & cucumber vermouth and Fino Sherry) are on the menu, and newer Operation Dagger (operationdagger.com), as Singapore bars discerning drinkers should visit. At this underground cocktail joint, which redistills and infuses spirits with different flavours, mixes include Sugarcane (pandan, chili and cinnamon) and Bee Pollen (bee pollen rye, oak, thyme, dark chocolate and lemon).
Hong Kong’s scene is more centralised, and Rodrigues recommends The Envoy (theenvoy.hk), which offers a cocktail served in a blood bag. True Blood is a mix of homemade ginseng liqueur and Bols Genever with orange, lemon, cranberry and beetroot juice. Like Quinary and gin bar Origin (originbar.hk), it is jointly owned by bar entrepreneur Charlene Dawes and bartending innovator Lai.
Rodrigues is also a fan of Stockton (stockton.com.hk), where signature tipples include Mumbai Government Punch (Mount Gay rum, Hennessy cognac, lime, green tea, nutmeg and demerara gum) and Cherry Tart (Maker’s Mark, vanilla, compressed citrus and cherry gum).
In September, Lai came eighth in the 2015 Diageo sponsored World Class Bartender of the Year Competition, competing against the best from around the world. The winner was Japanese bar proprietor Michito Kaneko of the Lamp Bar in Nara, whose cocktails were deemed “subtle, harmonious and impeccably calibrated” by the judges.
Bottoms up in Bangkok
“Bangkok, I think, is the big improver in the past two or three years,” says Rodrigues. “There are the right people moving there and the cost of entry is low. Vesper (vesperbar.co) is making great drinks, The Iron Fairies (facebook.com/ironfairiesbkk) is one of the best fit-outs of a bar in Asia for atmosphere, and the Bamboo Bar at the Mandarin Oriental (mandarinoriental.com) is a classic and makes drinks of exceptional quality.”
One of Asia’s top bars since it opened in 1953, The Bamboo Bar underwent a major renovation in 2014 and its cocktail service now ranks with that of Hong Kong’s MO Bar at the Landmark Mandarin Oriental.
Other burgeoning centres of cocktail exellence in Rodrigues’ view are Taipei, Jakarta and Bali. “I think we’re seeing a change in Taiwan. Traditionally people there would just go to Japanese-style whisky bars, but the next generation coming through wants cocktails. Angus Zou has Bar Alchemy making classic cocktails, and then you have local legend Aki Wang at Indulge (indulgebistrotaipei.blogspot.tw).
In Jakarta, Rodrigues cites Potato Head (ptthead.com) and Loewy (loewyjakarta.com) as the two stand-outs. “We’re starting to see a lot of great bartenders coming out of Jakarta because there are bars making great drinks, and a couple of mentors there bringing people on. Jakarta and Bali, I think, are going to become real hubs of quality drinking.”
One of those mentors is Dre Masso of the Potato Head group, which also has a branch in Bali, and which Rodrigues says also makes “great beach cocktails”, as does legendary Seminyak hangout Ku de Ta (kudeta.net).
The stuff of legend
Masso is one of four “international legends” of bartending who, Rodrigues points out, are now based in Asia and shaping the bar industry through their consultancy work around the region. Sam Jeveons, Michael Callahan and David Cordoba are the others.
“They are four of the top 15 cocktail educators and mentors on the planet. They all call Asia home now, and are travelling around just lifting the quality wherever they go. It wouldn’t surprise me if in a couple of years that list doubles. Whereas bars in Asia used to open and take ten years to get to where they needed to be, now they are opening at world class standard. These guys are really influential and they are fast tracking development. If a bar opens and doesn’t have their influence, you can see the difference straight away,” he says.
Another factor driving quality is investment by the big spirit companies, such as Diageo and Pernod-Ricard, through programmes like the World Class competition, which Diageo sponsors, and by working with bars to promote cocktail culture in general, as well as their own brands.
This year, 10 per cent of the official Top 50 bars in the world are in Asia. The upward trend is set to continue.
“What’s clear from all this activity is that Asia is coming!” says Smith. “Expect Asia to improve its showing next year and beyond.”
Shaking up Asia
The Drinks International list is to bartenders what San Pellegrino’s The World’s 50 Best Restaurants is to chefs, and Hong Kong now has two venues on it – The Lobster Bar joins Quinary (quinary.hk) at No. 39, up from No. 42 last year.
Singapore has Asia’s highest entry with 28 Hongkong Street (28hks.com) at No. 7, as well as Manhattan (regenthotels.com) at No. 35, while Tokyo’s High Five (barhighfive.com) stands at No. 13.
“Traditionally, the World’s 50 Best Bars has been dominated by North America and Europe, but in recent years we have seen Asia make serious strides,” says Drinks International deputy editor Hamish Smith, one of the organisers of the awards.
“Cocktail culture and speakeasy bars in particular have landed in China. There are so many cocktail bars opened in Shanghai the last two years it’s difficult to count. Shanghai is now close to competing with the historical hubs of Asian bar culture – Hong Kong, Singapore and Tokyo – which have traditionally done well in The World’s 50 Best Bars.
“Japan is the old master – a country where bartending is a profession and drinks are made with a meticulous, skilful approach. Singapore too, with its fine food culture, has spread its wings to bars that offer fine drinking experiences, particularly the likes of 28 Hongkong Street, which is at the vanguard of the scene.
“Hong Kong is a centre of fine wine and spirits, but has seen an explosion of great cocktail bars in recent years. It has luxury hotel bars, tiki bars and speakeasies aplenty, making it – along with Shanghai – one of the most exciting bar scenes in the world. Beyond that, cocktail culture is emerging in the likes of Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Bangkok and even Phnom Penh,” says Smith.
Cocktail hot spots
So where are the best places in Asia to go for a drink, and why? For the itinerant cocktail connoisseur, the five bars that made the 50 are the obvious places to start.
“28 Hong Kong Street is a great cocktail bar, but is also a bastion of first-class hospitality. By setting up a distribution company, the bar has also been able to bring spirits and ingredients otherwise unavailable to Singapore, and offer cocktails that push the scene forward,” says Smith.
“High Five is where you go to watch Hidetsugu Ueno perform. The Tokyo bartender is famous for having no menu – he creates bespoke drinks to meet everyone’s tastes, carves ice fresh for each drink and has his own shake, the Figure of Eight.”
The Lobster Bar is known for one of Hong Kong’s strongest bartending teams under bar manager Agung Prabowo, and for cocktails which, as Smith says, “are rooted in the classics”, but to which “the team have brought an Asian twist”.
“It’s all about quality drinks,” says Rodrigues. “The Lobster Bar is still the only bar in Hong Kong where if you are sitting at a table and order a Martini they will come to where you are sitting, shake it and pour it cold straight to you, so you get it at the right temperature. That’s driving change.”
Manhattan, like the Lobster Bar, is a bar in a hotel rather than a hotel bar. But it is certainly one of The Regent Singapore’s greatest assets. Bar manager Philip Bischoff draws his inspiration from 19th century cocktails and the bar is known for its range of artisanal spirits including Sipsmith dry gin and Death’s Door Vodka.
Molecular master
“Quinary is Hong Kong’s answer to molecular mixology. Owner Antonio Lai has a multi-sensory approach to his drinks so visual flair is never in short supply,” says Smith of the creator of such modern Asian cocktail favourites as the Earl Grey Caviar Martini and the Milo Dinosaur: vodka, Godiva chocolate liqueur, milk, Milo powder and a Milo ice ball served in a dinosaur egg cup.
Rodrigues says he regards Singapore as the clear leader overall in Asia outside Japan, citing government support for the development of a lively bar scene across the city, and relatively lower rentals than Hong Kong can afford as strategic advantages.
He singles out the well established Tippling Club (tipplingclub.com) where distinctly Asian mixes such as lime and tofu daiquiris and The Sounds of Tokyo (gin, nori & cucumber vermouth and Fino Sherry) are on the menu, and newer Operation Dagger (operationdagger.com), as Singapore bars discerning drinkers should visit. At this underground cocktail joint, which redistills and infuses spirits with different flavours, mixes include Sugarcane (pandan, chili and cinnamon) and Bee Pollen (bee pollen rye, oak, thyme, dark chocolate and lemon).
Hong Kong’s scene is more centralised, and Rodrigues recommends The Envoy (theenvoy.hk), which offers a cocktail served in a blood bag. True Blood is a mix of homemade ginseng liqueur and Bols Genever with orange, lemon, cranberry and beetroot juice. Like Quinary and gin bar Origin (originbar.hk), it is jointly owned by bar entrepreneur Charlene Dawes and bartending innovator Lai.
Rodrigues is also a fan of Stockton (stockton.com.hk), where signature tipples include Mumbai Government Punch (Mount Gay rum, Hennessy cognac, lime, green tea, nutmeg and demerara gum) and Cherry Tart (Maker’s Mark, vanilla, compressed citrus and cherry gum).
In September, Lai came eighth in the 2015 Diageo sponsored World Class Bartender of the Year Competition, competing against the best from around the world. The winner was Japanese bar proprietor Michito Kaneko of the Lamp Bar in Nara, whose cocktails were deemed “subtle, harmonious and impeccably calibrated” by the judges.
Bottoms up in Bangkok
“Bangkok, I think, is the big improver in the past two or three years,” says Rodrigues. “There are the right people moving there and the cost of entry is low. Vesper (vesperbar.co) is making great drinks, The Iron Fairies (facebook.com/ironfairiesbkk) is one of the best fit-outs of a bar in Asia for atmosphere, and the Bamboo Bar at the Mandarin Oriental (mandarinoriental.com) is a classic and makes drinks of exceptional quality.”
One of Asia’s top bars since it opened in 1953, The Bamboo Bar underwent a major renovation in 2014 and its cocktail service now ranks with that of Hong Kong’s MO Bar at the Landmark Mandarin Oriental.
Other burgeoning centres of cocktail exellence in Rodrigues’ view are Taipei, Jakarta and Bali. “I think we’re seeing a change in Taiwan. Traditionally people there would just go to Japanese-style whisky bars, but the next generation coming through wants cocktails. Angus Zou has Bar Alchemy making classic cocktails, and then you have local legend Aki Wang at Indulge (indulgebistrotaipei.blogspot.tw).
In Jakarta, Rodrigues cites Potato Head (ptthead.com) and Loewy (loewyjakarta.com) as the two stand-outs. “We’re starting to see a lot of great bartenders coming out of Jakarta because there are bars making great drinks, and a couple of mentors there bringing people on. Jakarta and Bali, I think, are going to become real hubs of quality drinking.”
One of those mentors is Dre Masso of the Potato Head group, which also has a branch in Bali, and which Rodrigues says also makes “great beach cocktails”, as does legendary Seminyak hangout Ku de Ta (kudeta.net).
The stuff of legend
Masso is one of four “international legends” of bartending who, Rodrigues points out, are now based in Asia and shaping the bar industry through their consultancy work around the region. Sam Jeveons, Michael Callahan and David Cordoba are the others.
“They are four of the top 15 cocktail educators and mentors on the planet. They all call Asia home now, and are travelling around just lifting the quality wherever they go. It wouldn’t surprise me if in a couple of years that list doubles. Whereas bars in Asia used to open and take ten years to get to where they needed to be, now they are opening at world class standard. These guys are really influential and they are fast tracking development. If a bar opens and doesn’t have their influence, you can see the difference straight away,” he says.
Another factor driving quality is investment by the big spirit companies, such as Diageo and Pernod-Ricard, through programmes like the World Class competition, which Diageo sponsors, and by working with bars to promote cocktail culture in general, as well as their own brands.
This year, 10 per cent of the official Top 50 bars in the world are in Asia. The upward trend is set to continue.
“What’s clear from all this activity is that Asia is coming!” says Smith. “Expect Asia to improve its showing next year and beyond.” 
