Asia’s Cocktail Bars Take Over World’s 50 Best List In 2025

The Asian bar scene has erupted onto the global stage in 2025. Hong Kong’s Bar Leone has just been named the world’s No.1 bar in The World’s 50 Best Bars 2025 list, the first time ever that the title has gone to an Asian venue. Built on the Italian idea of cocktail popolari (cocktails for the people), Lorenzo Antinori’s Roman-inspired bar serves casual, high-quality drinks rooted in local aperitivo culture. Its warm, unpretentious atmosphere and openly shared cocktail recipes (via a rotating menu in Google Docs) helped it seize the top spot. This landmark win, revealed live in Hong Kong in October, marks a milestone that underscores how bars from Singapore to Tokyo are now drawing global acclaim. 

Asia is exceptionally well-represented in The World's 50 Best Bars 2025 list, which spans venues in 29 cities. Beyond Bar Leone, Singapore’s Jigger & Pony (#9) – a cherished institution since 2012 by founders Indra Kantono and Guoyi Gan – continues to thrive on its reputation for warm, genuine hospitality and creative, collectable ‘menuzines,’ glossy cocktail catalogues that collectors covet. The menus change yearly around themes, ensuring every visit feels fresh and cultural. 

Thailand’s scene shines too. Bangkok’s Bar Us(#15) dazzles with precision cocktails built on Thai ingredients. Its tasting-menu format offers “layers of Thai flavours” in every sip – think guava leaf, green chilli or makrut lime notes in layered cocktails. The opulent BKK Social Club (#49), inside Bangkok’s Four Seasons by the Chao Phraya, wows with Golden Era glamour and Mexican-tinged drinks. It’s dazzlingly luxe, soaring arches, mirrored bars, golden light, yet focused on fun. The menu leans on agave with stylish riffs on Mexican cocktails (mezcal and tequila play a big role and clever takes on classics). Despite all the drama, BKK Social remembers the fundamentals of great service and camaraderie. 

Guangzhou’s Hope & Sesame (#29) is a speakeasy hidden behind an old-school Chinese diner. Since 2016, it’s been rewriting China’s cocktail playbook. Co-founder Andrew Ho (Asia’s ‘Bartenders’ Bartender’ award-winner) and team fuse local ingredients with high-tech methods like ultrasonic infusion. Even Hong Kong’s Coa and Argo (at #38 and #56, respectively) are getting props, the latter for sustainable cocktails using endangered Asian ingredients, and the former for championing the agave-based cocktails and creating a thriving community around them. In short, from Singapore to Seoul and Tokyo, Asia’s top bars are now a beacon for drinkers worldwide. 

Even in the 51-100 extended list, there’s Smoke & Bitters at #67 in Hiriketiya, Sri Lanka. The beachfront gem brings Sri Lankan terroir to cocktails. Expect house-made tinctures and local distillates (like coconut arrack) in each pour, highlighting the island’s unique ingredients and laid-back spirit. And closer home, New Delhi’s Lair (#96), inspired by 1920s speakeasies, is India’s newest global entry. Its film-noir vibe (dark corners, sharp contrasts) sets a cinematic mood. Cocktails are cleverly tiered for adventure levels: even novices will find something approachable, while enthusiasts can tackle the “Superior” offerings. The emphasis is on balanced, imaginative drinks that invite beginners and aficionados alike.

India To Asia: A Bar Lover’s Odyssey 

As an Indian cocktail enthusiast attending the awards in Hong Kong, I couldn’t help but notice how many fellow travellers were drawn to Asia’s bars. With new direct flights and affordable routes, Delhi to Singapore, Mumbai to Bangkok, and beyond, it has never been easier for Indians to hop to Asia’s cocktail capitals. On the flight over, I leafed through the World’s 50 Best 2025 Bars list and realised that most of my bucket-list bars are within reach.

At the Hong Kong ceremony, I met bar owners and bartenders from Tokyo, New York, Barcelona, Bratislava, Mexico City, Nairobi and more. Over late-night drinks and dim sum, we traded hospitality stories: from Japanese precision techniques to Latin American smoky flavours, from Scandinavian design aesthetics to the new Indian craft-spirit movement. It struck me how passionate every bartender was about culture: many drew inspiration from local traditions and ingredients, just as we in India celebrate our own regional spirits and flavours. These conversations deepened my appreciation of each bar’s uniqueness, whether it was the playful Italian quirks at Bar Leone or the tropical ingenuity at Smoke & Bitters.

Meeting these global leaders underscored that the real draw of these bars isn’t just the ingredients, but the people and philosophy behind the stick. At the legendary scene inside Hong Kong’s glittering 1980s Central district, Lorenzo Antinori (Bar Leone) toasted simplicity, while Andrew Ho (Hope & Sesame) insisted that his award was a shared victory for his team and for young bartenders across Asia. Each encounter was a mini masterclass in hospitality, as much as it was networking or a celebration.

Now, back in India, I see how that weekend in Hong Kong ripples through travellers I know. Friends are already planning trips to hit the cocktail bars in Bangkok and Singapore, not just for the nightlife but to experience the local stories each one tells. And with newer direct routes, for example, nonstop service from Delhi to Manila debuted this fall, and flights to Hong Kong and Bangkok are just a few hours, such bar-hopping itineraries are suddenly much easier. As travel desks keep pointing out, once-sleepy Southeast Asian cities now welcome Indian visitors visa-free and fly-you-there-direct, making multi-country cocktail tours a real possibility.

In the end, platforms like these award lists are doing something exciting: they are turning neighbourhood bars into travel-worthy icons. By celebrating creativity and hospitality, they shine a light on even the most tucked-away speakeasy. Every time an under-the-radar bar makes one of these lists, it jumps onto the radar of Indian (and global) travellers. What I experienced in Hong Kong was camaraderie, a sense of collective pride that our region’s bartending and hospitality have come of age globally. And as I write this, I can’t help smiling at the thought of the next toast: soon, more guests from Mumbai or Bangalore will be raising a glass in Asia’s top bars, enjoying the sunsets and smiles that got us here.