Hong Kong has quietly become one of the world's great cocktail cities, and the numbers back it up: Bar Leone, an unpretentious neighbourhood spot in Central run by Italian bartender Lorenzo Antinori, has just been named the World's Best Bar for the second year running. For travellers, that means one thing — book a flight, then book a bar stool.
Start at Bar Leone itself, on Bridges Street, where the philosophy is "cocktail popolari" — drinks for the people, inspired by Rome's traditional bars. Expect well-balanced seasonal Negronis, an Olive Oil Sour and a Filthy Martini, plus smoked olives and mortadella focaccia good enough to skip dinner plans. Arrive early; the wait is part of the deal now.
A short walk away, the Central neighbourhood packs in serious variety. Mius, on Gough Street, does refined modern classics like a Strawberry Negroni with comfort-food plates such as vodka rigatoni. Kinsman, on Peel Street, is the one to seek out if you want something you genuinely can't drink anywhere else: drinks built on indigenous Chinese spirits, including a Milk & Honey made with yuk bing siu, a rice wine macerated with pork fat, plus a proper mocktail list and Cantonese-leaning food like a giant smoked pork lard prawn toast.
Agave fans should head to COA, a cosy den with a 41-page menu devoted to tequila and mezcal, which topped Asia's 50 Best Bars three years in a row. On the Kowloon side, DarkSide at the Rosewood hotel pairs heritage-inspired cocktails and a deep dark-spirits library with live jazz and harbour views after dark.
If the mood is speakeasy, find the hidden door at The Green Door, tucked beneath the Graham Street wet market with an Alice in Wonderland theme and a cult-worthy caramel apple pie. For sundowners, Terrible Baby on the Eaton hotel's rooftop in Jordan pours playful drinks like Dong Ling Cha, a rum take on Hong Kong's beloved iced lemon tea.
Two more worth your evening: Gokan, from Japanese mixologist Shingo Gokan, arranges its menu around the five flavours and serves inventive drinks like a watermelon-gin-coffee hybrid; and The Globe, a gastropub that's outlasted three decades of trend-chasing thanks to craft beer taps, plate-sized pies and a Sunday roast. For something off the beaten track, BOUND in Prince Edward blends coffee shop, eatery and bar with local bands and natural wine. And if one Antinori venue isn't enough, his follow-up Montana, on Hollywood Road, channels 1930s Cuba — the daiquiri follows an original recipe, and the piña colada pineapple is grilled behind the bar.
The big takeaway: Hong Kong's best bars no longer make you choose between great drinks, proper food and a good atmosphere. Whether you're a cocktail nerd, a beer-and-pie type or a mocktail-only traveller, there's a stool with your name on it.
