
2021 World's 50 Asia's Best Bars: Complete Rankings
Prestigious 2021 ranking spotlighting Asia's best bars acclaimed for innovation, service, exceptional cocktail experiences.
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Coa
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Ranked #17 in Asia's 50 Best Bars 2025 and a three-time holder of the #1 Asia title, Coa occupies a lower-ground space on Shin Hing Street in Central with a forty-page agave spirits list and a cocktail programme that rotates a new drink every week. The food menu, developed with award-winning Mexican restaurant Chicano, grounds the experience in the culinary culture that produced the spirits on the shelf.

Jigger & Pony
Singapore, Singapore
Jigger & Pony sits in Singapore’s serious cocktail tier: a Tanjong Pagar bar with long-running Asia’s 50 Best Bars momentum, an editorial-style drinks programme built around annual “menuzines.” The draw is not speakeasy concealment; it is polished hotel-lobby confidence, classic cocktail grammar, a team comfortable turning technique into readable, social drinking.

The SG Club
Tokyo, Japan
Ranked #65 in the World's 50 Best Bars 2025 and a fixture on the Asia's Best Bars list since 2019, The SG Club in Shibuya operates across two distinct floors with a program rooted in Japanese ingredient logic and international technique. Located in Jinnan, a quieter pocket above the Shibuya crossing noise, it draws a consistent crowd of serious drinkers and has held a place in the global top 25 as recently as 2021.

Indulge Experimental Bistro
Taipei, Taiwan
Experimental Bistro has held a position inside the World's 50 Best Bars global ranking for seven consecutive years, reaching Asia's Best Bars #2 in 2018 and #3 in 2019. Located in Taipei's Da'an District, it represents the sharper edge of Taiwan's bar scene, where international technique meets local produce. Few bars in Asia have sustained this level of recognition across as many consecutive cycles.

Sober Company
Shanghai, China
Sober Company on Yandang Road ranked on Asia's 50 Best Bars from 2017-2022, returned to the extended Asia list at #92 in 2024 and #81 in 2025, peaked at #5 in Asia and #39 globally in 2021. Located in Huangpu, it represents the serious, technically driven tier of Shanghai's cocktail scene, a bar that has sustained international recognition long enough to anchor conversations about where Chinese bartending stands on the global stage.

Manhattan
Singapore, Singapore
Manhattan at Conrad Singapore Orchard holds one of the most decorated track records in Asian cocktail history, ranking as high as #1 in Asia's 50 Best Bars and #3 globally. Named the Tatler Best Bars Asia-Pacific 2025 Best Service winner, the bar frames Golden Age American cocktail culture through a Singaporean lens. It sits at the upper tier of Orchard Road hotel bars.

No Sleep Club
Singapore, Singapore
No Sleep Club on Keong Saik Road has tracked one of Singapore's sharpest award trajectories in recent bar history, moving from Asia's 50 Best #15 in 2022 to a global ranking of #26 in the same year before settling at #60 in 2024. The bar sits in the Tanjong Pagar conservation district, where the city's cocktail scene has matured well beyond novelty formats into technically precise, atmosphere-led programs.

Bar Benfiddich
Tokyo, Japan
Bar Benfiddich belongs to Tokyo’s serious cocktail tier: a 17-seat Nishishinjuku room where farm botanicals, old bottles and historical technique shape the programme. Its repeated Asia’s Best Bars and World’s 50 Best Bars placements make it a reference point for drinkers comparing Tokyo’s precision-led bars with more improvisational, ingredient-driven counters.

Caprice Bar
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Positioned on the sixth floor of the Four Seasons Hong Kong with views across Victoria Harbour, Caprice Bar ranked among Asia's top ten bars on the World's 50 Best list in 2021. The bar operates at the upper tier of Central's hotel cocktail scene, where sourcing standards and technical precision define the category. across a selective review pool signals consistent delivery at that level.

The Bamboo Bar
Bangkok, Thailand
Operating from within the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok since 1953, The Bamboo Bar holds a position few hotel bars in Asia can match on longevity or awards consistency. Ranked #7 in Asia's Best Bars in 2020 and still listed in the Tatler Best Bars Asia-Pacific 2025, it has anchored Bangkok's live jazz and cocktail culture across seven decades while the city's bar scene has shifted dramatically around it.

Bar Trigona
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Named in Tatler's Best 20 Bars Asia-Pacific and ranked among Asia's 50 Best Bars every year since 2019, Bar Trigona operates from the Four Seasons Kuala Lumpur with a drink programme built around indigenous Malaysian ingredients. Its food menu is designed to work alongside the cocktails, not merely accompany them. For anyone tracking the evolution of Southeast Asian bar culture, this is a reference point.

Native
Singapore, Singapore
Native sits in Singapore’s serious cocktail tier, with repeat appearances on World’s 50 Best Bars, Asia’s 50 Best Bars, Top 500 Bars. Its value is not spectacle; it is a drink programme that helped make regional ingredients, technical prep, local reference points part of the city’s premium bar conversation.

Hope & Sesame
Guangzhou, China
Ranked #7 in Asia's Best Bars 2025 and making its World's 50 Best Bars debut that same year, Hope & Sesame has operated from Guangzhou's Dongshankou district since 2016. Entry is through a concealed refrigerator door; the programme inside runs on ultrasonic infusion, rotary distillation, seasonal menus built around regional flavour and cultural narrative.

Sidecar
New Delhi, India
Sidecar in New Delhi's Greater Kailash II has earned a position among Asia's most consistently recognised bars, appearing on Asia's 50 Best Bars every year since 2020 and reaching #14 on the Asia list in 2022. Described by Tatler Asia as a bartender's bar, it draws on classic cocktail technique and literary reference points, holding.

Bar Mood
Taipei, Taiwan
Bar Mood in Taipei's Da'an District has held a place on Asia's Best Bars rankings every year since 2019, reaching as high as #13 in 2020. The bar's approach bridges classical Western cocktail technique with native Taiwanese botanicals and ingredients, earning it Tatler Asia-Pacific recognition in 2025. It sits in a lane-house setting off Dunhua South Road, drawing a loyal local crowd alongside international bar enthusiasts.

Bee's Knees
Kyoto, Japan
Bee's Knees has held a position in Asia's Best Bars top 80 every year since 2020, peaking at #18 in 2021, a sustained record that places it among the most consistently recognised cocktail bars in the region. Operating from Nakagyo Ward in central Kyoto, it runs Tuesday through Saturday from 6pm until 3am, making it one of the city's more serious late-night drinking destinations.

Room by Le Kief
Taipei, Taiwan
Room by Le Kief reached #19 on Asia's 50 Best Bars in 2021 and placed #46 globally on the World's 50 Best Bars the same year, putting it among a small tier of Taipei cocktail programs with verifiable international standing. The bar operates in Da'an District and draws. For anyone tracing Taiwan's craft cocktail scene, it is a consistent reference point.

28 HongKong Street
Singapore, Singapore
One of Singapore's most decorated cocktail bars, 28 HongKong Street occupies a converted shophouse on 28 Hong Kong St and has appeared in the World's 50 Best Bars list every year since 2012. A sustained run of recognition, including a #1 Asia ranking in 2016, places it among the bars that shaped the city's modern cocktail identity.

Tropic City
Bangkok, Thailand
Tropic City has held a position inside the World's 50 Best Asia's Best Bars list every year since 2019, making it one of Bangkok's most consistently recognised cocktail programmes. Located on Charoen Krung 28 in Bang Rak, the bar operates around the clock and draws a crowd that treats late hours as standard. Six consecutive years of ranking signal a programme built on more than novelty.

Tell Camellia
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Tell Camellia has tracked an arc from #23 on Asia's 50 Best Bars in 2021 to #300 on the global Top 500 in 2025, a trajectory that reflects the increasingly crowded field of serious cocktail programmes in Hong Kong's Central district. The bar occupies a lower-ground space on Pottinger Street, inside a neighbourhood where refined drinking culture has taken deliberate hold over the past decade.

Aha Saloon
Taipei, Taiwan
Aha Saloon has appeared in Asia's 50 Best Bars four consecutive years, reaching #10 in 2020, which places it among a small group of Taipei bars with sustained continental recognition. Located in Da'an District on Fuxing South Road, it operates in the tier of technically serious cocktail programmes that have shifted Taiwan's bar scene into the regional conversation.

Quinary
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
On Hollywood Road in Central, Quinary has anchored Hong Kong's serious cocktail scene since 2012. Named to the World's 50 Best Bars list every year from 2013 through 2021, ranked among Asia's Best Bars consistently through 2025, it sits in a peer tier defined by technical precision and longevity rather than novelty. signals a floor of reliability that few bars at this level maintain.

The Pontiac
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
One of Central's most decorated bars, The Pontiac on Old Bailey Street has appeared in the World's 50 Best Asia's Best Bars rankings every year from 2016 through 2022, peaking at #16 in 2017. Its address on the SoHo edge of the Central district places it in a cluster of serious drinking venues, with underlining sustained crowd approval alongside critical recognition.

Bar High Five
Tokyo, Japan
Bar High Five has appeared on the World's 50 Best Bars list every year since 2011, reaching as high as #3 globally in 2013. Located in a basement in Ginza, it represents the classical Tokyo bar tradition, precise technique, minimal theatre, drinks built around the guest rather than the menu. reflects consistent execution over more than a decade.

The Wise King
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
A basement cocktail bar in Soho's Staunton Street, The Wise King has held a position inside Asia's 50 Best Bars for four consecutive years, peaking at #18 in both 2019 and 2020. The bar operates in Hong Kong's mid-tier Soho corridor, where low ceilings and close quarters set the register for serious drinking rather than spectacle. It earns its place in the city's ranked cocktail tier through consistency and craft.

Barbary Coast
Singapore, Singapore
Ranked #29 on Asia's 50 Best Bars list in 2021, Barbary Coast operates from a compact address on North Canal Road in Singapore's Clarke Quay corridor. The bar sits within a tier of Singapore cocktail venues that trade on program depth and precise technique rather than volume or spectacle. A reference point for the city's serious drinking scene.

Union Trading Company
Shanghai, China
Union Trading Company is listed as permanently closed following the June 22, 2026 status audit.

Speak Low
Shanghai, China
Speak Low has placed on the World's 50 Best Bars list every year since 2016, reaching as high as #10 globally in 2017. Spread across three floors of a former French Concession shophouse on Fuxing Middle Road, it remains one of the most consistently recognised cocktail bars in Asia-Pacific, appearing on the Tatler Best Bars Asia-Pacific 2025 list and holding.

Union Brasserie, Bakery and Bar
Jakarta, Indonesia
Union Brasserie, Bakery and Bar has appeared on Asia's 50 Best Bars list every year between 2016 and 2021, reaching as high as #33 on the regional ranking. Positioned at Plaza Senayan in central Jakarta, it operates across an all-day format that moves from bakery and brasserie service through to a full bar program.

Bar Cham
Seoul, South Korea
Bar Cham has climbed from #50 in Asia's Best Bars in 2020 to #6 in 2025, placing it among the most consistently recognised cocktail bars on the continent. Situated in the Jongno District neighbourhood of Bukchon, the bar frames Korean aesthetics through classically grounded technique. It opens Wednesday through Monday from 18:00 to 01:00.

Backstage Cocktail Club
Bangkok, Thailand
Backstage Cocktail Club Bangkok was a legendary speakeasy where six award-winning bartenders created theatrical mixology magic through innovative Thai-inspired cocktails and immersive backstage dressing room design. Though closed since 2021, this Asia's 50 Best Bars honoree remains Bangkok's most influential cocktail destination.

The Curator
Manila, Philippines
On Legazpi Street in Makati, The Curator has held a place in Asia's Best Bars rankings every year since 2016, peaking at #16 and sitting at #78 in 2025. Open from early morning through the small hours most nights, it operates as both a serious coffee address and a recognised cocktail bar, a dual identity that reflects its role in the neighbourhood rather than a single-category pitch.

D.Bespoke
Singapore, Singapore
D.Bespoke on Bukit Pasoh Road has appeared in Asia's 50 Best Bars every year from 2016 to 2021, reaching as high as #13 on the regional list. The bar's back bar depth and spirits-led approach place it among Singapore's most serious drinking destinations, drawing a crowd that comes to explore rather than simply order. Located in the Tanjong Pagar conservation district, it sits within walking distance of several other bars that define the city's cocktail identity.

Darkside
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Positioned inside Rosewood Hong Kong on the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront, Darkside has ranked consistently inside both the World's 50 Best Bars global list and Asia's Best Bars top tier since 2021. The bar operates at a technical level that places it among Hong Kong's most decorated drinking rooms, drawing a crowd that treats the visit as an occasion rather than a stop.

Alice Cheongdam
Seoul, South Korea
Alice Cheongdam has appeared on Asia's 50 Best Bars list every year since 2016, reaching #11 in 2016 and #13 in 2025, making it one of the most consistently recognised cocktail bars in the region. Located in the basement of a Cheongdam-dong address, the bar draws on an Alice in Wonderland concept that shapes both its spatial design and its drinks program. Open until 2am on weekdays and 3am on weekends, it runs deep into Seoul's night.

The Old Man
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
The Old Man on Aberdeen Street has held a place inside the World's 50 Best Bars top ten and led Asia's 50 Best Bars rankings, making it one of the most decorated cocktail addresses in Hong Kong. The bar draws a steady crowd to Soho's lower slope with a literary-themed program and a commitment to technical precision over theatrical flourish. Booking ahead is advisable.

Bar Trench
Tokyo, Japan
Bar Trench in Ebisu has held a place on Asia's 50 Best Bars list continuously since 2016, reaching as high as #16 in 2018 and appearing on the World's 50 Best Bars in 2025. The bar draws a devoted following for its spirits-forward approach and the depth of its back bar. reflects consistent execution over a long run.

Le Chamber
Seoul, South Korea
Le Chamber has appeared on Asia's 50 Best Bars list every year since 2016, reaching as high as #17 in 2018 and holding a place in the 2025 ranking at #50. Located one floor below street level on Dosan-daero 55-gil in Gangnam's Cheongdam corridor, it operates in the tier of Seoul bars that shaped the city's international cocktail reputation.

MO Bar
Singapore, Singapore
MO Bar sits on the third floor of Mandarin Oriental Singapore, overlooking Marina Bay, has held a place in Asia's 50 Best Bars continuously since 2020. Ranked #21 in Asia's 50 Best Bars 2025 and #36 globally in 2021, it occupies the upper tier of Singapore's award-recognised cocktail scene. The bar draws a crowd that comes for technically grounded drinks in a setting with serious waterfront presence.

Vesper
Bangkok, Thailand
Vesper has held a place on Asia's 50 Best Bars list every year since 2016, making it one of Bangkok's most consistently recognised cocktail programmes. Located on Soi Convent in Silom, it operates in the upper tier of a city that has built a serious regional reputation for bar culture., the consensus among repeat visitors is clear.

Three X Co
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Three X Co has held a place on Asia's Best Bars list since 2021, reaching #15 in the 2025 rankings while adding Tatler Asia's Best Service recognition for 2026. Located on Level 3 of Bangsar Shopping Centre, it operates daily from 10am to 10pm and sits within Kuala Lumpur's most decorated comparable set for cocktail bars.

Sago House
Singapore, Singapore
Sago House on Duxton Hill has earned consecutive placements in the World's 50 Best Asia's Best Bars rankings since 2021, reaching #10 in 2023 and appearing in the global list at #32 that same year. Set in one of Singapore's most characterful heritage streets, it operates at the intersection of place-rooted cocktail philosophy and tropical ingredient work that defines the city's premium bar tier.
Overview
The 2021 Asia's Best Bars list recognized 50 establishments across 11 countries and 13 cities. Coa in Hong Kong took the top position, marking a significant shift from the previous year's winner. Singapore placed four bars in the top ten, demonstrating the city-state's concentration of high-performing cocktail venues. The edition saw massive turnover with 35 new entrants replacing the same number of departed venues.
This edition represented a major reset in the Asia's Best Bars rankings. Only 15 venues from the previous year retained their positions, while 35 new bars made their debut. Singapore captured the most top-10 placements with Jigger & Pony (#2), Manhattan (#6), Atlas (#7), and No Sleep Club (#8). Tokyo contributed two top-10 bars: The SG Club (#3) and Bar Benfiddich (#9). Hong Kong bookended the top ten with Coa at #1 and Caprice Bar at #10. Taipei's Indulge Experimental Bistro (#4) and Shanghai's Sober Company (#5) rounded out the upper ranks. The 13 cities represented spanned from East Asia to Southeast Asia, with the 50 venues distributed across 11 countries.
Coa led the 2021 Asia's Best Bars rankings, displacing The Connaught Bar from the previous edition. The list underwent substantial reshuffling—70% of the venues were new entrants, with only 15 bars maintaining their positions year-over-year. Singapore dominated the top ten with four placements, while Hong Kong and Tokyo each secured two spots. The 50 bars spanned 13 cities across 11 countries, reflecting both established cocktail capitals and emerging destinations in the Asian bar scene.
Quick Facts
- Total Bars
- 50
- Countries
- 11
- Cities
- 13
- #1 Bar
- Coa (Hong Kong)
- New Entrants
- 35
- Retained from Previous
- 15
- Most Top-10 Bars
- Singapore (4)
About This Edition
The 2021 edition marked a dramatic departure from the previous year's rankings. With 35 bars dropping out and an equal number of new entrants, the list reflected either a significant change in voting methodology or a genuine shake-up in the regional bar scene. Singapore's strength in the rankings was clear—beyond its four top-10 positions, the city-state demonstrated depth across multiple neighborhoods and cocktail styles. Hong Kong's Coa taking the #1 spot represented a new leader for the list, with the city also placing Caprice Bar at #10. Tokyo's presence with The SG Club and Bar Benfiddich continued the city's reputation as a major cocktail destination. Taipei and Shanghai each contributed one bar to the top ten, with Indulge Experimental Bistro and Sober Company respectively. The massive turnover from the previous edition—only 30% retention—suggests the 2021 list may have expanded its geographic focus or adjusted its judging panel. The complete absence of bars from the previous year's top spot (The Connaught Bar) and other highly-ranked venues like Tayēr + Elementary and Paradiso indicates either a change in eligibility criteria or significant shifts in voter preferences.
Frequently Asked Questions
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