Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2026 was announced on 28 July 2026 at an awards ceremony inside the Grand Theatre at Wynn Palace, Macau, with Hope & Sesame in Guangzhou taking the No. 1 spot. The extended No. 51–100 list had already been published two weeks earlier, on 14 July, giving the full ranking a proper two-stage rollout before the main event. Chinese mainland bars occupy an unusually large share of this year’s list — Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Changsha, and Hangzhou all place at least one room in the hundred.
The Ones We've Been To
We haven’t made it to Guangzhou yet. But between Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Tokyo, we’ve had a drink at sixteen of the hundred bars on this year’s list — three of which we’ve already written up in full. Here’s what we made of the rest, in the order they rank.
No. 3 — Bar Leone, Hong Kong. Sharp, well-drilled classic twists, though the permanent queue and rushed-tourist energy make it feel more like a bucket-list stop than a quiet drink.
No. 4 — Dry Wave Cocktail Studio, Bangkok. Its “super classic” menu mashes pairs of classic cocktails into something new, and it’s one of the best bars to appreciate minimalist drinks.
No. 6 — Bar Us, Bangkok. A dining-inspired menu where the cocktails taste like the dish they’re named after; imagine cuisine made liquid.
No. 7 — Lennon’s, Bangkok. Thirty floors above Bangkok, where the cocktails actually earn the view instead of just decorating it. Read our full review →
No. 9 — Jigger & Pony, Singapore. The best bar in Singapore looks like an ordinary hotel bar and plays it that way on purpose, backing its reputation with classics done properly rather than spectacle. Read our full review →
No. 12 — Nutmeg & Clove, Singapore. A colonial shophouse bar putting a Singaporean lens on the classics, run with the efficiency of a place that knows exactly how busy it’s going to be. Read our full review →
No. 17 — Bar Sathorn, Bangkok. Beautiful bar in a spectacular historic building, with drinks as spectacular as the venue.
No. 20 — BKK Social Club, Bangkok. A grand Four Seasons lounge leaning into Latin American flavours; the tequila drink that looks like a glass of water but tastes like a sweet, nutty snack was one of the better surprises of the year.
No. 25 — Opium, Bangkok. A cozy bar in Bangkok’s Chinatown, built around a Chinese-Thai-inspired drink theme.
No. 26 — Virtù, Tokyo. A French-Japanese fusion hotel lounge with spectacular drinks; the Manhattan-style Takara arrives under a flake of gold leaf, with a chilled refill kept waiting on ice.
No. 31 — G.O.D, Bangkok. The whole theme runs on food pairings; on our visit that meant a spiced negroni served alongside uni on a chocolate shell.
No. 56 — Vesper, Bangkok. Home of the famous Vesper Martini, but other drinks are equally sparkling.
No. 62 — Bar Benfiddich, Tokyo. No menu, just an omakase of drinks built to order in a small, otherworldly, herb-strewn den on the 9th floor of a Shinjuku building.
No. 69 — Messenger Service, Bangkok. A “grocery store”-inspired menu tucked on the third floor of an old building in Bangkok’s Chinatown.
The Full Ranking
- Hope & Sesame — Guangzhou
- Zest — Seoul
- Bar Leone — Hong Kong
- Dry Wave Cocktail Studio — Bangkok
- MO Bar Shenzhen — Shenzhen
- Bar Us — Bangkok
- Lennon’s — Bangkok
- Boilermaker — Goa
- Jigger & Pony — Singapore
- Obsidian Bar — Shenzhen
- Modernhaus — Jakarta
- Nutmeg & Clove — Singapore
- Alice — Seoul
- Vender — Taichung
- Cosmo Pony — Jakarta
- Offtrack — Singapore
- Bar Sathorn — Bangkok
- Soka — Bengaluru
- Pony Up — Shanghai
- BKK Social Club — Bangkok
- Carrots Bar — Jakarta
- Gokan — Hong Kong
- Punch Room Tokyo — Tokyo
- Coa — Hong Kong
- Opium — Bangkok
- Virtù — Tokyo
- CMYK — Changsha
- Ralph’s Bar — Chengdu
- Smoke & Bitters — Hiriketiya
- Bar Spirit Forward — Bengaluru
- G.O.D — Bangkok
- Three X Co — Kuala Lumpur
- Bar Cham — Seoul
- Workshop14 — Hanoi
- To Infinity & Beyond — Taipei
- Mius — Hong Kong
- Argo — Hong Kong
- Bar Trigona — Kuala Lumpur
- Bar Libre — Tokyo
- The Golden Tooth — Jakarta
- The Han-Jia — Tainan
- M+MS Bar — Seoul
- Origin Bar — Singapore
- Problem Child — Makati
- The St. Regis Bar (Macau) — Macau
- The Hudson Rooms — Hanoi
- Montana — Hong Kong
- Aqua Bar — Bangkok
- Penicillin — Hong Kong
- Tiao — Beijing
- Bar Outrigger — Goa
- BOP — Singapore
- Bar Trench — Tokyo
- The Opposites — Hong Kong
- The Enigma Mansion — Ho Chi Minh City
- Vesper — Bangkok
- Side Door — Singapore
- The Elephant Room — Singapore
- Yakoboku — Kumamoto
- The Savory Project — Hong Kong
- Barc — Kathmandu
- Bar Benfiddich — Tokyo
- Reka — Kuala Lumpur
- Penrose — Kuala Lumpur
- Cabinet 8 — Kuala Lumpur
- Backdoor Bodega — Penang
- Moonrock — Tainan
- Maltail — Kaohsiung
- Messenger Service — Bangkok
- Bar Nayuta — Osaka
- Raa — Hiriketiya
- Craftroom — Osaka
- Between the Sips — Jakarta
- Gong Gan — Seoul
- The Bar at the Ritz-Carlton Tokyo — Tokyo
- Mahaniyom Cocktail Bar — Bangkok
- Hats Bar — Jakarta
- Firefly — Bangkok
- The Bellwood — Tokyo
- Native — Singapore
- Tell Camellia — Hong Kong
- Bar Mood — Taipei
- Coley — Kuala Lumpur
- Stir — Ho Chi Minh City
- Aabbcc — New Delhi
- Cat Bite Club — Singapore
- Charles H — Seoul
- Le Chamber — Seoul
- Soko — Seoul
- Bar Bon Funk — Singapore
- Chimney — Hangzhou
- The Public House — Taipei
- Ropewalk — Galle
- Lamp Bar — Nara
- Coa (Shanghai) — Shanghai
- Bar Long Fong — Beijing
- Stay Gold Flamingo — Singapore
- The Spirits Library — Makati
- Lab — Taipei
- Sora — Phnom Penh
Asia's 50 Best Bars 2026
- Announced
- 28 July 2026, Wynn Palace, Macau
- No. 1
- Hope & Sesame, Guangzhou
- No. 51–100
- Published two weeks earlier, on 14 July 2026
- Bars we've visited
- 16 of the 100