NEWS
HONG KONG’S BAR LEONE NAMED WORLD’S BEST BAR
By Siulan Law Mathews DipWSET
9-10-2025
Source: World's Best Bars 2025
Hong Kong’s Bar Leone was named the World’s Best Bar at a ceremony held in Hong Kong yesterday.
This is the first time an Asian bar has topped the annual guide to the world’s best bars – with Hong Kong following in the footsteps of London (which has provided the winner 10 times), New York (3), Barcelona (2) and Mexico City.
Bar Leone, which debuted as runner up in the 2024 list having only launched in 2023, is a neighbourhood cocktail bar that celebrates ‘cocktail popolari’, offering simple Italian-accented classic cocktails and bar food – including the locally popular mortadella sandwich – in a space inspired by Roman hospitality.
Apart from Bar Leone, 10 other bars in Asia have made it to the top 50. Among them, only Jigger and Pony in Singapore has made to the top 10 at no. 9 spot.
The Asian bars that made to the top 50 this year spread across Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok, Seoul, Tokyo and Guangzhou.
The upper echelons of this year’s list are star studded, with five of the top six bars being former winners.
Mexico City’s Handshake Speakeasy (winner in 2024) took runner up this year, taking the title of Best Bar in North America. Eric Van Beek’s venue is hidden behind a secret door in a dimly lit room stocked with vintage spirits, the bar’s interior evoking a bygone era.
In third and the Best Bar in Europe is Barcelona’s Sips. Simone Caporale and Marc Alvarez’s Barcelona bar rose to the summit of the list in 2023 and is known for its theatrical service that pivots around an island bar.
Now in its 17th year, The World’s 50 Best Bars list is voted for by a panel of 800 global bar experts, made up of bartenders, drinks writers and cocktail experts.
Full list of World’s Best Bars 2025
1. Bar Leone, Hong Kong
2. Handshake Speakeasy, Mexico City
3. Sips, Barcelona
4. Paradiso, Barcelona
5. Tayēr + Elementary, London
6. Connaught Bar, London
7. Moebius Milano, Milan
8. Line, Athens
9. Jigger & Pony, Singapore
10. Tres Monos, Buenos Aires
11. Alquímico, Cartagena
12. Superbueno, New York
13. Lady Bee, Lima
14. Himkok, Oslo
15. Bar Us, Bangkok
16. Zest, Seoul
17. Bar Nouveau, Paris
18. Bar Benfiddich, Tokyo
19. Caretaker's Cottage, Melbourne
20. The Cambridge Public House, Paris
21. Satan's Whiskers, London
22. Locale Firenze, Florence
23. Tlecān, Mexico City
24. Tan Tan, São Paulo
25. Mirror Bar, Bratislava
26. CoChinChina, Buenos Aires
27. Baba au Rum, Athens
28. Nouvelle Vague, Tirana
29. Hope & Sesame, Guangzhou
30. Danico, Paris
31. Scarfes Bar, London
32. Svanen, Oslo
33. Sastrería Martinez, Lima
34. Panda & Sons, Edinburgh
35. Röda Huset, Stockholm
36. Mimi Kakushi, Dubai
37. Salmon Guru, Madrid
38. Coa, Hong Kong
39. Sip & Guzzle, New York
40. Drink Kong, Rome
41. Double Chicken Please, New York
42. Maybe Sammy, Sydney
43. 1930, Milan
44. Jewel of the South, New Orleans
45. Virtù, Tokyo
46. Overstory, New York
47. The Bar in Front of the Bar, Athens
48. The Bellwood, Tokyo
49. BKK Social Club, Bangkok
50. Nutmeg & Clove, Singapore
(the writer can be contacted at: info@thewinechronicle.com)
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