Hong Kong’s Bar Leone Makes History As First Asian Bar To Clinch #1 On World’s 50 Best Bars List; S’pore’s Jigger & Pony In Top 10
Bar Leone’s hulking mortadella sandwich is as famous as its yummy cocktails.
Photo: Florence Fong
The bar, located in Hong Kong’s Central district, was founded by Italian bartender Lorenzo Antinori in 2023. It rocketed to top spot in the Asia’s 50 Best Bars list for two consecutive years in 2024 and 2025. This is the first time that a bar in Asia has clinched the top spot in the World’s 50 Best Bars history.
Bar Leone
Photo: Florence Fong
Antinori said: “There’s no secret. Every day it’s about improving our quality and the amazing people working for us. We made Bar Leone very accessible, like stepping into my grandmother’s living room, where you feel happy and comfortable.”
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Mirror Bar in Bratislavain makes its debut on World's 50 Best Bars 2025 at No 25.
Photo: Mirror Bar
Mexico City’s Handshake Speakeasy and Barcelona’s Sips scored second and third place respectively. Rounding up the top five are Paradiso (No 4), also from Barcelona, and Tayer +Elementary from London (No 5). Overall, 29 cities are represented in this year’s list including Eastern European debutants Mirror Bar (No 25) in Bratislava, Slovakia and Nouvelle Vague from Tirana, Albania.
Deliciously complex margarita de maiz cocktail topped with baby corn from Bar Leone.
Photo: Instagram/barleonehk
Singapore scored two spots. Jigger and Pony, which has been on the list since 2019, is No 9 while Nutmeg & Clove is No 50. Jigger & Pony’s co-founder Indra Kantono shared: “It’s an incredible celebration of bars from around the world and we are thrilled that Asia is now home to the world’s best bar. We are thankful that while people are always excited about new openings, they are still supportive of bars like us and Nutmeg & Clove who have been around for a long time.”
Asia’s bars and bartenders also picked up special accolades. Penang’s Backdoor Bodega won the Siete Misterios Best Cocktail Menu Award. Uno Jang, creative director and partner at Jigger & Pony, made Singapore proud by winning the Altos Bartenders’ Bartender award, the only peer-voted award for a person who has made a significant impact on the global bar sector in the past 18 months.
Jang was modest about winning, saying: “To be someone’s role model is a lot of responsibility. Knowing that someone is going to follow in my footsteps makes me want to work hard and go in the correct direction.”
Uno Jang, creative director and partner at Jigger & Pony, wins the Altos Bartenders’ Bartender award.
Photo: Jigger & Pony
Other awards include the Roku Industry Icon Award, which went to Simone Caporale of Barcelona’s Sips while Paris’ The Cambridge Public House picked up the Ketel One Sustainable Bar Award. Mirror Bar is the Disaronno Highest New Entry winner.
In the extended 51-100 list, Asia clinched 12 spots. There are three from Hong Kong, two from Tokyo and Bangkok each, and one each from Hiriketiya, Taichung, Seoul and New Delhi. Singapore’s Native is No 84.
The World’s 50 Best Bars list has been published annually since 2009 by the UK-headquartered William Reed, a data insight and events business consultancy to the global food and beverage industry.
The list is created from a panel of more than 800 independent expert voters including renowned bartenders and established drinks educators and writers. Each anonymous voter selects eight bars based on their best experiences in the previous 18 months and the votes are adjudicated by international professional services firm Deloitte.
These are the winners of the World’s 50 Best Bars 2025:
*denotes new entries
1. Bar Leone, Hong Kong
2. Handshake Speakeasy, Mexico City
3. Sips, Barcelona
4. Paradiso, Barcelona
5. Tayer + Elementary, London
6. Connaught Bar, London
7. Moebius Milano, Milan
8. Line, Athen
9. Jigger & Pony, Singapore
10. Tres Monos Buenos Aires
11. Alquimico, Cartagena
Alquimico in Cartagena.
Photo: Alquimico
12. Super Bueno, 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. Tlecan, Mexico City
24. Tan Tan, Sao Paulo
25. Mirror Bar, Bratislava*
26. CoChinChina, Buenos Aires
27. Baba au Rum, Athens
28. Nouvelle Vague, Tirana*
29. Hope & Sesame, Guangzhou*
Hope & Sesame in Guangzhou, China.
Photo: Hope & Sesame
30. Danico, Paris
31. Scarfes Bar, London
32. Svanen, Oslo*
33. Sastrería Martinez, Lima*
34. Panda & Sons, Edinburgh
35. Roda Huset, Stockholm
36. Mimi Kakushi, Dubai
37. Salmon Guru, Madrid
38. Coa, Hong Kong
Coa in Hong Kong.
Photo: Coa
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. Virtu, 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
Source: CNA/bt
The original version of this story first appeared in CNA Luxury.
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