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

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.

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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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.

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.”

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 

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*
 

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

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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