The winners for the World's 50 Best Bars 2024 were officially announced on 22nd October at the awards ceremony in Madrid. This year, eleven Asian bars cinched rankings in the coveted global competition - with special mentions going to Hong Kong's Bar Leone which won the title of Best Bar in Asia and the Disaronno Highest New Entry Award, as well as Seoul's Zest which cinched the Ketel One Sustainable Bar Award 2024 and the 9th place.

The World's 50 Best Bars award, sponsored by Perrier, is an annual list that recognizes the best of the international drinks industry. The annual ranking is voted on anonymously by 680 drinks experts globally, including bartenders, consultants, drinks writers and cocktail specialists.

Read on for a breakdown of the winning Asian bars:

No. 47 Analogue Initiative in Singapore

Analogue Initiative is a forward-thinking venue located in Singapore's historic Chimes building that pushes the boundaries of sustainable and plant-based mixology. Led by owner Vijay Mudaliar, dishes and drinks are made with innovative ingredients and zero-waste techniques. Even the interiors are designed to be as planet positive as possible - the bar top is 3D printed by recycled plastic bottles, while the coloured coasters used in the bars are made from repurposed plastic waste. 

| Read more: Future Nostalgia: A Visit to Analogue Initiative

No. 43 Atlas in Singapore

Glitz, glamour and serious quantities of gin are the name of the game at Atlas. With a collection of bottles north of 1,300 brands, this Singaporean bar is destined to ascend its guests to a gin-based valhalla, with a little bit of Gatsby-era opulence thrown in for good measure. Their recent menu, Preservation of Fire, pays tribute to enduring cocktail making techniques that have shaped the world of bartending today, and is organised into four different chapters, each corresponding to a particular technique: carbonation, temperature, washing and infusions.

| Read more: Our interview with Atlas Bar's Head Bartender Yana Keller

| Read more: Our review of Atlas Bar's new cocktail menu "Preservation of Fire"

No. 42 Virtù in Tokyo

This cocktail bar and cognac lounge is based in a 60-seat Art Deco-style space in the Four Seasons Hotel Tokyo, where opulence and glammer is the order for the night. Cognac lovers will marvel at their extensive collection, which includes Japan's only Rémy Martin Louis XIII Rare Cask bottle. Meanwhile, expect cocktails such as the Ultimate Champagne Cocktail, which mixes cognac with yuzu and champagne for extra dazzle. It's worth nothing also that the bar team behind Virtù cinched the Michter's Art of Hospitality award at the Asia's 50 Best Bars 2024 as well, a good sign you're likely to encounter service as smooth as the drinks. 

No. 41 Bar Us in Bangkok

The menu at Bar Us is divided into three sections: Starters, Mains and Afters. Here, drinks mimics familiar dishes such as ramen and satay, while others offer unique and exciting flavour combinations that challenges the boundaries between food and liquid drink. The sheer variety and reverance for ingredients here is palpable, with an ingredient library of jars on full display - guests are welcome to open and nose! 

No. 28 Nutmeg & Clove in Singapore

Drawing inspiration from Singapore's rich history as a spice trading zone, Nutmeg and Clove offers an intimate pink-hued destination for flavourful cocktails that creatively tell a story about different aspects of Singapore culture. Their latest menu, created by head bartender Gavin Teverasan and bar manager Shelley Tai is titled "Ten", and celebrates the bar's 10-year anniversary. This year marks Nutmeg & Clove's first entry into the World's 50 Best Bars list. 

| Read more: Our interview with Nutmeg & Clove's Bar Manager Shelley Tai

| Read more: Tourist at Home: A Visit to Nutmeg & Clove

No. 25 Bar Benfiddich in Tokyo

Hiroyasu Kayama’s landmark bar requires little introduction. Hitting all the motifs of traditional Japanese bars, including silky smooth movements, no menu and a reverence of the freshness of ingredients, it remains a must-visit for all cocktail enthusiasts within the sprawling Tokyo metropolis. Specifically, Kayama uses botanicals and fruits sourced directly from the vast farm he runs an hour's drive away from the bar, where he also makes his own must-try absinthe. 

No. 18 Coa in Hong Kong

A true pioneer of Hong Kong’s bar scene, Jay Khan’s temple to agave continues to jump from strength to strength. Whether there to sample its savoury Bloody Beef Maria or a classic Paloma, an evening at Coa is always one to savour.

No. 12 Bangkok Social Club in Bangkok 

Set within the luxurious Four Seasons Bangkok at Chao Phraya River, BKK is the convivial bar where Buenos Aires meets Bangkok. A South American-inflected menu, curated by bartending veteran Phillip Bischoff, uses ingredients found across Latin America to create one of the city's best bar experiences. More recently, the bar has zoomed in on Mexican spirits and styles as well, with new cocktails including a Sour inspired by Frida Kahlo and a highball inspired by Carlos Santana.

Read More: Scenes from The BKK Social Club

No. 9 Zest in Seoul 

With its name serving as a portmanteau of ‘zero’ and ‘waste’, Zest is, unsurprisingly, all about sustainable serves. With all mixers made in house to cut down on single-use vessels, honey from urban beehives and many other local initiatives, the Seoul watering hole is at the forefront of the modern sustainable bar movement and is earning acclaim at an exponential rate, helping them cinch the Ketel One Sustainable Bar Award 2024 and claiming the 9th spot on the list.

Expect not just soju and makgeolli centric cocktails, but also drinks that thoughtfully incorporate more obscure Korean spirits and beverages, such as yakju, sikhye and gosori-sool. 

No. 5 Jigger & Pony in Singapore

A true OG of Singapore’s effervescent cocktail scene, Jigger & Pony may now be into its 11th year of existence, but it shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Through years of tweaking and subtle evolutions, including its now-famed ‘menuzines’, it’s retained its status as one of the Lion City’s finest drinking dens.

Their latest cocktail menu, titled Smash, pays tribute to some classic cocktails, though made with Jigger & Pony's trademark flair. This includes an anything-but-basic Spicy Margarita served with chilli beer foam and topped with an agave lollipop, as well as an enormously complex 4-layer Ramos Gin Fizz that combines gin, port wine and champagne. 

| Read more: We Visited Jigger & Pony to See What The Hype's About! 

No. 2 Bar Leone in Hong Kong

An Italian-style neighbourhood cocktail bar based at the Peak in Hong Kong, Bar Leone first made history earlier this year when it was crowned Asia's Best Bar of 2024, the first time a new bar has cinched the top spot in the same year as its debut on the list. It does so once again by cinching the 2nd spot on the World's 50 Best Bars 2024 list, making it the Highest New Entry of the year and once again, the Best Bar in Asia 2024.

While Bar Leone only just opened last year, this certainly wasn't the first rodeo for the man behind the bar. Bar Leone is a solo venture from the effortlessly charismatic Lorenzo Antinori, who was previously involved in setting up Charles H, Caprice Bar and Argo - all well respected bars in their own right. Bar Leone runs on the philosophy of ‘cocktail popolari,’ meaning ‘cocktails for the people’. Consequently, their cocktails are designed with an emphasis on speed, consistency and simplicity - with a lean towards the inclusion of Italian spirits.  

The full global list of winning bars can be found on Worlds 50 Best Bars' official website here.

Kanpai!

88 Bamboo Editorial Team