Asia's 50 Best Bars returns to the historic Capitol Theatre in Singapore tonight. Three local bars can be found on the prestigious list's top five: Manhattan Bar (2nd), Native (4th) and Atlas (5th). Taking the number one spot is The Old Man from Hong Kong, which also celebrated the official opening of its Singapore outlet last night.
The Old Man is an Ernest Hemingway-inspired bar that takes a culinary approach to its cocktails, making use of centrifugal, rotary evaporation, sous-vide and fat washing techniques to make creative tipples. Its Singapore outlet prices its drinks at an affordable $17 and is currently serving drinks that were on the first iteration of the Hong Kong menu. Owner Agung Prabowo also plans on opening new bars that stick to the Hemingway theme in Hong Kong and beyond.
A total of 11 Singapore bars are recognised on the list, including highest climber Jigger & Pony, which climbed from the 42nd spot last year to 9th following its move from Amoy Street to Amara Singapore. Others include Tippling Club (11th), Gibson (15th), 28 Hongkong Street (21st), Operation Dagger (22nd), D.Bespoke (25th), Employees Only (41st) and The Other Room (46th).
Here are the rankings at a glance:
50 The Back Room, Manila (new)
49 Mixology Salon, Tokyo
48 Teens of Thailand, Bangkok
47 Oto, Manila (new)
46 The Other Room, Singapore
45 Draft Land, Taipei
44 Junglebird, Kuala Lumpur
43 Bar Mood, Taipei (new)
42 Smalls, Bangkok
41 Employees Only, Singapore
40 Ketal One Sustainability Bar Award, Bar Trigona, Kuala Lumpur
39 Union Brasserie, Bakery & Bar, Jakarta
38 Otto E Mezzo Bombana, Hong Kong
37 The Curator, Manila
36 Stockton, Hong Kong
35 Hope & Sesame, Guangzhou (new)
34 Rabbit Hole, Bangkok (new)
33 Lobster Bar & Grill, Hong Kong
32 The Pontiac, Hong Kong
31 Tropic City, Bangkok (new)
30 Union Trading Company, Shanghai
29 Alice Cheongdam, Seoul
28 Bar Orchard Ginza, Tokyo
27 Coley, Kuala Lumpur
26 Vesper, Bangkok
25 D.Bespoke, Singapore
24 Aha Saloon, Taipei
23 Bar Trench, Tokyo
22 Operation Dagger, Singapore
21 28 Hongkong Street, Singapore
20 Backstage, Bangkok
19 Le Chamber, Seoul
18The Wise King, Hong Kong (new)
17 Bar Benfiddich, Tokyo
16 Sober Company, Shanghai
15 Gibson, Singapore
14 Charles H, Seoul
13 The SG Club, Tokyo (new)
12 Coa, Hong Kong
11 Tippling Club, Singapore
10 Quinary, Hong Kong
9 Jigger & Pony, Singapore
8 The Bamboo Bar at Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok
7 Speak Low, Shanghai
6 High Five, Tokyo
5 Atlas, Singapore
4 Native, Singapore
3 Indulge Experimental Bistro, Taipei
2 Manhattan, Singapore
1 The Old Man, Hong Kong