There is a noticeable buzz in the air the moment one steps into Wynn Palace. It is the weekend before the award ceremony for Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2025, and hundreds of guests from all over the region—bartenders, journalists and cocktail enthusiasts—are gradually trickling into the hotel where this year’s celebration is set to take place.
Colossal and opulent, Macau’s Wynn Palace feels like a fitting destination for an event of this scale. It’s a thought that crosses my mind the moment I step through the entrance and find myself greeted by a vibrant pink fabergé egg—three times my height and embellished with more than 60,000 flowers—opening up to reveal a phoenix.
Upon checking into my suite, this idea is only reinforced. Huge floor-to-ceiling windows look out to the hotel’s performance lake, at which an impressive fountain show that rises several stories up is ongoing. All the while, cable cars leisurely glide across the scene. Inside the room, I find a mixology set sculpted entirely out of chocolate, and a welcome cocktail from the hotel’s Wing Lei Bar.
While this year’s Asia’s 50 Best Bars ceremony was held on 15 July, the event was more of a week-long affair, filled with countless guest shifts, pop-ups and cocktail pairing dinners in the lead up to the big night. All across Macau, the region’s best and brightest came together to celebrate their love for mixology, offering a glimpse of the vibrant and diverse cocktail scene in Asia. From the most exciting guest shifts to the grand night itself, we take you inside the highlights of this year’s festivities.
Guest shifts galore
At Wynn Palace, over 25 intriguing events and guest shifts were held over the course of the week, building up an undeniable and inescapable thrill in anticipation for the awaited night. After all, it’s not every day you get to sample drinks made by industry icons like Julio Mermejo and Sam Ross, or try cocktails from bars in less frequently travelled countries like Nepal.
Some of Singapore’s most beloved nightlife spots also made an appearance, from a coffee liqueur-centred pop-up by Offtrack, to a shochu-focused takeover of modern Japanese restaurant Mizumi by 28 HongKong Street alongside Tokyo’s Bar Trench. Also on the itinerary was Sago House, in an exciting bar shift, dubbed the battle of the houses, with Chengdu Temple House’s Jing Bar.
As for some of the most memorable drinks of the week? There was the Shoyu Ramen from Bengaluru’s ZLB23, an umami-rich concoction of tequila, shoyu, miso and sake, with dried seaweed on the side. Hong Kong’s Artifact also served up The Grape One, a delicious combination of gin, white grape, miso and toasted sesame, whilst Bangkok’s Bar Sathorn presented Bangkok Brunch: a tequila and mezcal based libation with salted tomato water and the makings of Thai pad krapow, all poured and served over an eye-catching frozen whole tomato.
While it was the cocktails that were in the spotlight all week, the culinary experiences certainly did not fall short either. At Mizumi, executive chef Hironomi Maeda served up a spectacular lunch—think tender cubes of wagyu that melt in the mouth, decadent ribbons of toro wrapped around uni and caviar, and unagi charcoal-grilled to crisp and smoky perfection—paired with a gorgeous selection of sakes and Japanese wines.
Meanwhile, two separate dining experiences at Chef Tam’s Seasons demonstrated the restaurant’s versatility. The first, a cocktail-paired dinner with Taipei’s Bar Mood, featured executive chef Tam Kwok Fung’s usual elegant Cantonese fare, from unassuming but delicious braised vegetables topped with crab roe, to a delicate pigeon stuffed with ‘eight treasures’. In the second—a four-hands collaboration with modern Indian cuisine restaurant Masque, paired with libations from New Delhi bar Sidecar—unique dishes that blend Cantonese and Indian flavours prove that the two cuisines go together surprisingly well.
The ceremony
On the night of the ceremony, we gather in the grand theatre ballroom of the Wynn Palace. Hundreds of guests mill around the room, drinks in hand, eagerly greeting fellow bartenders and friends from the community. With 98 out of the 100 bars on the extended list in attendance, the anticipation in the air is palpable. The lights dim.
As the ceremony begins, an exciting tidbit is soon announced: there are 20 new entries to the list this year. A murmur ripples through the room at the promise of a night that will shake things up. Among the 20 bars, we eventually find out, is Singapore’s Cat Bite Club at number 44. At number 12, Jakarta’s Modernhaus, which opened its doors just last year, is named Indonesia’s best bar as well as the best new opening on the list. And at number five, Dry Wave Cocktail Studio, which also opened last year, clinches the Disaronno Highest New Entry Award at number five.
As the night goes on, Singapore’s Native, Nutmeg & Clove, and Offtrack all earn places on the list—at 45th, 24th and 23rd respectively. Seoul’s beloved Wonderland-themed bar Alice rises 33 spots to place 13th, making it the bar that has climbed the most ranks. Meanwhile, Hanoi’s Workshop14 receives the Campari One To Watch Award after only opening six months ago.
Bangkok’s seven and Hong Kong’s six bars on the list cement the two cities as leaders in the cocktail scene, but more exciting, perhaps, are India’s five entries—of which four are new, proving the country a rising one to watch.
Crawling up the list, we eventually arrive at the moment everyone’s been waiting for: the top three spots. At this point, everyone can guess who they are—it’s just a matter of what order they are in.
As the crowd holds its breath, the top three bars in Asia are finally announced. Jigger & Pony comes in third on the list, making it also the best bar in Singapore. Seoul’s Zest is second. And for the second year in a row, Hong Kong’s Bar Leone is crowned the best bar in Asia. The only thing that’s left to do, then, is head on down to the after-party, grab a drink—or multiple—and celebrate.
