This past week, The World’s 50 Best Bars in the World, according to a company that does this sort of thing, was announced for 2017. Knowing bars well, I’m good with the list, and I can’t think of any bars that were snubbed.
I’m actually sitting at the bar at Quinary in Hong Kong, which has been open only five years and made #40 out of the 50 bars. Quinary is also #7 out of top 50 bars in Asia.
Obviously, in order to win these awards, there must be an innovative, unique approach to craft cocktails that are inventive, polished and progressive with that certain “wow” factor that impresses both patrons and professionals in the somewhat esoteric world of mixology. While some say craft cocktails are now a standard, that’s true… but craft cocktails at a level like Quinary are something else entirely. It’s an attitude, a lifestyle and an art.
I would recommend sitting at the bar to see the craft cocktail creations in action. The bartenders work fluidly yet in the most robotic manner. I felt like I had a birds-eye view to a science lab in the year 2128. The cocktails they were preparing were forward thinking, and the finished product was, well… like art.
Aesthetically, Quinary had a speakeasy vibe but in the most true way (it was long and dark, backlit bar with little fluff… just a tucked-away bar, no weird and overt 1920s theme here), and some of the most attractive bartenders (which definitely added to actually sitting at the bar… all that eye candy!).
Here’s the entire list of 50 Best Bars in World. Have you been to any of these bars? Would love to hear your thoughts.
World’s 50 Best Bars
1. American Bar, London
2. Dandelyan, London
3. NoMad Bar, New York City
4. Connaught Bar, London
5. The Dead Rabbit Grocery & Grog, New York City
6. The Clumsies, Athens
7. Manhattan, Singapore
8. Attaboy, New York
9. Bar Termini, London
10. Speak Low, Shanghai
11. Little Red Door, Paris
12. Happiness Forgets, London
13. High Five, Tokyo
14. Licoreria Limantour, Mexico City
15. Atlas, Singapore
16. Dante, New York City
17. Oriole, London
18. The Broken Shaker, Miami
19. Candelaria, Paris
20. Himkok, Oslo
21. The Gibson, London
22. Black Pearl, Melbourne, Australia
23. Floreria Atlantico, Buenos Aires
24. Operation Dagger, Singapore
25. 28 Hongkong Street, Singapore
26. Trick Dog, San Francisco
27. Sweet Liberty Drinks & Supply Company, Miami
28. Indulge Experimental Bistro, Taipei
29. Lost & Found, Nicosia
30. Baba Au Rum, Athens
31. Tippling Club, Singapore
32. BlackTail, New York City
33. The Jerry Thomas Project, Rome
34. Le Syndicat, Paris
35. Tales & Spirits, Amsterdam
36. Bar Benfiddich, Tokyo
37. Employees Only, New York City
38. Schumann’s, Munich, Germany
39. La Factoria, Old San Juan, Puerto Rico
40. Quinary, Hong Kong
41. Aviary, Chicago
42. Mace, New York City
43. Nightjar, London
44. Linje Tio, Stockholm
45. The Baxter Inn, Sydney
46. ABV, San Francisco
47. Native, Singapore
48. Tommy’s, San Francisco
49. Lobster Bar, Hong Kong
50. Imperial Craft, Tel Aviv