Shining a light on the best bars in the world, The World’s 50 Best Bars 2023 list was announced on Oct 17, for the first time in its history, in Asia. Singapore was the country of choice.
Sips in Barcelona, Spain, ranks No.1 in the world, the second bar from Barcelona to take the top spot in as many years. The 2023 list features bars from 28 cities with 11 new entries across Bangkok, Berlin, Dubai, London, Melbourne, New Orleans, Paris, Rome, Seoul, Singapore and Stockholm.
Bangkok is home to the best bar in Asia, with BKK Social Club at the Four Seasons Hotel Bangkok At Chao Phraya River taking the No.13 spot.
Close behind is new entry Mahaniyom Cocktail Bar at No.19. The duo behind Mahaniyom are Ronnaporn “Neung” Kanivichaporn and Chennarong “Janz” Bhumichitr, who opened the bar on the second floor of 100 Mahaseth, explain that the name translates to “very popular” in Thai and refers to the popularity of the restaurant it is above.
“I am super overwhelmed, really overwhelmed. We have been opened a year and a half and to already be on The World’s 50 Best Bar list is huge. This also brings a lot of pressure on us considering we are in the top 20, but I think it’s good that a Thai bar puts Thailand on the map. We are the first bar managed and owned by Thai people from Thailand to be on the list,” Neung told the Bangkok Post.
Singapore, Hong Kong and Tokyo each feature two bars, with Tokyo stalwart Bar Benfiddich taking No.37, while The SG Club re-enters at No.36. Hong Kong is represented by Coa at No.20 and Argo at No.34.
Renato ‘Tato” Giovannoni of Florería Atlántico in Buenos Aires was voted Roku Industry Icon, while Lima’s Lady Bee was named Campari One To Watch. Siete Misterios Best Cocktail Menu was awarded to The American Bar at Gleneagles in Auchterarder, Scotland, and The Ketel One Sustainable Bar Award was bestowed upon Röda Huset of Stockholm. Seoul’s Zest took the Disaronno Highest New Entry Award and entered the list at No.18. Himkok in Oslo secured the Nikka Highest Climber Award, having moved up 33 places to No.10. Athens’ The Clumsies claimed the title of Rémy Martin Legend of The List, while Line, also in Athens, is named London Essence Best New Opening. Apoorva Kohli of Sidecar in New Delhi, India, is the recipient of the 50 Best Bars The Blend Scholarship and the winner of the inaugural Bareksten Best Bar Design Award is Singapore’s Night Hawk.
This is the second time a bar from Barcelona has taken the top spot in as many years, following Paradiso’s (No.4) triumph last year. Located in the heart of Barcelona’s L’Antiga Esquerra de l’Eixample district, Sips combines elegant design with cutting-edge technique to create an unfussy and playful ‘drinkery house’ from two titans of the industry, Simone Caporale and Marc Álvarez. Drawing on the lessons of their already illustrious careers — Caporale was one half of the creative duo that led London’s Artesian to The World’s Best Bar title a record four times, whilst Álvarez spent almost a decade at Ferran and Albert Adrià’s revolutionary elBarri restaurant group — the duo’s disruptive approach to creative mixology shines through in innovative haute couture serves at pret-a-porter prices.
“We are very glad to be at this position and this is what two and a half years of hard work, round the clock, has achieved. Mark and I work 10 days a week, 30 hours a day for the last three years and this is beautiful. This is the secret of being happy and aspiring to do more because there’s nothing else more rewarding than this,” Simone Caporale told the Bangkok Post.
Last week, the extended 51-100 list was revealed and Bangkok’s Vesper was at No.55 and Tropic City at No.66. For the full list, visit worlds50bestbars.com.