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Photo: Hong Kong Tourism Board
A Hong Kong bar snagged the top spot for the fourth consecutive time at this year’s Asia’s 50 Best Bars, which sozzled the city with a bonanza of guest shifts graced by mixologist glitterati from around the world in July. Bar Leone, a Roman-style neighbourhood bar in Central, which opened last June, catapulted its way to an unprecedented number-one debut on the list, which was launched in 2016.
Besides hosting one of the buzziest bar industry awards of the year, Hong Kong is a hotbed of diverse watering holes, from edgy speakeasy bars to stunning rooftop venues, mostly congregated in the SoHo district in Central.
Creating ripples of excitement is the opening of Gokan, the first Hong Kong bar by renowned Japanese mixologist Shingo Gokan, who runs a stable of award-winning bars, including The SG Club in Tokyo and Sober Company and Speak Low, both in Shanghai. Gokan, which centres around the five elements of Japanese culinary philosophy, opened in July.
A wave of openings has also been spawned by the city’s top bartenders, including The Opposites, an experimental-meets-classic bar by The Quinary’s Antonio Lai and Samuel Kwok, and Lockdown, a prohibition-era-inspired bar by the founders of Penicillin, Agung and Laura Prabowo.
We went on a massive bar crawl around the city to imbibe three cocktail trends to raise a glass (or two) to.
1. Umami cocktails? Yes, please
Thai Beef Salad cocktail. (Photo: Hong Kong Tourism Board)
The shelves of The Savory Project’s kitchen, lined with condiments such as soy sauce, vinegar, and teriyaki sauce, look more at home in an eatery than in a cocktail bar. Umami and earthy flavours from unconventional cocktail ingredients such as meat, fungi, and brine come to the fore at this bar, which was started by Ajit Gurung and Jay Khan of the famed Mexican-inspired bar Coa last May.
Concocting savoury cocktails comes naturally for the two renowned bartenders at Coa, which features heavily on mezcal and bears a trademark smokiness from roasting agave.
Gurung says: “People are leaning towards less sweet drinks as they are more health-conscious and want to limit their sugar intake. This concept best represents what we do and also happens to collide with the preferences of consumers.”
Ajit Gurung, co-founder of The Savory Project. (Photo: Hong Kong Tourism Board)
At The Savory Project (No. 19), the base alcohol of cocktails goes beyond mezcal to include whisky, tequila, beer, gin, and rum. While cocktails are named after food (think Thai beef salad and biryani), the inspiration is not limited to dishes — they come from places, ingredients, and well-known savoury flavour combinations.
Raising eyebrows is the Thai Beef Salad, a tangy concoction of beef stock, kaffir lime, and chilli, which is then infused with rum. The cocktail’s nuttiness is emphasised through the coconut and peanut butter distilled in it. The drink is garnished with wagyu beef jerky to munch in between sips.
The Gari Gari, named after Japanese pickled ginger, is a tall glass of refreshing Scotch-based cocktail with passionfruit, ponzu, and soda water, which gives off hints of warmth from the ginger.
Lowering the barrier of this novel concept is the bar’s cosy space in Soho. A hexagonal island counter encourages guests to mingle with bartenders at close quarters, while Gurung shares that the earthy terracotta-hued walls and furnishings instil a sense of calm and certainty.
On the challenge of making savoury cocktails, Gurung says: “It is not overcomplicating the balance of flavours. They should be adventurous but familiar. We would start with a few elements in a drink and improve from there.”
2. Going local with Cantonese liquor
Kowloon Dairy. (Photo: Kinsman)
Chinese liquor such as snake and glutinous rice wines may sound archaic, but Cantonese cocktail bar Kinsman is shaking up these old-school spirits in libations such as milk punch and spritz. Co-founder Gavin Yeung, a lifestyle journalist and a self-taught bartender, was first fascinated by the ornate design of bottles of these tipples, some of which have been produced for centuries by family-run distilleries in Hong Kong and Southern China.
His Eureka moment struck while mixing yuk bing siu (a Cantonese liquor made with steamed rice and pork fat added after distillation) with tonic, which he says “tastes as good as a gin and tonic”.
Yeung says: “Most people associate these liquors with the older generation, but we are modernising them through cocktails. By displaying these old bottles in a bar, it changes the context and encourages people to step out of their comfort zone.”
The Rednaxela cocktail. (Photo: Kinsmen)
Kinsmen, which opened in January on Soho’s Peel Street, spotlights about 10 traditional tipples, including papaya wine, roselle liqueur, and snake wine, which is hand-carried from neighbouring heritage restaurant Ser Wong Fun, known for its snake soup.
A signature sip is the Hong Kong-style milk punch, Kowloon Dairy. Before clarifying the concoction, Yeung switches it with Cantonese ingredients, such as Italian amaro blended with magnolia berries and herbs, hemp seed syrup, and Pu’er tea. Capping the cocktail is a velvety layer of salted cream foam that adds a layer of sweetness and saltiness.
The Rednaxela is a monk fruit-infused red rice spirit with red bean liqueur, fenjiu (made with sorghum), and a thick layer of soy milk from An Soy, a sister soya bean brand by acclaimed chef Vicky Lau of Michelin-starred Tate Dining Room and Mora.
Gavin Yeung, co-founder of Kinsmen. (Photo: Kinsmen)
On starting Kinsmen, one of the biggest challenges Yeung faced was “starting from ground zero, with no one using Cantonese spirits in contemporary bars”. He bridges that gap by presenting them in classic cocktails that are easily understood.
While some Cantonese spirits bear medicinal or bitter flavours, he reckons that it isn’t entirely a con, as tipples like Campari boast similar flavour profiles. “It is a matter of perception and educating guests,” he adds.
Yeung is barely scratching the surface when it comes to using cocktails as a platform to shed more light on Chinese spirits. He plans to use more of such tipples including goji and bayberry-infused baijiu and ng ka py, a medicinal wine fortified with a herbal bark, which he dubs “Chinese Campari”.
He says: “I hope the bar can open people’s eyes to the rich history of spirits-making in Hong Kong and Southern China. These spirits are unique and native to this part of the world, and it is something that we can be proud of.”
3. Back to the basics
Bar Leone. (Photo: Hong Kong Tourism Board)
Simplicity is key to the meteoric rise of Bar Leone, a laid-back Italian neighbourhood-style establishment that is fashioned after old-school Roman bars in the hometown of co-founder Lorenzo Antinori. With cosy banquettes, a coffee stand, walls adorned with Italian memorabilia, and charming service from the bartenders, lingering around the bar feels downright comfortable.
On the menu are classic Italian cocktails such as martini, negroni, and olive oil sour, all made with a “low-intervention” approach that eschews distillation or the use of equipment. “These drinks don’t require a manual to understand the ingredients and techniques used,” he explains. “And, you can have a cocktail multiple times.”
Lorenzo Antinori, co-founder of Bar Leone. (Photo: Bar Leone)
After years of working with scientific and advanced mixology techniques at Caprice Bar and Argo, Antinori is going back to the basics at Bar Leone with its democratising “cocktail popolari” or “cocktails for the people” concept.
He says: “Industry peers and customers like the curated simplicity of the space. In a time when concept-driven venues seem the way to go, we’ve created a space where drinks, service, and vibe play equally important parts.”
Leone Negroni. (Photo: Hong Kong Tourism Board)
The no-frills cocktails feature mostly Italian spirits and seasonal ingredients that are widely available. The Leone martini is a concoction of gin, vermouth, dry marsala, and orange blossom water in a chilled glass garnished with olives. The food does not play second fiddle to the drinks — the hulking mortadella sandwich filled with a thick stack of cured pork slices and smoked olives are tasty conversation-starters.
Shifting away from the trend of “intervention cocktails”, he shares: “I want to go back to the root of what makes a cocktail balanced and delicious and create something approachable for consumers. Bar Leone focuses on the pillars of craft cocktails: quality ice, spirits, cold glassware, and speed of service.”
He adds: “I like the idea of challenging simplicity — creating something accessible but hiding many layers and facets. It is complicated because there is nowhere to hide.”
