If this isn’t indicative of how amazing Singapore’s cocktail scene is, we don’t know what is. For the first time ever, Asia’s 50 Best Bars, now in its third year, will be holding its inaugural awards ceremony right in the heart of Singapore at Capitol Theatre on May 3, followed by an after-party at a yet-to-be-announced spot (we’re guessing Manhattan).
Last year, Singapore led the way with a whooping 13 hot bars on the Asia’s 50 Best Bars list, with Regent Singapore’s Manhattan clinching the top spot. It saw Singapore building on the successes of 2016, where there were only nine entries and was tied with Hong Kong for the city with the most venues listed.
Also, on last year’s World’s 50 Best Bars, Manhattan broke into the top 10 at #7, climbing from #11 the year before, alongside the likes of 28 HongKong Street (#25), the return of Tippling Club (#31, after being absent from it for four years straight) under the helm of Joe Schofield, Operation Dagger (#24), as well as Native (#47) and Atlas (highest new entry at #15) joining the ranks for the first time. The choice country to host the awards was fairly obvious, seeing how Singapore is pretty much now Asia’s undisputed cocktail capital.
The list is determined from the votes casted by a group of 200 leaders in the Asian bar scene and Asia’s 50 Best Bars Academy, all hand-picked for their expert opinions. The members—a panel of drink journos, bartenders, owners and well-traveled cocktail enthusiasts—are required to curate a list of seven bars in order of merit, based on what they deem are the best bar experiences in the last one and a half years. While there are no pre-determined criterias in the selection, at least three of the bars listed has to be outside of their home country.
Of course, a list is just a list. We curated our own selection of bars in Singapore worthy of mention but didn’t make it to last year’s list here. More info on Asia’s 50 Best Bars here.
