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London, United Kingdom

Happiness Forgets

One of Hoxton Square's most recognised addresses, Happiness Forgets earned a place in the World's 50 Best Bars every year from 2012 to 2019, peaking at number six globally. The basement bar trades in precisely constructed cocktails without theatrical staging, positioning itself in the quieter, more technically serious end of London's drinking culture. Open daily from 5pm, it remains a reference point for how East London reshaped the city's cocktail conversation.

London, United Kingdom

Viajante87

Beneath Notting Hill Gate, Viajante87 is one of London's most decorated agave-focused bars, ranked #99 on the World's 50 Best Bars list in 2024 and #170 on the Top 500 Bars list in 2025. The subterranean room channels Latin American energy through its spirits programme and atmosphere in equal measure, making it a serious destination on the city's cocktail circuit.

London, United Kingdom

Sydney, Australia

Dean & Nancy on 22

On the 22nd floor of 2 Hunter Street, Dean & Nancy on 22 occupies a rarefied perch above the Sydney CBD, pairing 1950s-inflected interiors with live piano, panoramic skyline views, and an inventive cocktail program that earned a place in the Top 500 Bars global ranking for 2025. It is the kind of address that earns its keep for celebrations rather than casual drop-ins.

Sydney, Australia

Cartagena, Colombia

El Barón Café

Ranked #351 on the 2025 Top 500 Bars list, El Barón Café holds a confirmed place among the recognized drinking establishments of Cartagena's walled city. Located in El Centro on Carrera 4, steps from the Plaza de San Pedro Claver, it operates within a bar scene that has become among the more competitive in South America, sitting alongside Alquímico and Bar Lelarge in the city's growing cocktail conversation.

Cartagena, Colombia

Cape Town, South Africa

fable

Fable occupies a corner position on Bree and Wale Streets in Cape Town's City Centre, placing it at the intersection of the neighbourhood's most concentrated stretch of serious dining. The address situates it within walking distance of several of the city's most discussed restaurants, making it a natural reference point for visitors assembling a Cape Town itinerary around food and wine.

Cape Town, South Africa

Accra, Ghana

Front/Back

Ranked #387 in the 2025 Top 500 Bars list, Front/Back is Accra's most internationally recognised cocktail bar and one of a small number of African venues to appear on that circuit. Located on First Osu Lane in the city's most active hospitality strip, it signals a broader shift in Ghana's bar culture toward technique-led programming and sustained global attention.

Accra, Ghana

Bologna, Italy

Sentaku Izakaya

Among Italy's few Japanese-concept bars to earn global recognition, Sentaku Izakaya transplants the izakaya format to Bologna's medieval centre, pairing a zero-waste back-of-house philosophy with creative cocktail work that placed it at number 272 in the Top 500 Bars ranking for 2025. The address on Via Marchesana puts it in the dense heart of the old city, where the bar operates as an outlier in a neighbourhood defined by Emilian wine culture and centuries-old trattorias.

Bologna, Italy

New Orleans, United States

The Sazerac Bar

Few bars in America carry the weight of a named cocktail, but The Sazerac Bar at The Roosevelt Hotel does. Ranked #395 in the 2025 Top 500 Bars list, this New Orleans institution sits at the intersection of rye whiskey heritage and the city's unbroken appetite for serious drinking. The programme anchors itself in the drink that bears its name — and builds outward from there.

New Orleans, United States

London, United Kingdom

Velvet

Ranked #144 in the Top 500 Bars globally for 2025, Velvet sits inside Whitehall's institutional core and operates as one of London's more serious hotel bar programs. The cocktail list runs toward the progressive end of the spectrum, and the service standard matches the address. A bar that earns its place on the list through execution rather than hype.

London, United Kingdom

Miami, United States

Broken Shaker

Among the more decorated bars in North America, Broken Shaker operates from a Miami Beach hostel courtyard and has held a top-25 position on the World's 50 Best Bars list across multiple consecutive years.

Miami, United States

Bangkok, Thailand

Messenger Service

Messenger Service landed at #90 on Asia's 50 Best Bars 2025 and #397 in the Top 500 Bars global ranking, placing it inside Bangkok's most recognised tier of cocktail venues. Located in Pom Prap Sattru Phai, it holds a 4.. For travellers planning around Bangkok's spring and autumn peak seasons, this is one of the city's more purposeful bar destinations.

Bangkok, Thailand

Charleston, United States

The Cocktail Club

On King Street's bar-dense corridor, The Cocktail Club has earned a position that most Charleston venues have not: consecutive appearances in the World's 50 Best Asia's Best Bars rankings, climbing from #32 in 2022 to #12 in 2024.

Charleston, United States

Bangkok, Thailand

Tropic City

Tropic City has held a position inside the World's 50 Best Asia's Best Bars list every year since 2019, making it one of Bangkok's most consistently recognised cocktail programmes. Located on Charoen Krung 28 in Bang Rak, the bar operates around the clock and draws a crowd that treats late hours as standard. Six consecutive years of ranking signal a programme built on more than novelty.

Bangkok, Thailand

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Door 74

Door 74 on Reguliersdwarsstraat has held a place on the World's 50 Best Bars list multiple times since 2011, reaching as high as #15 in 2013. One of Amsterdam's most consistently recognised cocktail addresses, it operates behind a discreet entrance on a street better known for its nightlife than its craft bartending. A 4.,700 reviews confirms its standing with a broad cross-section of visitors.

Amsterdam, Netherlands

Paris, France

Hemingway Bar

Located inside the Ritz Paris at 38 Rue Cambon, the Hemingway Bar has ranked in the World's 50 Best Bars every year from 2010 to 2014, reaching as high as #24.

Paris, France

Buenos Aires, Argentina

878 Bar

A founding address of Buenos Aires cocktail culture, 878 Bar has operated from Villa Crespo since the early 2000s, drawing the city's food and beverage crowd to its low-lit rooms on Thames street. Ranked No. 25 on the World's 50 Best Bars list in 2011 and still appearing in the Top 500 Bars in 2025, it remains a durable reference point in a city where the bar scene has grown considerably more competitive.

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Mius

Mius belongs to Hong Kong’s newer cocktail tier: compact, city-facing, and judged less by spectacle than by how precisely a bar can make sourcing, technique, and mood feel coherent. Its 2026 Tales Spirited Awards Top 10 Nominee citation for Best New International Cocktail Bar places it in the international conversation early, which matters in a city where serious drinking rooms are already densely contested.

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Miami, United States

Bar Kaiju

Bar Kaiju occupies a second-floor address in Miami's Upper East Side, holding a 2025 ranking of #77 in North America's Best Bars and #264 in the Top 500 Bars globally. A 4., well outside the South Beach circuit where most visitor attention concentrates.

Miami, United States

Copenhagen, Denmark

Duck and Cover

Duck and Cover sits on Dannebrogsgade in Copenhagen's Vesterbro district, holding a place in the Top 500 Bars global ranking at position 359 for 2025. The bar has become a reference point in a city whose cocktail scene has moved steadily toward technical seriousness over the past decade. For anyone mapping Copenhagen's bar circuit, it earns its position in the conversation.

Copenhagen, Denmark

Birmingham, United Kingdom

Passing Fancies

Passing Fancies in Birmingham is a boutique cocktail bar serving approachable, flavor-forward drinks and small plates. The 12-drink menu features highlights like the Nectarine Bellini, Salt & Rye and Apple Highball. Known for approachable luxury and community-led hospitality, Passing Fancies earned Top 50 Cocktail Bars recognition in 2023 and holds a 4.6/5 TripAdvisor score. Expect warm service from passionate bartenders, glass-front counter seating opposite the 'Foliage Man' sculpture, and seasonal small plates such as blue cheese croquettes and arancini that match each cocktail. It’s an intimate, unpretentious mixology venue in Digbeth with a new Jewellery Quarter site under construction, ideal for curious travelers and cocktail lovers seeking quality without pretense.

Birmingham, United Kingdom

Porto, Portugal

Royal Cocktail Club

Royal Cocktail Club occupies a Rua da Fábrica address in central Porto, holding a place in the Top 500 Bars list at position 345 for 2025. The bar operates within a Porto drinking scene that has developed serious international recognition over the past decade, positioning it alongside the city's more technically ambitious cocktail programs.

Porto, Portugal

Copenhagen, Denmark

Tata Cocktail Bar

Ranked 273rd in the Top 500 Bars global list for 2025, Tata Cocktail Bar on Tordenskjoldsgade operates as a fixture in Copenhagen's inner-city drinking scene. The address places it in the dense residential and commercial pocket south of Kongens Nytorv, where bars tend to serve a genuinely local crowd rather than a tourist circuit. It is the kind of place where the list earns recognition without the room feeling like it is performing for anyone.

Copenhagen, Denmark

Taipei, Taiwan

Indulge Experimental Bistro

Experimental Bistro has held a position inside the World's 50 Best Bars global ranking for seven consecutive years, reaching Asia's Best Bars #2 in 2018 and #3 in 2019. Located in Taipei's Da'an District, it represents the sharper edge of Taiwan's bar scene, where international technique meets local produce. Few bars in Asia have sustained this level of recognition across as many consecutive cycles.

Taipei, Taiwan

Lisbon, Portugal

Red Frog

Red Frog has held a place in the World's 50 Best Bars rankings three years running, placing it among Lisbon's most internationally recognised cocktail destinations. Located on Praça da Alegria, the bar operates in the technical, programme-led tier of the city's drinking scene.

Lisbon, Portugal

Montréal, Canada

Bar Le Mal Nécessaire

Once a Chinatown basement fixture, Le Mal Nécessaire has relocated to a 4,000-square-foot downtown space that trades the original's cult scarcity for velvet-booth comfort and a full dance floor. The tiki-inflected cocktail program, ranked No. 350 on the 2025 Top 500 Bars list, remains the main event. DJs spin nightly from 6 p.m., and the room fills accordingly.

Montréal, Canada

Zürich, Switzerland

Late Bloomers

Ranked #332 in the Top 500 Bars (2025), Late Bloomers operates from Dienerstrasse 20 in Zurich's Kreis 4 district, a neighbourhood that has become the city's most concentrated strip for serious cocktail programming.

Zürich, Switzerland

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

The Old Man

The Old Man on Aberdeen Street has held a place inside the World's 50 Best Bars top ten and led Asia's 50 Best Bars rankings, making it among the more decorated cocktail addresses in Hong Kong. The bar draws a steady crowd to Soho's lower slope with a literary-themed program and a commitment to technical precision over theatrical flourish. Booking ahead is advisable.

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Charlbury, United Kingdom

The Bull Charlbury

A Cotswold pub with genuine culinary seriousness, The Bull Charlbury sits on Sheep Street in a building that predates the Stuarts and operates as part of The Public House Group's growing portfolio of pared-back contemporary British pubs. Low raftered ceilings, flagstone floors, and a considered drinks list anchored by cask ales and an adventurous weekly-changing wine selection make it one of Oxfordshire's more compelling pub stops.

Traditional Cuisine

Charlbury, United Kingdom

New York City, United States

The Portrait Bar

Ranked #93 on North America's Best Bars 2025, The Portrait Bar at 1 West 28th Street places itself in the Flatiron corridor where New York's craft cocktail culture has consolidated around technical programs and sourcing discipline. For visitors working through the city's serious bar scene, it belongs on any considered itinerary.

New York City, United States

Clover Club

One of Brooklyn's most decorated cocktail bars, Clover Club at 210 Smith St has held a place in the World's 50 Best Bars rankings since 2009, reaching as high as #18 globally in 2012. It occupies a particular position in New York's bar scene: technically serious, historically grounded, and deliberately unglamorous in the way only confident institutions can afford to be.

New York City, United States

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Amelia

Ranked among the leading 500 Bars globally (#251 in 2025) and recognised by Star Wine List in 2026, Amelia operates from the Address Sky View in Downtown Dubai, positioning it within the city's most recognised hotel bar tier. The program's dual recognition across cocktails and wine signals a list built for range rather than a single-category focus.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Melbourne, Australia

Black Pearl

Black Pearl on Brunswick Street has held a position in the World's 50 Best Bars rankings for over a decade, peaking at number seven globally in 2013. Open nightly until 3am, it functions as both a serious cocktail destination and a genuine Fitzroy local — the kind of bar that draws regulars as reliably as it draws out-of-towners.

Melbourne, Australia

Paris, France

Le Mary Celeste

Ranked #116 in the Top 500 Bars (2025), Le Mary Celeste is a Marais institution where maritime-inspired interiors meet a menu built around natural wines, inventive cocktails, and seafood-driven small plates. Operated by Quixotic Projects, the bar sits at the intersection of neighbourhood casual and serious drinks programming — a combination that has made it among the more consistent addresses on Rue Commines since it opened.

Paris, France

New Orleans, United States

The French 75 Bar

Ranked #298 in the 2025 Top 500 Bars list, The French 75 Bar on Bienville Street sits at the intersection of New Orleans' deep cocktail heritage and the modern American bar program. The namesake drink anchors a list that leans into Champagne-based serves and French-inflected spirits. For anyone mapping the city's cocktail scene, this address belongs near the upper end of the itinerary.

New Orleans, United States

Austin, United States

The Roosevelt Room

Open from 4pm daily, the bar runs a program built on classical technique and rigorous staff training, positioning it alongside the city's most credible craft-drinks addresses.

Austin, United States

London, United Kingdom

Three Sheets Soho

Three Sheets Soho is the Soho branch of the London cocktail bar, listed separately by Top 500 Bars.

London, United Kingdom

Singapore, Singapore

Offtrack

Ranked #23 on Asia's Best Bars 2025 and holding a 4., Offtrack operates from a shophouse unit on North Canal Road in Singapore's Clarke Quay corridor. The bar has climbed steadily through Asia's ranked lists since its 2024 debut at #25, placing it among the city's most-tracked cocktail destinations for serious drinkers planning ahead.

Singapore, Singapore

São Paulo, Brazil

SubAstor

SubAstor operates from Bela Vista as among the more recognised bars in South America, holding a position at #58 on the World's 50 Best Bars list in 2023 and #188 in the Top 500 Bars ranking for 2025. Its cocktail program sits within São Paulo's mature bar scene, where technical precision and Brazilian ingredient sensibility have placed the city on the global map.

São Paulo, Brazil

New York City, United States

Bar Goto

Bar Goto on Eldridge Street occupies a specific and deliberate position in New York's cocktail scene: a Japanese-inflected bar where the ritual of drinking matters as much as what's in the glass. Ranked by Opinionated About Dining in consecutive years through 2025, it draws a considered crowd to the Lower East Side for drinks that read like a study in restraint and precision.

Cocktails - Japanese

New York City, United States

Berlin, Germany

Becketts Kopf

Becketts Kopf occupies a narrow Prenzlauer Berg address on Pappelallee where the unmarked entrance and portrait-hung facade have made it one of Berlin's most consistently recognised cocktail bars. Ranked #452 in the Top 500 Bars (2025), it operates in the serious, low-lit tier of the city's bar scene, where craft and atmosphere carry equal weight.

Berlin, Germany

Lisbon, Portugal

Cinco Lounge

Ranked #333 in the World's Top 500 Bars for 2025, Cinco Lounge occupies a quiet address in central Lisbon that belies its standing in the city's cocktail scene. The bar sits within a generation of Lisbon venues that have moved the city's drinking culture away from tourist-facing terraces toward serious, programme-led spaces. A considered option for December evenings when Lisbon's bar scene shifts indoors and slows to a more deliberate pace.

Lisbon, Portugal

Madrid, Spain

Del Diego

Del Diego has anchored Madrid's serious cocktail scene from a narrow address on Calle de la Reina since the early 1990s, earning a place in the Top 500 Bars global ranking (no. 487, 2025). The room runs dark, warm, and deliberately unhurried — a counterpoint to the louder, more theatrical bars that have opened around it. For anyone mapping the Spanish capital's bar heritage, this is a fixture.

Madrid, Spain

Copenhagen, Denmark

Lidkoeb

Ranked 376th in the World's 500 Best Bars (2025), Lidkoeb occupies a converted pharmacy on Vesterbrogade in Copenhagen's Vesterbro district. The bar has become a reference point for serious cocktail drinking in the city, drawing a crowd that comes for craft over theatre. It sits in a different tier from Copenhagen's late-night scene — quieter in register, more considered in execution.

Copenhagen, Denmark

Porto, Portugal

Torto

Torto on Rua de José Falcão sits inside Porto's growing cohort of serious cocktail addresses, holding a position at #413 in the 2025 Top 500 Bars global ranking. The bar operates in a city where international recognition has arrived quickly and where the competition for a spot on any serious itinerary is now considerable. Plan accordingly.

Porto, Portugal

London, United Kingdom

Claridge's Bar

Claridge's Bar occupies a particular position in Mayfair's drinking culture: a hotel bar that genuinely earns its place in serious cocktail conversation rather than coasting on the parent property's reputation. Located at Brook Street, W1K, it draws a mix of long-stay guests and neighbourhood regulars who treat it as a destination in its own right. Dress accordingly and expect prices that reflect the postcode.

London, United Kingdom

São Paulo, Brazil

Exímia Bar

Ranked #61 on the World's 50 Best Bars list in 2025 and #43 in the Top 500 Bars, Exímia has placed Itaim Bibi firmly on the global cocktail map. The bar operates at a tier where ingredient sourcing and technical precision define the programme, positioning it alongside São Paulo's most credentialed drinking addresses. Book well ahead.

São Paulo, Brazil

Albuquerque, United States

Happy Accidents

On Central Avenue in Albuquerque's Nob Hill corridor, Happy Accidents operates as a fully functioning distillery and bar, crafting its spirits in-house and serving them in a hand-built, colour-saturated space. Ranked #88 on World's 50 Best North America's Best Bars (2025) and #318 in the Top 500 Bars global list, it represents one decorated cocktail programme in New Mexico — and one of the few distillery bars in the American Southwest to reach that tier.

Albuquerque, United States

Los Angeles, United States

Stir Crazy

Ranked #86 on the LA Times 2024 list of 101 Best Restaurants, Stir Crazy occupies a 500-square-foot room on Melrose Avenue where a coffeehouse stood for roughly three decades. The Euro-Californian menu is deliberately unhurried, and the wine program punches well above the room's modest footprint. It is the kind of neighbourhood restaurant Los Angeles rarely produces with this much intention.

Los Angeles, United States

Kathmandu, Nepal

Barc

Barc sits inside the Bluestar complex in Kathmandu, positioning itself within a city where the dining scene is increasingly shaped by the tension between Himalayan ingredient traditions and international format expectations.

Kathmandu, Nepal

New York City, United States

Bemelmans Bar

Open since 1947, Bemelmans Bar at The Carlyle has held its place in New York's upper-tier hotel bar circuit longer than most of its competitors have existed. Ranked No. 45 on the Top 500 Bars Best Bars list for 2025, it occupies the Upper East Side's most recognisable cocktail room, where Ludwig Bemelmans's original murals still cover the walls. A benchmark for the classic New York hotel bar format.

New York City, United States

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Mostly Harmless

Mostly Harmless is a cocktail bar on Hong Kong's Queen's Road West in Sai Ying Pun, ranked #33 on Asia's 50 Best Bars in 2023 before settling at #88 in 2025. Its trajectory through the Asia's 50 Best rankings over three consecutive years signals sustained peer recognition in a city with among the more competitive bar scenes in the region.

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Tokyo, Japan

Bar Orchard Ginza

Bar Orchard Ginza occupies the seventh floor of a Ginza building and has held a consistent position in Asia's 50 Best Bars rankings since 2016, reaching as high as #25 in 2017. The bar's fruit-forward cocktail program places it within a distinctive niche of Japanese bar culture.

Tokyo, Japan

Mexico City, Mexico

Form + Matter

Form + Matter brings Roma Norte’s cocktail scene into a more technical register: lab work, clarified textures, fat-washing and low-waste prep rather than speakeasy theatre. Its 2026 Tales Spirited Awards Regional Top 10 Honoree nod for Best International Bar Team in Latin America & Caribbean places it inside the city’s serious bar conversation.

Mexico City, Mexico

Hanoi, Vietnam

The Hudson Rooms

The Hudson Rooms occupies a French Quarter address on Lê Phụng Hiểu, one of Hoàn Kiếm's more composed side streets, where colonial-era architecture sets the backdrop for an evolving dining proposition. Hanoi's premium dining scene has shifted considerably over the past decade, and venues in this corridor have had to move with it. The Hudson Rooms represents that ongoing repositioning.

Hanoi, Vietnam

Oaxaca, Mexico

Sabina Sabe

Sabina Sabe has climbed from a regional curiosity to among the more-ranked bars in North America, appearing in the World's 50 Best North America's Best Bars list four consecutive years and holding a 4.,000 reviews. Set in Centro Histórico, it channels Oaxacan ingredients, mezcal culture, and technical bartending into a programme that has no real equivalent in the city.

Oaxaca, Mexico

Hanoi, Vietnam

Workshop14

Workshop14 sits in Hanoi's Tây Hồ district and ranks number 34 on Asia's 50 Best Bars 2026, and holds The Bar in Vietnam 2026 and the Three Cents Best New Opening Award 2026.

Hanoi, Vietnam

Dublin, Ireland

Bar 1661

Bar 1661 on Green Street is Dublin's foremost poitín bar, ranked among the leading 500 Bars in the world (#201, 2025) and widely credited with repositioning Ireland's native spirit as a serious cocktail ingredient. The programme goes deeper than novelty: poitín appears across the menu as a genuine technical foundation, placing this address at the centre of a broader conversation about Irish drinks identity.

Dublin, Ireland

Paris, France

Bar 1802

Ranked #171 in the 2025 Top 500 Bars list, Bar 1802 occupies a quiet address on Rue Pascal in Paris's 5th arrondissement — the kind of street that rewards those who know where they're going.

Paris, France

Osaka, Japan

Craftroom

Located in Umeda's Kita Ward, the bar represents the technically precise, craft-led tier that has come to define Osaka's serious drinking scene, drawing recognition from both Asia's 50 Best and the Top 500 Bars global list.

Osaka, Japan

London, United Kingdom

Bar Termini

Bar Termini on Old Compton Street operates at the point where Italian bar culture and London's cocktail scene meet. Ranked as high as #6 in the World's 50 Best Bars, it trades in precision espresso and aperitivo-format drinks across a compact Soho address. Opening hours stretch from morning coffee to late-night cocktails, making it one of the few London bars that earns its space across the full day.

London, United Kingdom

Spy Bar

Positioned at 57 Whitehall, Spy Bar sits in one of London's most politically charged streets, drawing on the address's Cold War adjacency to shape a bar experience built around espionage theatre. Ranked #48 in the Top 500 Bars list for 2025, it operates in a tier where design narrative and service precision carry as much weight as what's in the glass.

London, United Kingdom

New York City, United States

Mace

Mace has held a position inside the World's 50 Best Bars rankings since 2015, making it one of New York City's most consistently recognised spice-driven cocktail bars. Located at 35 West 8th Street in Greenwich Village, it operates in a tier of technically serious, ingredient-led programs that have shaped how the city thinks about flavour.

New York City, United States

Belfast, United Kingdom

Rattlebag

On Ann Street in Belfast's Cathedral Quarter, Rattlebag occupies a stretch of the city where independent hospitality has gradually displaced older commercial uses. The venue sits within a dining scene that has grown considerably in critical weight over the past decade, placing it alongside a cluster of independently operated rooms that define contemporary Belfast eating.

Belfast, United Kingdom

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Stir

Stir has earned consecutive placements on Asia's 50 Best Bars list — ranked #58 in 2024 and #61 in 2025 — making it among the more recognised cocktail bars in Ho Chi Minh City. Located on the first floor of 136 Lê Thánh Tôn in District 1, it also holds a #223 position on the Top 500 Bars global ranking. A 4..

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Houston, United States

Julep

Julep occupies a recognizable spot on Washington Avenue, Houston's bar-dense corridor where Southern drinking culture meets contemporary cocktail ambition. The bar draws on the mint julep tradition as a structural reference point rather than a nostalgic costume, building a menu that reads as a serious argument for the American South as a category, not just a vibe.

Houston, United States

Brisbane, Australia

Savile Row

A Fortitude Valley fixture ranked among the leading 500 Bars globally in 2025, Savile Row at 667 Ann Street operates as one of Brisbane's more credentialed neighbourhood drinking spots. The bar sits within a precinct that has matured well beyond its late-night reputation, drawing a crowd that comes for considered cocktails rather than spectacle. It holds its place in the Valley's bar scene the way a good tailor holds a fitting room — quietly, consistently, without needing to announce itself.

Brisbane, Australia

Calgary, Canada

Shelter

Shelter is a Calgary cocktail bar on Centre Street South that draws aesthetic cues from Eastern Europe's grunge movement, with gas masks sourced from Ukraine and Poland lining the bar. Its menu is built around the science of scent pairings, earning a place on World's 50 Best North America's Best Bars list in 2025. The room is intimate, the program is technical, and the overall effect is more neighbourhood fixture than destination showpiece.

Calgary, Canada

Toronto, Canada

Slice Of Life

A speakeasy-format bar on College Street with a laboratory-driven drinks program that marries culinary technique with cocktail craft. Co-owners Eric Pan (formerly of London's Kol) and Nick Hao (previously of Shanghai's Sober Company) ranked Slice Of Life at number 96 on North America's Best Bars 2025. Expect plush, mirrored interiors and quizzical combinations: blue cheese Martinis, Tom Yum cocktails, and a Granny Smith highball built around smoked lapsang souchong tea.

Toronto, Canada

Auchterarder, United Kingdom

The American Bar

Ranked #139 in the 2025 Top 500 Bars, The American Bar at Gleneagles is the resort's smallest drinking room and its most considered. Heather-hued interiors reference the surrounding Perthshire landscape while the cocktail programme turns waste-reduction into an art form, transforming otherwise discarded hotel produce into precise, characterful drinks.

Auchterarder, United Kingdom

Seoul, South Korea

Pine & Co

A basement bar in Gangnam that ranked #50 in Asia's Best Bars 2024 and #52 in 2025, Pine & Co operates in Seoul's serious cocktail tier, where format discipline and program depth matter more than flash. The subterranean setting on Seolleung-ro sets a deliberate pace before the first drink arrives.

Seoul, South Korea

Singapore, Singapore

MO Bar

MO Bar sits on the third floor of Mandarin Oriental Singapore, overlooking Marina Bay, and has held a place in Asia's 50 Best Bars continuously since 2020. Ranked #21 in Asia's 50 Best Bars 2025 and #36 globally in 2021, it occupies the upper tier of Singapore's award-recognised cocktail scene. The bar draws a crowd that comes for technically grounded drinks in a setting with serious waterfront presence.

Singapore, Singapore

London, United Kingdom

Bar Kinky

Beneath the Charlotte Street restaurant Kinkally, Bar Kinky operates as a 17-seat underground cocktail room where the format is deliberately small and the drinks program leans experimental. The low capacity and futuristic interior place it firmly in the specialist tier of London's drinking scene, where the experience is shaped by proximity and precision rather than scale.

London, United Kingdom

Toronto, Canada

Cocktail Bar

The former Hoof Cocktail Bar on Dundas West has been quietly reborn under bartender Juliana Wolkowski, who preserved the room's bric-a-brac charm while steering the programme toward in-house liqueurs and esoteric riffs on classics. Ranked #321 in the Top 500 Bars 2025 list, it sits at the intersection of Toronto's reverence for bar history and its appetite for technical ambition.

Toronto, Canada

Vancouver, Canada

Mount Pleasant Vintage & Provisions

A cocktail bar, wood-fired grill, and vintage resale shop folded into one address on West 6th Avenue, Mount Pleasant Vintage & Provisions sits at the intersection of counterculture credibility and serious drinks. The format is uncommon enough in Vancouver's bar scene to register as a genuine category of its own: come for the fire-cooked food, stay for the drinks programme, browse the racks on the way out.

Vancouver, Canada

Toronto, Canada

Suite 115

Suite 115 sits on College Street in Toronto's Little Italy strip, operating as an escape room-style bar that builds its identity around unexpected flavour combinations: milk tea, tteok-bokki, and apple ice wine foam in the same glass. The format is immersive by design, borrowing as much from game logic as from cocktail culture. It occupies a niche that most Toronto bars aren't attempting.

Toronto, Canada

Tokyo, Japan

Gold Bar

Gold Bar occupies the ground floor of the Tokyo Edition in Toranomon, and its back-to-back appearances in Asia's 50 Best Bars — #76 in 2024, rising to #67 in 2025 — confirm its position inside Tokyo's upper tier of hotel drinking. The room trades in a particular kind of confident calm that the Toranomon district has made its own, and bookings are worth planning well ahead.

Tokyo, Japan

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Salmon Guru Dubai

Ranked #199 in the Top 500 Bars (2025), Salmon Guru Dubai occupies a surrealist corner of Business Bay's Opus building, where technical cocktail craft meets theatrical design. The Madrid original built a reputation on precise, playful drinking formats, and the Dubai outpost operates in that same register. Reservations are advisable for weekend visits to this architecturally dramatic bar.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

London, United Kingdom

Sexy Fish

Sexy Fish sits at the upper end of Mayfair's theatrical dining-bar spectrum, ranked #439 in the Top 500 Bars (2025) and known as a serious destination for Japanese whisky and forward-thinking cocktails inside one of London's most visually arresting rooms. The Berkeley Square address positions it firmly in the high-spend, high-spectacle tier — a place where the bar programme and the room design carry equal weight.

London, United Kingdom

Singapore, Singapore

Analogue

Ranked #47 on the World's 50 Best Bars list in 2024 and #15 in Asia the previous year, Analogue at CHIJMES in Singapore has moved steadily up the global cocktail rankings since 2022. Set within a 19th-century Gothic chapel complex in the civic district, the bar operates in a tier of serious program bars that compete on technical depth and concept clarity rather than volume or spectacle.

Singapore, Singapore

Chicago, United States

Bisous

On Fulton Market's western edge, Bisous operates as one of Chicago's most recognized bars, holding the #39 spot in North America's 50 Best Bars 2025. Open until 2am on weeknights and 3am on Saturdays, it draws a crowd that values craft over convenience. With a 4., it has built a steady reputation inside a neighborhood already dense with serious drinking options.

Chicago, United States