Editorial
Asia has some of the best cities bar scene anywhere in the world, and the continent is gaining ground on New York and London faster than most Western drinkers realise. Our editors have spent considerable time in Tokyo, Singapore, Hong Kong, Osaka, and Bangkok over the past two years, and the quality of what is coming out of East and Southeast Asia right now is not a trend. It is a permanent shift. Here is where to go, and which bars prove it.
Tokyo's bar scene operates according to a philosophy that does not exist anywhere else. Precision, hospitality, and the complete absence of ego. A bartender in Ginza who has been making the same four cocktails for 30 years is not boring. He is a master, and his four cocktails are better than anything you will order elsewhere this year. Tokyo wins the best cities bar scene Asia ranking because it does not just have great bars. It has a culture that makes great bars inevitable.
Singapore punches well above its size. The city has produced three bars in the World's 50 Best list in the past five years, and the standard of hospitality across the scene is unlike anywhere else in the region. It is more expensive than the rest of Southeast Asia. It is worth it.
Hong Kong has the most per-square-metre bar density of any city in Asia, and the quality is high enough that the compression works in your favour. Central and Soho contain 40 worthwhile bars within walking distance of each other. A good night here does not require transport.
Bangkok's bar scene has accelerated sharply in the past three years. Thonglor and Ekkamai now contain a cluster of cocktail bars that would make any comparable European neighbourhood pay attention. Osaka is Japan's best-kept bar secret, with a warm neighbourhood culture that Tokyo's formality sometimes lacks. For European comparison, our Oslo vs Stockholm vs Copenhagen bar scene comparison covers three northern cities that, like Asia's best, have built world-class drinking cultures within significant regulatory and pricing constraints.
Tokyo is the best bar city in Asia on craft and consistency. Singapore is the best for a single great night out. Hong Kong is the best for sheer concentration of options in a small area. Bangkok is the best for what it will become. If you travel to Asia for bars specifically, go to Tokyo first, then take the train to Osaka. You will not need to go anywhere else. For a granular comparison across the four leading cocktail cities, read our dedicated feature on the best Asian city for cocktails.
What makes the Asian bar scene distinctive is the philosophy behind it. The best bartenders here are not trying to be famous. They are trying to be excellent at exactly one thing, for as long as it takes to master it. That attitude produces a different kind of bar from anything the West is building right now, and it produces it consistently.
Priya covers global bar culture with a focus on Asia, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean. She has visited over 40 countries specifically to drink in them and has very specific opinions about which Tokyo neighbourhood has the best cocktail density per block.