Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2026 announced: Four Singapore bars recognised, Guangzhou’s Hope & Sesame comes out top

For all the bar hoppers out there: The Asia’s 50 Best Bars list for 2026 is out! Save this, as it will come in handy when you are planning your next night out and want to get the best cocktails for your buck.

Announced on July 28 at the Wynn Palace in Macau, the Asia’s 50 Best Bars list recognises top drinking destinations across Asia, from neighbourhood hideouts to acclaimed hotel bars.

Four Singapore bars on the list

First, let’s look at our own Little Red Dot: Singapore is represented by four bars on this year’s Asia’s 50 Best Bars list!

If you know the local bar scene well, then it will be no surprise that iconic cocktail bar Jigger & Pony retains its top spot in Singapore, coming in at No. 9. Jigger & Pony co-owner Indra Kantono also took home the Roku Industry Icon Award 2026.

Also on the list are Nutmeg & Clove (No. 12), Offtrack (No. 16), and Origin Bar (No. 43).

This is Origin Bar’s second foray into the top 50 rankings, having placed No. 32 in 2024.

These four bars join the seven Singapore bars that were in the extended Nos. 51 to 100 rankings, announced two weeks ago, but more on this later.

Guangzhou’s Hope & Sesame on top, Bangkok has the most bars in the top 50 list

As for the top dog? Hope & Sesame from Guangzhou clinches No. 1, climbing up from No. 7 last year.

Rounding up the top three are Zest — which has stayed steady at No. 2 in 2025 and 2026 — and Bar Leone in third place. (In 2025, it placed first on the Asia’s 50 Best Bars and World’s 50 Best Bars lists.)

Overall, Bangkok is recognised as the city with the best bar experiences as it clinches a total of eight spots on the Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2026 list.

Comparatively, fierce regional competitors Hong Kong and Seoul are represented by seven bars and four bars respectively.

Shelley Tai of Mius in Hong Kong also took home the laurels for Altos’ Bartenders Bartender for 2026. The bar is a new entrant on the list at No. 36 and also won Sevenrooms Best Bar Design this year.

Seven more Singapore bars on the extended list

Besides the actual top 50 list, there is an extended list that ranks Nos. 51 to 100, which usually comes out a few weeks before. 

This year, it features another seven Singapore bars, bringing the total number of Singapore bars on the full list to 11.

The seven Singapore bars on this list are:

52. BOP — New entry
53. Side Door
54. The Elephant Room
55. Native
56. Cat Bite Club
57. Bar Bon Funk — New entry
58. Stay Gold Flamingo

The full Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2026 list

Here’s the full list of the bars on Asia’s 50 Best Bars 2026, including the extended list, with the Singapore bars in bold:

1. Hope & Sesame, Guangzhou — Best Bar in mainland China, Best Bar in Asia
2. Zest, Seoul — Best Bar in Korea
3. Bar Leone, Hong Kong — Best Bar in Hong Kong
4. Dry Wave Cocktail Studio, Bangkok — Best Bar In Thailand
5. MO Bar Shenzhen, Shenzhen
6. Bar Us, Bangkok — Ketel One Sustainable Bar
7. Lennon’s, Bangkok — new entry, Disaronno Highest New Entry
8. Boilermaker, Goa — Best Bar in India
9. Jigger & Pony, Singapore — Best Bar in Singapore
10. Obsidian Bar, Shenzhen — New entry
11. Modernhaus, Jakarta — Best Bar in Indonesia
12. Nutmeg & Clove, Singapore
13. Alice, Seoul
14. Vender, Taichung — Best Bar in Taiwan
15. Cosmo Pony, Jakarta
16. Offtrack, Singapore
17. Bar Sathorn, Bangkok — Nikka Highest Climber
18. Soka, Bengaluru
19. Pony Up, Shanghai — New entry
20. BKK Social Club, Bangkok
21. Carrots Bar, Jakarta 
22. Gokan, Hong Kong 
23. Punch Room, Tokyo — Best Bar in Japan
24. Coa, Hong Kong — Rémy Martin Legend of the List
25. Opium, Bangkok 
26. Virtu, Tokyo 
27. CMYK, Changsha 
28. Ralph’s Bar, Chengdu — New entry
29. Smoke & Bitters, Hiriketiya — Best Bar in Sri Lanka, Michter’s Art of Hospitality
30. Bar Spirit Forward, Bengaluru
31. GOD, Bangkok
32. Three X Co, Kuala Lumpur — Best Bar in Malaysia
33. Bar Cham, Seoul 
34. Workshop14, Hanoi — New entry, Best Bar in Vietnam, Three Cents Best New Opening
35. To Infinity & Beyond, Taipei
36. Mius, Hong Kong — New entry, Sevenrooms Best Bar Design
37. Argo, Hong Kong
38. Bar Trigona, Kuala Lumpur 
39. Bar Libre, Tokyo
40. The Golden Tooth, Jakarta — New entry
41. The Han-Jia, Tainan — New entry
42. M+MS Bar, Seoul — New entry
43. Origin Bar, Singapore
44. Problem Child, Makati — New entry and Best Bar in the Philippines
45. The St. Regis Bar, Macau — Best Bar in Macau
46. The Hudson Rooms, Hanoi — New entry
47. Montana, Hong Kong — New entry
48. Aqua Bar, Bangkok — New entry
49. Penicillin, Hong Kong
50. Tiao, Beijing — New entry

Extended list (Nos. 51 to 100)

51. Bar Outrigger, Goa
52. BOP, Singapore — New entry
53. Bar Trench, Tokyo
54. The Opposites, Hong Kong 
55. The Enigma Mansion, Ho Chi Minh City
56. Vesper, Bangkok
57. Side Door, Singapore
58. The Elephant Room, Singapore
59. Yakoboku, Kumamoto
60. The Savory Project, Hong Kong
61. Barc, Kathmandu
62. Bar Benfiddich, Tokyo
63. Reka, Kuala Lumpur
64. Penrose, Kuala Lumpur
65. Cabinet 8, Kuala Lumpur — New entry
66. Backdoor Bodega, Penang
67. Moonrock, Tainan
68. Maltail, Kaohsiung
69. Messenger Service, Bangkok
70. Bar Nayuta, Osaka
71. Raa, Hiriketiya
72. Craftroom, Osaka
73. Between the Sips, Jakarta — New entry
74. Gong Gan, Seoul
75. The Bar at the Ritz-Carlton Tokyo, Tokyo — New entry
76. Mahaniyom Cocktail Bar, Bangkok
77. Hats Bar, Jakarta — New entry, Campari One To Watch
78. Firefly, Bangkok
79. The Bellwood, Tokyo
80. Native, Singapore
81. Tell Camellia, Hong Kong
82. Bar Mood, Taipei
83. Coley, Kuala Lumpur
84. Stir, Ho Chi Minh City
85. Aabbcc, New Delhi — New entry
86. Cat Bite Club, Singapore
87. Charles H, Seoul
88. Le Chamber, Seoul
89. Soko, Seoul
90. Bar Bon Funk, Singapore — New entry
91. Chimney, Hangzhou — New entry
92. The Public House, Taipei
93. Ropewalk, Galle — New entry
94. Lamp Bar, Nara
95. Coa (Shanghai), Shanghai
96. Bar Long Fong, Beijing — New entry
97. Stay Gold Flamingo, Singapore
98. The Spirits Library, Makati — New entry
99. Lab, Taipei
100. Sora, Phnom Penh

For more bar stories, read our take on Hi Stranger, the latest addition along Neil Road, and Bar Kap, a bar hidden within the historic House of Tan Yeok Nee.