The best looking bars of 2018 so far

A recent addition to Causeway Bay’s Fashion Walk, The Artist House is a hipster’s dream, part beer bar, part coffee house. The space itself is gorgeous. It’s sleek and uncluttered – heavy on wood panelling and exposed brick – maintaining a nice balance of rustic, intimate and cool. The clouds hovering just below the ceiling add a quirky, cute touch ideal for a photo.

Room 309 is a cocktail haven hidden within The Pottinger hotel. Windowless, with suppressed lighting and candles that barely touch the dark, richly decorated interior, Room 309 does bring to mind some Victorian-era alchemist’s den. As well as the décor, equally aesthetically pleasing are the signature ‘crystal’ cocktails – transparent versions of standards like an Old Fashioned.

Housed inside Tai Kwun – the former Central Police Station, Central Magistracy and Victoria Prison compound and Hong Kong’s largest conservation project to date – Behind Bar sits within one of the site’s old prison blocks. It’s relatively small and narrow, but the funky neon lighting and the seating within prison cells make this one of the coolest openings of 2018.

Search among the dusty antique stalls of Upper Lascar Row to discover new arrival Blue Supreme. A stylish bar beer with a focus on suds from Belgium – not to mention an excellent kitchen – the dark teal walls, wooden furniture and sense of space created by the high ceiling and floor-to-ceiling windows all generate a particularly inviting ambience.

Expect opulent décor at Dragonfly, the new project by prolific designer Ashley Sutton. Hot on the heels of opening the romance-themed Dear Lilly – which in turn came hot on the heels of flashy neo-Japanese nightclub, Yojimbo – Dragonfly is inspired by the aesthetics of 19th century American artist, Louis Tiffany. As with many of Sutton’s other ventures, the food and drinks will be provided by Dining Concepts. 

Although it opened in early 2018, PDT remains one of the best looking bars to have opened all year. Much is modelled on the famous original in New York: the entrance is a mock phone booth, the walls are decorated with dressed up taxidermied animals and there’s swish wooden panelling on the ceiling. A surprisingly cosy space, this is an ideal place to hunker down with a drink and bask in the warm surrounds.