Time Out Bar Awards 2020 winner: Bar of the Year

Award-winning fine French dining kingpin Caprice, housed in the suave Four Seasons hotel, has transformed the small private waiting area, adjacent to the dining room, into Caprice Bar – a tasteful, intimate and comforting fine wine and cheese room perfect for winding down in after a busy day at the office. We suggest those who want the ultimate Caprice Bar experience to order the wine and cheese pairings and those in the mood for cocktails to enjoy the seasonal serves crafted by the bar's talented bartenders headed by beverage manager Lorenzo Antinori. Their seasonal bar menu integrates well with Caprice's culinary offerings and often uses ingredients from the same kitchen. Caprice also made its debut in the list for Asia's 50 Best Bars this year, elevating the bar in line with the best bars in the region. 

Mezcal is certainly a big thing in Hong Kong these days, and Coa is the agave spirit’s best evangelist – the extensive mezcal, tequila and raicilla menu here is the best of its kind in the city. Owner and founder Jay Khan is hugely affable and incredibly knowledgeable about mixology and agave spirits, he can help you choose the perfect drink, even if you’re not familiar with Mexico’s native liquors. To overcome the challenges of the current climate, Coa launched an online site in which patrons could order bottled cocktails and agave spirits to enjoy at home. This year, Coa also jumped from #49 to #8 in the list for World's 50 Best Bars 2020 – earning them the highly coveted 'Highest Climber award'.

 Time Out Awards

2018Best new bar

2019Best Bar

2019Best Bartender – Jay Khan

Buried inside The Pottinger, Room 309 is an Aladdin’s cave of delights. With his first new concept in nearly three years, Antonio Lai showed that he still has his golden touch. Almost everything from the bar’s ‘invisible menu’ is worth ordering – and for the flavours too, not just the gimmick of their transparent appearance. Since Hong Kong bars reopened, Room 309 has been busy concocting seasonal cocktails and hosting pop-ups to showcase the creative talents of their bartenders.

 Time Out Awards

2018Best bartender — Antonio Lai

2019Legend Award – Antonio Lai

A brainchild of accolade-heavy bar team Sandeep Hathiramani and Gagan Gurung, Tell Camellia's mission is to fuse tea and cocktail culture. The cocktail menu is split between signature Teatails – all of which are infused with exotic teas and local spices from particular world regions – and house gins that have been lovingly redistilled with different flavoured, you guessed it, tea. During the temporary bar closures, Tell Camellia continued to serve its patrons by turning the bar into a tea room during daytime serving tea, cold brews, and zero proof drinks. They are also one of the first bars to offer bottled cocktails for customers to enjoy at home. The bar continues to engage its consumers with their regular tea cocktail workshops, and seasonal creative serves which include their limited-edition mooncake gift set and the first cocktail offering that embraces the CBD trend in the city.

Launched by a trio of Hong Kong’s finest local talent, The Old Man is the most talked-about bar in the city. It has become an important part of Asia's cocktail scene since it opened in 2017, not only joining the top 10 of The World's 50 Best Bars in 2018 (and winning the Highest New Entry Award in the process) but also taking the top spot in Asia's 50 Best Bars in 2019. This year, in the list for World's 50 Best Bars, The Old Man took the #15 spot. It’s cheek-by-jowl here these days, but don’t let that dissuade you: the drinks are always innovative – the distillation machine is used heavily used – but it’s the appreciably attentive service that keeps us all coming back. The Old Man Hong Kong was also one of the first bars that pivoted their service to offer cocktail takeaways during the outbreak.

This year, The Old Man Hong Kong sees the exit of its co-founder Agung Prabowo leaving Nikita Matveev in-charge of the iconic bar. 

 Time Out Awards

2018Best cocktail — Garden of Eden

2019Rising Star – Yiu Yvonne Chan

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