Time Out Bar Awards 2020 winner: Best Restaurant Bar

Long overlooked as a drinking destination – not a surprise when your bar is part of the only Italian restaurant outside of Italy to have three Michelin stars – 8½ is finally getting credit for its drinks as well as its food. In large part that’s thanks to the excellent Devender Kumar, bar manager and a Barcardi Legacy winner, whose signatures, The Optimist and Pocket Square, threaten to overshadow the food.

Long established as one of the best bars in Hong Kong, if not Asia, the cocktails at Lobster Bar are measured perfectly and the beers come in frosted pewter mugs to add an exceptionally classy touch. No staid hotel spot, Lobster Bar is constantly evolving, ensuring it stays among the best of the best.

VEA stands for Vicky Et Antonio – Vicky and Antonio in French. Vicky is Vicky Cheng, the visionary chef formerly of Liberty Private Works, and Antonio is Antonio Lai, the legendary bartender behind Origin, The Envoy and Quinary. With a tour de force such as Lai behind the drinks menu, expect well-executed classics and house signatures using playful flavours.  

This buzzing, two-floor bar and Japanese restaurant has outposts in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the US, such is its quality. There’s a well-stocked bar of Japanese sakes and whiskies. But it’s Zuma’s knack for visually appealing cocktails that’s landed it in the upper echelons of Hong Kong’s bar scene.

Better known for its Michelin-starred cuisine, Duddell’s ‘Salon’ bar happens to serve drinks well worth taking a break from your char siu bao for. Duddell's cocktail programme recently got an overhaul as the bar introduces their new head mixologist and salon manager, Mario Calderone (formerly of Honi Honi Tiki Cocktail Lounge). Duddell's new menu includes reimagined classics in Mario's signature pre-Prohibition style recipes designed to complement Duddell's dim sum.

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