For a city that spent the last decade telling anyone who’d listen that it was one of the great cocktail capitals of Asia (me included), this year’s Asia’s 50 Best Bars list makes for an uncomfortable read.
Let’s start with the number. Singapore landed just four bars in the top 50 for 2026. Four. Bangkok, by contrast, put eight in. Mainland China put seven in, including the new No.1. Hong Kong matched China with seven. Even Jakarta, a city that wasn’t really part of this conversation a few years ago, equalled Singapore with four entries of its own.
So what’s actually going on?
Hope & Sesame, the Guangzhou speakeasy tucked behind a Cantonese grocer, took the top spot at this year’s ceremony in Macau, the first time Mainland China has produced Asia’s No.1. It capped a genuinely remarkable year for Chinese bars, with entries spread across Shenzhen, Shanghai, Changsha, Chengdu and Beijing, not just the usual Shanghai axis. Bangkok, meanwhile, continues to do what Bangkok does best, depth. Eight bars in the top 50, four of them in the top 20, led by Dry Wave Cocktail Studio at No.4.
Singapore’s showing looks thin next to that. Jigger & Pony remains our flag bearer at No.9 and retains The Best Bar in Singapore title, with co-founder Indra Kantono picking up the Industry Icon Award for his role in building the region’s bar culture, a well-deserved nod, and about the only unambiguously good news in this year’s results. Nutmeg & Clove follows at No.12, Offtrack at No.16, and then there’s a long, uncomfortable gap before Origin Bar re-enters at No.43.
On the extended 51–100 list, Singapore does rack up seven more entries, BOP at No.52 (the highest-ranking new entry on the whole extended list), Side Door, The Elephant Room, Native, Cat Bite Club, Bar Bon Funk and Stay Gold Flamingo, bringing the full tally to eleven bars across both lists. Respectable. But a long way from 2024, when Singapore put eleven bars into the top 50 alone.
My take on this:
- Regional competition has genuinely caught up. Bangkok, Shenzhen and Hong Kong are no longer chasing Singapore, in several categories, they’re setting the pace
- Awards momentum matters commercially. Rankings drive covers, drive tourism dollars, and drive where regional drinks brands choose to launch and activate. FACT!
- This is not a crisis, but it is a signal. As Nutmeg & Clove’s Colin Chia rightly points out, Asia’s cocktail culture is diversifying fast, Jakarta, Bengaluru, Hanoi and Hiriketiya all made appearances this year, amazing how things catch up
- Operators here should be asking hard questions about guest experience, concept freshness and regional visibility, not just quality behind the bar
Singapore hasn’t forgotten how to make a good drink. But the region has stopped waiting for us to lead every conversation, and this year’s list is the clearest evidence of that yet.
