Sips in Barcelona Is the World's Best Bar for 2023

The elusive and highly coveted recognition for the bar industry was revealed over the course of several months—Hong Kong’s Coa was named Best Bar in Asia; Tres Monos from Buenos Aires got the Michter’s Art of Hospitality acclaim; and Double Chicken Please in New York City edged out many others in North America when GN Chan, the bar’s Taiwanese designer-turned-bartender, bagged the Altos Bartender’s Bartender award 

The build up culminated to Sips from Spain being heralded as the very best in the world as announced at Singapore’s Pasir Panjang power station on Tuesday evening (October 17). Trailing it are USA’s Double Chicken Please at number 2, Mexico’s Handshake Speakeasy at third, Barcelona’s Paradiso at fourth, and London’s Connaught Bar completing the top five.

Sponsored by Perrier, The World’s 50 Best Bars 2023 was held for the very first time outside Europe. And this year’s grand event gathered the cocktailian community over to the city-state’s docks where everyone cheered, high fived, and congratulated their fellow bartender as the rankings were revealed.

ALSO READ

Fine Spirits Are on the Shelf at The Whisky Library

The 9 Best Cigar Bars in Manila

Last month, the top half of the list was published online and Asia was well represented by Darkside (no. 97) and Penicillin (no. 71) from Hong Kong, The Bellwood (no.53) and High Five (no. 79) from Japan, Bar Charm (no.75) from Korea, Hope and Sesame from China (no. 74), and Vesper (no. 55) and Tropic City (no. 66) from Thailand. Singapore had 5 entries—Native (no. 83), Analogue Initiative (no. 78), Nutmeg and Clove (no. 64), Manhattan (no. 63), and 28 Hong Kong Street (no. 59). Sadly, no bar from the Philippines was recognized.

Ralph Santos of the Spirits Library and Adonis Reyes of Origin repping the Philippines at the 50 Best Bars awarding ceremonies in Singapore

Photo by Angelo Comsti.

The Curator, which ranked no. 34 in this year’s Asia’s 50 Best Bars, failed to make the cut. Owner slash bartender David Ong says, “I wouldn’t say that we’re lacking in anything per se but there’s always something to improve on from the overall experience! It could be the menu and staying updated on the latest cocktail trends, or empowering the team collectively to execute the best service and hospitality they can give, or exposing oneself from the industry locally and internationally. The bottomline is that one bar can’t do it on their own as it really takes a village and the entire community to make some noise." 

Rian Asiddao, the brand ambassador of Diageo and owner of Marikina’s Bar by East, which was named a 50 Best Discovery last year, adds, “The Philippine bar scene is flourishing and we see the rise of cocktail bars not just in Manila but all the way from north of Luzon to Mindanao. Talent wise, I believe we are very capable of creating wonderful concepts/cocktails and we Filipinos are hospitable in nature. I think we just need to focus on hospitality as it is the back bone of everything, being part of the list is definitely a blessing, but bars should focus first on giving impeccable service / experience to the guests and accolades will follow as a bonus.

Terrence Voon, exec director for Southeast Asia of the Singapore Tourism Board, with the author

Photo by Angelo Comsti.

“What we can do also is to work together as a community,” Asiddao added. “You can actually see it happening now when we have visitors from the industry in our country, it becomes automatic that the host bar or brand will tour them around bars in the metro to show the Philippine bar hospitality. We just need to continue that. We just need to continue to support each other.”

See photos from the event here: 

Inside the Pasir Panjang Power Station, the venue of the World's 50 Best Bars 2023 awarding

Photo by Angelo Comsti.

BKK Social Club is the Best Bar in Asia at number 13

Photo by Angelo Comsti.

Naz Zurimi of Singapore's Sago House

Photo by Angelo Comsti.