Bar Leone is the best bar in the world

When Bar Leone in Hong Kong was crowned The World’s Best Bar 2025 by The World’s 50 Best Bars, it wasn’t a surprise so much as a long-overdue moment.

Born in mid-2023 out of the restless mind of Lorenzo Antinori (yes, the Roman-born mixologist who’s been around enough global bars to know what sticks), Bar Leone feels like the neighbourhood spot you’ve been looking for, even if you didn’t know you were looking.

What makes Bar Leone special isn’t just its trophy shelf. Its secret is that it does little things very well. The “cocktail popolari” ethos - cocktails for the people - is no marketing fluff. Classics are treated like old friends, with little playful tweaks (hello, King Kong Negroni) that brighten without overwriting character.

And when you’re feeling a little peckish, the food is completely hunger-destroying. Try the Mortadella sandwich and smoked olives, they’re simple, satisfying, and perfectly paired together.

Then there’s the vibe: warm, unpretentious, dim-enough mood lighting, art on the walls (Roman ephemera, framed football memorabilia, vintage prints), wood panels, and booths that encourage leaning in. Studio TK’s interiors walk that balance between nostalgic and fresh, familiar and quietly surprising.

Of course, awards don’t make a great bar, the people do. Bar Leone seems to understand that. It acts like a place you drop into with friends, a place you linger.

Its ascendancy to the top feels like a reminder: you don’t always need to reinvent the cocktail. Sometimes, you just need the right spirit, the right company, and a good mortadella sandwich.