The Secret Sauce of an Award-Winning Bar

The people come back not just for the drinks but for the soul of the place and the warmth of the people running it.

- Smitha Menon

Kindness and genuine human connection are at the heart of building lasting relationships with our guests," said Lorenzo Antinori to me last year, soon after his new bar, Bar Leone, in Hong Kong, made a record-breaking debut on the list of Asia's 50 Best Bars, earning a trio of trophies: The Best Bar in Hong Kong, the Highest New Entry Award and The Best Bar in Asia 2024. And just last week, Bar Leone was once again crowned Asia's top bar at the glitzy 2025 ceremony held in Macau. Witnessing the ceremony live for the third time and having made rounds of countless bars across the world got me thinking about what makes for an award-winning bar and what people are really looking for.

This year, India shone at the ceremony, with nine spots, a record number of bars, on the list. Five claimed ranks on the top 50 list: New Delhi's Lair (No. 8), Bengaluru's Soka (No. 28), ZLB (No. 31) and Bar Spirit Forward (No. 37) and Goa's Boilermaker (No. 30) and four others: Bar Outrigger (Goa), Sidecar (New Delhi), The Bombay Canteen (Mumbai) and Hideaway (Goa) were on the 51-100 list. India's representation on the 2025 list outweighed traditional heavyweights like South Korea, which had eight bars on the 1-100 list this year.

"Just looking at the representation on this list will tell you where we're heading," Avinash Kapoli, Soka co-founder, told me at the ceremony. Kapoli doesn't judge a bar only by its drinks—that should "be balanced and have repeat value"—but also, by its hospitality.

"Bars are where people come to unwind after a long day. If you bore them with the technicalities of how a drink is made, it's no fun."