Old Man, Coa make Hong Kong proud on annual ’50 Best Bars’ list

Hong Kong’s Old Man (left) and Coa (right), both of which made it onto this year’s World’s 50 Best Bars list. Photos via Facebook.
Hong Kong’s Old Man (left) and Coa (right), both of which made it onto this year’s World’s 50 Best Bars list. Photos via Facebook.

With Hong Kong collectively in need of a drink like never before, it’s comforting to note that two of the world’s best bars call the city home, according to this year’s World’s 50 Best Bars list.

The Old Man, the city’s Hemingway-themed temple to booze, came in at No. 9 in this year’s rankings — up one spot from last year — but was narrowly bested among the list’s Asia entries by Singapore’s Atlas, at No. 8. (Coincidentally, Old Man’s new Singapore outpost clocked in at No. 38.)

Meanwhile, Coa, Hong Kong’s go-to stop for all things agave (like tequila, mezcal, and their lesser-known cousin raicilla), squeaked onto the list for the first time, coming in at No. 49.

On Facebook, the Old Man Hong Kong said it was “humbled and honored” that its bars made the list, and thanked its guests for their support.

https://www.facebook.com/TheOldManHK/photos/a.114200109210074/432154400747975/?type=3&theater

(The Old Man also made Coconuts HK’s roundup of our favorite speakeasies in town last year — even if the check at the end of the night can sometimes leave you wondering for whom the bill tolls.)

For those keeping score at home, the top bar in the world, at least according to the often-nebulous rankings, was New York’s Dante, a recently revamped staple of Greenwich Village with a history dating back to 1915.

On a somewhat bittersweet note for Hong Kong drinkers, this year’s rankings also lauded New York’s Employees Only (No. 26) as the only bar to make it into the “50 Best” every single year since the list’s inception in 2009. The news, however, came just a few weeks after the abrupt closure of Hong Kong’s very own Employees Only, which was much loved among the city’s more discerning boozehounds.

Farewell, EO. We hardly knew ye — mostly because we were usually shit-faced by the time we left.



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