Penang bar Backdoor Bodega wins World's Best Cocktail Menu award at W50BB

Penang bar Backdoor Bodega won the Best Cocktail Menu Award at last night's World's 50 Best Bars 2025 award ceremony in Hong Kong. — Handput

Penang bar Backdoor Bodega has cemented Penang's reputation as a top global cocktail destination by winning the Siete Misterios Best Cocktail Menu Award at last night's World's 50 Best Bars 2025 award ceremony in Hong Kong.

This accolade comes just a few months after the bar won Asia's Best Cocktail Bar at the most Asia’s 50 Best Bars.

Penang's Backdoor Bodega won the The World's 50 Best Bars 2025 - Siete Misterios Best Cocktail Menu Award. – Handout

Titled 'The Backdoor Bodega Guide to Penang', the menu was acknowledged for doing 'exactly what one would expect from its name'.

It provides a 'history lesson into the many chapters of the island’s storied past, as a flavour map to the must-visit spots to dine like a local and, crucially, as a list of delicious drinks".

Titled 'The Backdoor Bodega Guide to Penang', the menu provides a 'history lesson into the island’s storied past’, and a ‘flavour map to the must-visit spots to dine.’. — Photo: Tariq Widarso

Must-try drinks on the menu include the signature Kelapa Hotak (which was the first drink that founder Koh Yung Shen created when he started the bar in 2016), the Georgetown Gimlet (a nod to Asam laksa), the Ramly burger-inspired R.B.S, and the stunning Bamboo Vesper.

The Kelapa Hotak is among the must-try drinks on Backdoor Bodega's menu. — Photo: Tariq Widarso

Rise of Asian bars

The 17th edition of The World’s 50 Best Bars 2025 was revealed on Wednesday (Oct 8) night at a live awards ceremony in Hong Kong. 

This year's list features venues from 29 cities globally, with Hong Kong’s Bar Leone named The World’s Best Bar 2025, marking the first time a bar in Asia has taken the No.1 position.

In second place is last year's winner Handshake Speakeasy (Mexico City), with another former winner, Barcelona's Sips at No.3. Another Barcelona bar, Paradiso and London's Tayēr + Elementary rounded up the Top 5.

Hong Kong's Bar Leone was topped the list, the first time a bar in Asia has done so.

Opened in June 2023 by award-winning Italian bartender Lorenzo Antinori, Bar Leone pays tribute to Italy’s ‘cocktail popolari’ and classic bartending, while nodding to the casual, community-focused spirit of Trastevere’s traditional neighbourhood bars.

Bar Leone's win capped a great night for Asian bars, with 11 bars across the continent making it onto the list, including three in Tokyo, and two each for Hong Kong, Singapore, Bangkok. Seoul's Zest came in at No.16, while Hope & Sesame became the first bar from Guangzhou to make it on the list.

Singapore’s Jigger & Pony was the second highest ranked Asian bar at No.9, and its creative director and partner Uno Jang was also the recipient of this year’s Altos Bartenders’ Bartender Award.

Full list of World's 50 Best Bars

1. Bar Leone (Hong Kong)
2. Handshake Speakeasy (Mexico City)
3. Sips (Barcelona)
4. Paradiso (Barcelona)
5. Tayēr + Elementary (London)
6. Connaught Bar (London)
7. Moebius Milano (Milan)
8. Line (Athens)
9. Jigger & Pony (Singapore)
10. Tres Monos (Buenos Aires)
11. Alquímico (Cartagena)
12. Superbueno (New York)
13. Lady Bee (Lima)
14. Himkok (Oslo)
15. Bar Us (Bangkok)
16. Zest (Seoul)
17. Bar Nouveau (Paris)
18. Bar Benfiddich (Tokyo)
19. Caretaker's Cottage (Melbourne)
20. The Cambridge Public (House Paris)
21. Satan's Whiskers (London)
22. Locale Firenze (Florence)
23. Tlecān (Mexico City)
24. Tan Tan (São Paulo)
25. Mirror Bar (Bratislava)
26. CoChinChina (Buenos Aires)
27. Baba au Rum (Athens)
28. Nouvelle Vague (Tirana)
29. Hope & Sesame (Guangzhou)
30. Danico (Paris)
31. Scarfes Bar (London)
32. Svanen (Oslo)
33. Sastrería Martinez (Lima)
34. Panda & Sons (Edinburgh)
35. Röda Huset (Stockholm)
36. Mimi Kakushi (Dubai)
37. Salmon Guru (Madrid)
38. Coa (Hong Kong)
39. Sip & Guzzle (New York)
40. Drink Kong (Rome)
41. Double Chicken Please (New York)
42. Maybe Sammy (Sydney)
43. 1930 (Milan)
44. Jewel of the South (New Orleans)
45. Virtù (Tokyo)
46. Overstory (New York)
47. The Bar in Front of the Bar (Athens)
48. The Bellwood (Tokyo)
49. BKK Social Club (Bangkok)
50. Nutmeg & Clove (Singapore)