Drinks International Top 50 Bars Announced

This article reproduced courtesy of Drinks International

A London speakeasy has been named the best bar in the world, according to an industry poll.

For the second year running, Milk & Honey in London’s Soho has been voted number one by bartenders around the world.

This year, the World’s 50 Best Bars were voted for by 700 bar professionals from 50 countries. The annual poll is conducted independently on behalf of Drinks International magazine.

Six UK bars made it into the top 50, five of which are in London.

However, the top ten was dominated by New York, with PDT (Please Don’t Tell) at number two, Milk & Honey New York at four, Pegu Club at six, Death & Co at seven and Employees Only at eight. They were joined by Harry’s Bar in Venice at number three, Buddha Bar in Paris at number five, Harry’s New York Bar, Paris at number nine and the Academy in London’s Soho at number ten.

Milk & Honey is owned by Match Group founder Jonathan Downey. He said a great bar is made by:  “The people who go there and the people who work there”. General Manager, Durham Atkinson, when asked what makes Milk & Honey so great, said: “It’s the lack of complacency. It’s important to our future success that we continue to question everything we do and give it meaning.”

Supplement editor Tom Sandham said: “What we find is a fine selection of historic stalwarts, relatively new venues that truly stand out and have done for a few years now, as well as some very new faces that have made a huge impact. Adding: “It’s an impressive selection and, for those just starting their drinking travels, a perfect guide to great bars you should be ticking off along the way.”

The Top 50 Bars

1. Milk & Honey, London
2. PDT, NY
3. Harry’s Bar, Venice
4. Milk & Honey, New York
5. Buddha Bar, Paris
6. Pegu Club, NY
7. Death & Co, NY
8. Employees Only, NY
9. Harry’s New York Bar, Paris
10. Academy, London
11. The Connaught, London
12. Der Raum, Melbourne, Australia
13. Black Pearl, Melbourne, Australia
14. Coco Bongo, Cancun, Mexico
15. Q’Ba, New Delhi, India
16. Matterhorn, Wellington, NZ
17. Sky Bar Unique Hotel, Brazil
18. Zeta Bar Sydney Hilton, Australia
19. Enigma Marriott Hotel, Mumbai, India
20. Schumann’s American Bar, Munich, Germany
21. The Lonsdale, London
22. Four Seasons, Buenos Aires, Argentina
23. Bubba’s Bar, Barbados
24. F Bar, New Delhi, India
25. Bramble, Edinburgh
26. Dry Martini Bar, Barcelona
27. Cafe Caprice, Cape Town, SA
28. Buddha Bar, Dubai
29. Skyview Bar, Dubai
30. Planet Bar, Cape Town, SA
31. Blue Frog, Mumbai, India
32. City Space, Moscow, Russia
33. Standard Bar, LA
34. 1806, Melbourne, Australia
35. Charlie’s Bar, Copenhagen, Denmark
36. Barasti Bar, Dubai
37. Bert’s Bar, Barbados
38. Sling In, Helsinki, Finland
39. Buddha Bar, Kiev, Ukraine
40. Hemmingway Bar, Paris, France
41. Bar do Copa, Rio, Bazil
42. Le Lion, Hamburg, Germany
43. Buddha Bar London
44. Star Bar, Tokyo
45. Mangos, Florida
46. Quo Vadis, London
47. Bòeme, Rome, Italy
48. Nottingham Forest, Milan
49. Salotto 42 Rome
50. The Ivy, Sydney