One of the hospitality industry’s most prestigious awards – the World’s 50 Best Bars – was unveiled in Singapore last week, the first time an Asian city had the honour of hosting the ceremony. Closer home, these awards are a big deal for Dubai as two of the city’s gorgeous watering holes made the top 50 cut.
As a cherry on the drink, one of them was also voted the best bar in the Middle East and Africa region! While Barcelona’s Sips bagged the first place, London monopolised the list with 5 bars, making it the city with the most number of winning bars. But our City of Gold shone brightly too, with two wins ushering us into the #40 and #50 spots.
Which Dubai bars made the 2023 World’s 50 Best Bars list?
Mimi Kakushi in Four Seasons Beach Resort, Jumeirah swept up the fortieth place and also had the twin win of being voted the Best Bar in the Middle East and Africa. The Japanese nightspot was commended for its atmospheric ambience that recreates the glamour of 1920s Osaka. This is the very first time that the young bar, which launched in 2021, has cracked the World’s 50 Best list.
Besides its retro aesthetic, factors that worked in Mimi Kakushi’s favour were the use of premium Japanese ingredients in its cocktails and unique drinks such as ice-encased cocktails that require guests to chip away at the drink with an ice pick.
Unlike this new kid on the block, the Dubai bar that bagged the #50 position is a veteran of the World’s 50 Best Bars – the star-studded Galaxy Bar.
This is the third time running that the DIFC cocktail lounge has made its mark as a globally recognised venue since it opened doors in 2019. Known for its velvety celestial ceiling that resembles the starry night skies above Athens, this cosmic venue serves equally mesmerising cocktails that look other-worldly.
Dubai also had a winner in the 51-100 list
Ergo at the Dubai EDITION Hotel in Downtown Dubai rang in at 69th place. Inspired heavily by the underground vibes of the 80s and borrowing heavily from cult eighties pop culture icons from Kubrick to Studio 54, this nightspot’s got plenty going for it, including the fact that it’s the brainchild of renowned bartender Jimmy Barrat.
Top 10 cities in the World’s 50 Best Bars List
Brilliant bars from 28 different cities made it to this distinguished list based on votes from 680 drink experts ranging from, bartenders, drinks writers, and cocktail specialists.
Here are the cities that made the top 10:
1. Sips, Barcelona
2. Double Chicken Please, New York
3. Handshake Speakeasy, Mexico City
4. Paradiso, Barcelona
5. Connaught Bar, London
6. Little Red Door, Paris
7. Licorería Limantour, Mexico City
8. Tayēr + Elementary, London
9. Alquímico, Cartagena, Columbia
10. Himkok, Oslo
For the full list of 50 best bars, click here