T+L's Favourite Bars
plus reader comments
Fancy a drink? There is no better place than a bar to test the pulse of the city, break down any language barrier and make best friends that you will never see again.
Travel + Leisure's Paul Chai has devoted an unhealthy amount of his travel time to the search for the perfect drinking hole. Here's T+L's ultimate top 20 bar fly list from around the globe as well as a selection of top bars provided by T+L readers in response to our list.
1. TRADER VIC'S
LONDON HILTON, 22 PARK LANE, LONDON, UK
Tiki bars are at their best when they are amusingly out of place, and what better location for a faux Polynesian wonderland than underneath a London hotel. Grab a signature Trader Vic's Mai Tai, recline under the coral and taxidermied puffer fish and wash away that grey London day. One of the best examples of the Trader Vic's franchise now that the famed Los Angeles outpost has bitten the dust.
2. MILK & HONEY
LOWER EAST SIDE, NEW YORK, US
An unmarked black door next to a grungy Lower East Side apartment block transports you to the ultimate in modern speak-easy chic. This darkly lit member's bar is worth the effort to find, with amazing drinks designed on the spot by your server (no drinks menu needed) and given care and attention by the stellar bar staff. London branch is also well worth a look.
3. THE DRESDEN ROOM
1760 N VERMONT AVENUE, HOLLYWOOD, US
Best known for its starring role in Swingers, this altar to another era is quite simply one of the best, most authentic lounge bars in the world. Moroccan hanging lamps, a real piano bar, venerable staff with killer mixing skills and jazz duo Marty and Elayne who have been crooning here for over two decades.
4. EL NIVEL
MONEDA 2, MEXICO CITY, MEXICO
The best bars are hard to find and this cantina - said to be the first in Mexico and dating back over three hundred years - is tucked away behind the busy El Zocalo square.
It takes just one tequila for one of the grizzled regulars to start ignoring the language barrier and start a charades-style conversation. By the second tequila you are familia.
5. PLANET
MOUNT NELSON HOTEL, CAPE TOWN
Cocktails at the bar in the colonial-era Mount Nelson Hotel are a must.
Wicker chairs, a fire, glass-bead lights on the mirrors and walls adorned with photos of Marilyn Monroe, Marlene Dietrich and other stars from the hotel¹s heyday make it a place you¹ll be reluctant to leave.
6. PLEASE DON'T TELL (PDT)
113 ST MARKS PLACE, NEW YORK, US
Just entering this NYC snug is part of the fun. Housed in Crif's Hotdogs in the East Village you enter via the phone booth inside: just call through your reservation and the wall of the booth pops open to reveal a dark and funky watering hole. While the drinks are classic the bar menu relies on Crif's dogs next door; the pairing shouldn't work - but it does.
7. THE VANGUARD
42 KING STREET, NEWTOWN, SYDNEY
Bohemian Newtown's laidback answer to a New Orlean's jazz joint, this superior live-music venue housed in an old townhouse has some of the most interesting artists in town; from emerging locals to hot international practitioners of the blues. Go for dinner and show for the best seats in the house.
8. BAR GALLERIA
HOTEL NACIONAL DE CUBA, HAVANA, CUBA
Sit in the wicker chairs once occupied by Ernest Hemingway, Frank Sinatra and a host of Mafioso who lauded it up in this art deco masterpiece prior to Castro's Revolution. This hotel bar, with a stunning view along a verdant clifftop to the Carribean sea, is famed for the best mojito on the island. Its secret? A dash of bitters to cut the sometimes-cloying sweetness.
9. HARRY'S NEW YORK BAR
5 RUE DANOU, PARIS, FRANCE
Harry's lays claim to inventing a host of classic drinks from the French 75 to the Sidecar and the Bloody Mary at its cosy mahogany home at "Sank Roo Doe Noo". Immortalised in Ian Fleming's James Bond books and a regular haunt for stars from F. Scott Fitzgerald to Marlene Dietrich, this bar's devotion to the classics makes it an essential detour in the French capital.
10. PYRAMID STAGE BAR
GLASTONBURY FESTIVAL, WORTHY FARM, PILTON, UK
The beer may be warm, the ground beneath your feet a fetid quagmire and the portable toilets so rank you have been holding on for most of the day, but this is still the main stage of the world's greatest music festival. You are likely to be seeing iconic performances from anyone from Radiohead to David Bowie and when crowd and artist click for a "classic Glasto moment" it is the best bar anywhere on the planet.
11. TOP FLOOR BAR
30 ST MARY AXE, LONDON, UK
Nurse a chilled glass of chardonnay at the pointy end of the "The Gherkin", London's newest architectural icon. While the bar is generally a staff-only affair, it can be hired for functions and affords some of the most amazing views of the capital viewed through the lens of the cutting-edge architecture.
12. ST JEROMES
7 CALEDONIAN LANE, MELBOURNE
The bar by which all Melbourne laneway bars will be judged. Grungy, funky and simple with a passion for new music that has spawned the annual Laneway festival which showcases some of the country's finest indie acts. Pull up a scruffy old couch in the graffiti-covered back lane bar and wonder to yourself how Melburnians get any work done.
13. PINGUIN CLUB
WARTBURGSTRASSE 54, SCHONEBURG, BERLIN, GERMANY
A kitsch rock and roll mecca in the Berlin suburbs stuffed to the gills with music memorabilia. Pinguin Club is unashamedly retro and maintains a casual cool from when the now-hip Shoneburg was mainly student digs. Bartender Chaos Peace regularly spins his own tunes, from his punk band The Peace Brothers, to get the night off to a rollicking start.
14. L'ASCENSOR
CALLE BELLA FILLA 3, BARCELONA, SPAIN
Named after the antique wooden lift that transports you down to this intimate living-room-sized bar full of Barcelona's beautiful people. Strike up a conversation with your fellow lift passengers as you descend and continue it downstairs over some of the city's best cocktails.
15. MAKALONCA
HRIBAJEVO NABREZJE LJUBLJANA, SLOVENIA
The most picturesque place to partake of a cold beer in this fairytale Eastern European capital is in one of the riverside bars. Makalonca sits right on the banks of the Ljublajanica River and under the watchful eye of the castle on the hill above. Attracts a hip young local crowd and is fantastic as the day turns to night and the castle lights spring to life.
16. LOOF BAR
331 NORTH BRIDGE ROAD, SINGAPORE
While Raffles Hotel next door is still an appealing Colonial place for a tipple, its trendy neighbour Loof has the Lion City's trendsetters flocking to its rooftop bar. It is decorated with trees in cages, life-sized silhouettes and strings of colourful lights and has an unrivalled view across both Raffles and the ever-changing Singapore skyline currently in the grip of a building frenzy.
17. OPERA BAR
SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE FORECOURT, SYDNEY.
The drinking equivalent of the property adage: "Location, location, location". This bar must have one of the most enviable views in the world sandwiched as it is between the Opera House and The Coathanger. Upbeat live music of a weekend adds to the relaxed vibe; go at sunset for the best results.
18. BED SUPPER CLUB
26 SUKHUMVIT SOI 11, BANGKOK, THAILAND
This retro-futuristic hotspot has a 2001: A Space Odyssey vibe with white pods, blue neon, sleek, modern couches and black-and-white films projected on the walls. Add to this a modern Thai menu of spicy bar snacks and local takes on classic cocktails like the mojito, and you have the recipe for one of the hippest new bars in South-East Asia.
19. FEATHER BOA
38 STAUNTON STREET, SOHO, HONG KONG
This kitsch wonderland, housed in a former antique store, is the perfect antidote to many of the boozier bars in this hip late-night area. Regularly packed to the retro chaise longue with HK sybarites this is rarely a problem as patrons and staff are friendly and welcoming; a real find.
20. CAFÉ MOCKBA
11 EERIKINKATU, HELSINKI, FINLAND.
Cafe Mockba is owned by indie Finnish filmmaker Aki Kaurismäki and his brother Mika and adopts a retro-Soviet vibe. Arranged with all the care of a film set: Old Soviet records - many of them military marches - crackle out of a 1950s record-player, the Formica-topped bar sits in front of a sparse collection of simple liquor and a fug of cigarette smoke chokes the air.
READER COMMENTS
Saigon Saigon - top of the Caravelle Hotel in HCMC, Vietnam.
- T. Clifford, Victoria
Surely the Melbourne Supper Club should be on the list.
- Mike Toole, Victoria
I find it amazing, having lived and partied in Cape Town over the past 10 years that you have chosen Planet Bar over Cafe Caprice in Camps Bay which has been consistently the top bar in Cape Town if not, and I don't say this lightly, the world.
As an example, last night saw the likes of Jerry Collins, Ma'ana Nonu and their other Hurricanes team mates, Schalk Burger, rugby player of the year two years ago, Akon and Fat Joe as well as a host of local celebrities and international models drinking and partying with the locals as if they were ordinary Joes. Find me another bar in the world where that happens almost weekly.
- Adam Warden, Victoria
Don't Tell Mama, 343 West 46th Street NYC
This piano/cabaret bar on restaurant row is a New York icon. The main bar boasts some of the best piano players in New York, and all the staff are first rate singers. You'll often see celebrities in there after attending or performing in shows on nearby Broadway and it's not unusual for them to get up and sing as well. In addition there are two cabaret rooms that are always full.
The mood is laid back, the drinks generous and the bar tabs reasonable. The performances are free. With the loss of 88's and Rose's Turn in the Village, this is the place for a true piano bar in NYC.
- David R. Fiddyment, Victoria
You've missed my favourite bar in Europe - Viva Madrid
Viva Madrid is a classic old-style Madrid bar which dates from the turn of the last century. It is situated off the popular Plaza Santa Ana, near the 18th century Teatro Español. I have come across a couple of sites which say that the place used to be popular with Ava Gardner and her lover, the Spanish bullfighter Manolete; even Orson Welles and Louis Armstrong used to pop in when they were in town. The walls of the bar are decorated in beautiful hand-decorated tiles and there is a huge zinc bar at the entrance, where waiters swill out beer glasses under a constantly running water tap.
- Michael Livesey, Victoria
You have missed Nye's Polonaise, Minneapolis USA, voted Best Bar in America'.
- Anonymous Reader, via email
How could you overlook the Gravity Bar at the Guinness Storehouse? Perched atop the Guinness brewery in a glass and steel box, drinking Guinness, with truly panoramic views of Dublin from it's highest point. As a "touristy" place I was astounded to find it filled with Dubliners warming up for a craic down in Temple Bar, with a pint or three of the local produce. Certainly one of the best drinking experiences I've had.
- Sean Draper, WA
I have just seen your favourite bars around the world list and can't believe that Loungelover in Shoreditch, London didn't make the list. It is the place to go for a cocktail in London and has the best eclectic interior.
- Phillip Raponu, NSW
Agree? Disagree? Know some more? Send your choices of the best bars in the world to tleditor@fairfaxmedia.com.au
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