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What makes a great bar? Great drinks, of course, but what else? From an astonishing view to a dimly lit basement, neon Electro to smoky Jazz, our taste in bars is as subjective as our choice of drink. So rather than claim a definitive list of the world’s ‘best’ bars, We have chosen instead, five of our favourite places around the world for five separate occasions or moods. The only question is, which to visit first?
For a party …
B 018, Beirut
B 018 was designed to look like an old bomb shelter and hails, phoenix-like and bitter sweet, from Beirut’s turbulent past. Located close to the site of an evacuee camp during the Lebanese Civil War, architect Bernard Khoury mixes tables made of coffins and a retractable roof that reflects the city’s lights, creating an electric ambience in this eccentrically beautiful bar. Frequented by Lebanon’s hip and young, B 018 offers world class DJs, spinning anything from Jazz to House and Funk.
B 018
For fame …
New York Bar, Tokyo
Remember the bar in Sofia Coppola’s Oscar-winning film, Lost In Translation? Well this is it. With spectacular views over the city and the Kanto Plain from the 52nd floor, this bar will mesmerise even the weariest of travellers. Offering vintage cognacs, brandies and nightly jazz too, this is a place to soothe your soul and to have that final nightcap.
New York Bar, Tokyo
For classical romance …
The Campbell Apartment, New York
Like so many iconic images in films from the early 20th century, there’s a sense of bygone glamour and romance that lives on at the Campbell Apartment. Businessman John Campbell, originally leased the rooms at Grand Central Station in the 1920s as an office, commissioning architect Augustus N. Allen to transform the space into a 13th century style Florentine palace. After his death in 1957 many of its magnificent furnishings were removed but in 1999 the rooms were restored to their previous opulence. Refined, evocative and elegant, this bar is today every bit as romantic as the movies that no doubt inspired it.
The Campbell Apartment, New York
For adventure …
69 Colebrooke Row, London
Prefer your cocktails centrifugally shaken, not stirred? Owner Tony Conigliaro does and he’s made molecular mixology his business, building a lab above his bar and creating a menu of complex cocktails that sees drink connoisseurs beating a path to the door. A discreet and rather sleek north London bolthole, 69 Colebrooke Row, London gives a unique twist to drinks with the help of a few test tubes, homemade bitters and exciting tinctures. We thoroughly recommend their Bloody Mary with horseradish vodka, homemade pepper sauce and celery salt.
For exclusivity …
41°, Barcelona
Ferran Adrià’s El Bulli, known among insiders simply as the ‘best restaurant in the world’, was famously popular and notoriously difficult to get into. And so, after closing its doors, to the dismay of gastronomy fans worldwide, Adrià decided on a new, dual project with his brother which he wanted to be more accessible than his last venture. The result is bar 41°, and adjoining tapas bar, Tickets. Serving an extensive list of cocktails and some of Adrià’s legendary dishes in snack form, 41° is open all year round, and doesn’t take reservations, so get there early and try a Parmesan Ice cream cocktail.
41°, Barcelona
by Claire Dodd