8 Hong Kong bars serving Christmas cocktails and winter warmers this holiday season: from Darkside’s fully loaded mulled wine to Barcode’s Willy Wonka theme and LPM’s Jean Cocteau-inspired menu
- Party season demands party fuel – and Hong Kong’s after-hours scene provides with plenty of seasonal specials to keep you topped up
- The Hari mixes a Dear Friend Santa cocktail, Hue offers a mulled wine champagne spritz, Kakure makes cognac-based eggnog, Sky Lounge promises a ‘Merrilicious Christmas’ and Sevva serves a duo of Yuletide tipples
Christmas and the New Year is a time for celebrations – and Hong Kong’s best bars and restaurants always rise to the occasion. Whether it’s that classic seasonal drink that you’ve been waiting all year for or an inventive original creation that you’re craving, there is something for everyone.
Barcode
There’s always a danger of one too many chocolates over the festive period and Singular Concepts – the people behind bars like The Daily Tot, Tell Camellia and Bianco & Rosso, among others – are taking this risk to the extreme this Christmas with a special Willy Wonka-themed drinks menu across their portfolio. Our pick of the bunch, though, is Barcode’s Oompa Loompa Martini (HK$118), a colourful combination of vodka, Frutips “blackcurrant” sweets, guava and lemon that bursts with flavour.
UG/F, 45 Cochrane Street, Central. IG: @bar_coffee_dessert
DarkSide
Between its always-inventive cocktail menus, live jazz music and terrace overlooking Victoria Harbour, there are few places better to unwind than DarkSide. Heralded as one of the top 10 bars in Asia and a top 50 bar worldwide by the judges of the annual 50 Best awards, the Rosewood’s premier bar never disappoints when it comes to drinks. For Christmas they have prepared a special “All The Way” mulled wine (HK$170) loaded with aromatic spices that should prove the perfect winter warmer.
2/F, Rosewood Hong Kong, 18 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. IG: @darksidebar
The Hari
The Terrace at The Hari is one of Wan Chai’s best kept secrets, a verdant hideaway that feels far removed from Lockhart Road just two floors down. With the cooler weather that visits the city during winter, The Terrace is an ideal spot for a tipple or two. There’s mulled wine for anyone who might be feeling chilly as well as seasonal cocktail Dear Friend Santa, which blends sake, grapefruit and a mulled wine extract to create something familiar yet different.