Hong Kong consumers are changing — can bars keep up?

Central Hong Kong is brimming with new bars fronted by talented mixologists. Nimmi Malhotra asks: what’s their recipe for success?

After the long Covid pause, Hong Kong bars are back with a vengeance. Over the last 18 months, close to 15 prominent new cocktail bars opened in the city. The common thread through the new openings? Seasoned and star-powered bartenders fronting each bar with sound financial backing and a clear, concise concept. And then location. These new ventures are concentrated in Central and require good walking shoes for a bar crawl, not cabs.

Scroll down for a breakdown of the latest bar openings.

Well-timed renaissance

The post-Covid Hong Kong has a different feel to it. Since the heydays of 2018 and 2019, many F&B ventures have closed. The economy is sluggish, and the barfly profile is not quite the same.

Hong Kong has lost a number of its well-heeled expats, and the ones who live here spend less, eat early, and flock on weekends to cheaper neighbourhood cities like Shenzhen to spend their hard-earned dollars.

According to Gavin Yeung, a Hong Kong media editor and the proprietor of newly opened venue Kinsman, bars are doing brisk business on a Thursday, quieter over the weekend and slow down to a grind around public holidays when most locals build a week of leave around the holidays and take off to Japan and other Asian cities.

International tourists aren’t exactly swarming Central’s lanes since the city opened to international travellers; however, the numbers are rising. Hong Kong is attracting a good number of mainland tourists. The recently released Tourism Board statistics noted 21 million tourists in the first half of 2024 and a projected 46m tourists by the end of the year. The city is working hard to reach 65m tourists annually, as recorded in 2018.

“Back in the old day, we had around 30-40% tourists. After Covid, we focus more on the local customers and mainland tourists,” says Quinary mixologist Antonio Lai. Lai credits the posts on the Chinese Instagram-equivalent Little Red Book (Xiaohongshu) for generating interest in Hong Kong bars and sending more tourists their way.

Laura Prabowo, founder of famed bar Penicillin and the newly-opened venue Lockdown, echoed the sentiment: “We spend more time with the mainland tourist. They already know what they want to order, maybe just by pointing at the picture, but it’s helping us.”

Mostly Harmless Bar owner Ezra Star, who moved to the city in 2020, has changed some business practices to suit the new client. “We are adapting the best we can. For Mostly Harmless, we changed our model because a lot of mainland tourists have been coming to us since our 2023 listing.” She moved to a no-reservations model to better accommodate the influx and switched to tourist-preferred payment systems like QR codes.

Her experience has been largely positive. “I think it’s really amazing. They may not say much to us, but on review websites like Little Red Book, they show amazing understanding of the drinks,” she says.

Recipe for success

But does this mean business is slow? Not quite.

Earlier this month, Hong Kong Foreign Press published the government stats on Hong Kong bar and restaurant receipts since 2018. Local bars billed HK$404m in Q4 2019, right before Covid hit. The takings dipped at the lowest in Q1 2022 to HK$40m (when Hong Kong faced its most severe lockdown) but bounced back to HK$414m in Q4 2023, 3.2% higher than the heyday in 2019.

According to Charlene Dawes, managing director of Tastings Group (Quinary, The Opposites, Draftland), Hong Kong bars bounce back fast.

“A drink or two won’t break the bank. Every time we had a slight ease of the COVID restrictions, people came back,” she recalls.

In the case of Quinary, which is listed as one of the top 5 bars in Hong Kong, the till never slowed down. Dawes revealed that except for summer when business drops by 10-15%, Quinary is doing buoyant business. “Being around for so long [12 years] helps,” she says.

Of course, many bars have closed too, including The Envoy from Dawes’ stable. Located in the heart of Central, The Envoy relied primarily on corporate footfall. Dawes attributes the closure to economic slowdown: “There are no IPO’s these days and nothing much to celebrate. Also, the work week has changed, and Friday evenings are no longer happy hour.”

At the same time, opportunities for new bars opened up. Both Dawes and Star reported being offered lower rents. Star was offered plenty of venues at lower or no initial rent to help revive the neighbourhood with additional aid on construction costs. In an expensive city like Hong Kong, lower set-up costs go a long way towards profitability.

Kinsman’s Yeung believes bars across the board are either breaking even or earning a small margin. “Breaking even right now is a job well done,” he says. At the time of the interview, Star said her bars are making a moderate 10-15% return, and they are aiming for a healthier return of 20%.

F&B is one of the key tourism pillars for Hong Kong, and to this end, the Tourism Board is completely committed. The organisation has struck a three-year tie-up with Asia’s 50 Best to host one of its flagship events (50 Best bars or restaurants) in Hong Kong. The list is a tourism draw, and it helps that a Hong Kong haunt has won Asia’s 50 Best Bar mantle for four consecutive years and listed nine other bars on the list.

And then, there’s another component to the bar industry’s ongoing success: camaraderie. The bar community is close knit, open to foreigners and local talent alike. Help is offered to old and new, and success of one bar is celebrated equally by others.

“Hong Kong is open to anybody”, says Star. “As long as you build a community and give back, you’re welcome to do business here.” 

New openings

Bar Leone by Lorenzo Antinori (ex-Argo, Caprice Bar) is a vibrant Roman neighbourhood bar bringing classic cocktails with a Leone twist to Bridges Street.

Over on Hollywood Road, Quinary’s stalwart mixologist Antonio Lai and business partner Charlene Dawes soft-launched the expansive new bar called The Opposites.

Next door, local duo Laura and Agung Prabowo (of Penicillin fame) have opened Lockdown, complete with a toilet at the entrance to remind us of the shitty times of said lockdown (the drinks, on the other hand, are anything but — inspired by the Prohibition era, another dark period in the history of drink evolution).

Industry legends Beckaly Franks and wife Ezra Star have channelled their talent and star power into Artifact. The speakeasy explores aged spirits in a slick subterranean décor (which set the duo back by HK$14m), while Star’s solo venture, Mostly Harmless, is a highly personable small bar, with a farm-to-glass menu based on fresh local produce. Across the road, the duo runs another outlet, a resto-bar Call me Al.

And then, just a few days ago, celebrated Japanese mixologist Shingo Gokan of SGClub endorsed Hong Kong by opening his latest venture, the eponymous Gokan in the heart of Central. This is his 9th international bar and the first in Hong Kong.

Among local talent, Hong Kong media editor Gavin Yeung launched his bold new venture, Kinsman, geared to revive interest in forgotten Cantonese spirits like Yuk Bing Siu (a rice wine macerated with pork fat) and incorporate them into modern cocktails to appeal to the newer audience.

These new venues are already on everyone’s radar. Just last week, Bar Leone skyrocketed to the top of Asia’s Top 50 Bars List 2024 within a year of opening. Admittedly, agave-centric Coa lost its long-held No.1 crown, but founders Jay Khan and Ajith Gurung scored a double win as Coa claimed the No. 4 rank, and their second venture, The Savoury Project (another year-old bar) debuted at No.19. Also on the list, Mostly Harmless which claimed No.45 spot.