Announced live from Hong Kong, The World’s 50 Best Bars 2025 revealed several firsts for the global cocktail scene. Dubai’s Mimi Kakushi (No. 36) was named The Best Bar in the Middle East, sponsored by Les Vergers Boiron. At the same time, Nairobi’s Hero Bar earned the title of The Best Bar in Africa, sponsored by Langjiu, after placing No. 69 on the extended list. It marks the first time these regional awards have been included as part of The World’s 50 Best Bars, rather than under the joint Middle East and Africa category.
Taking the top honour, Bar Leone in Hong Kong was crowned The World’s Best Bar – the first Asian venue ever to claim the No. 1 position. This year’s list spans 29 cities, featuring eight new entries from Athens, Bratislava, Guangzhou, Lima, New York, Oslo, Tirana, and Tokyo.
Sponsored by Perrier, The World’s 50 Best Bars celebrates the finest drinking destinations across the globe. Established in 2009, it has become the benchmark for bartenders, mixologists, and cocktail lovers alike. The annual awards are a highlight of the international bar calendar. Who makes the cut is decided by The World’s 50 Best Bars Academy, comprising over 800 industry authorities, from bartenders and consultants to drinks writers and cocktail experts. Representing 29 regions worldwide, each member has eight votes which they allocate to the bars that have impressed them most over the past 18 months.
William Reed oversees the voting process and event management, with results independently verified by Deloitte.
Hero Bar, at Nairobi’s Trademark Hotel, was founded by Shamim Ehsani, who also runs and manages the adjacent five-star Tribe Hotel. Themed like a comic book, it has brightly coloured murals and cleverly named cocktails celebrating fictional heroes and community leaders in sport, philanthropy, literature and conservation, among others. Its lengthy list of USPs includes a rooftop setting, Japanese-inspired cuisine, and an all-ice-cream dessert menu. Expect more than mixology, with large doses of personality!
“Every year, Hero deepens its investment in its beverage programme through training, equipment, and research into ingredients and techniques. The 50 Best Bars Awards is not something we have applied for; we feel very privileged that our industry peers have recognised the efforts of our team, and we’re so proud to be the tip of the spear leading mixology in Africa,” says Ehsani.
In a previous interview Richie Barrow, Group General Manager, F&B for Tribe Hotel Group explains the concept further. It’s designed to tap into our inner child, and imagine where a superhero or villain might hang out on their day off. It’s a mood changer.
Other aspects that set Hero Bar apart are its speakeasy feel, with a discreet entrance and prohibition-style bar, and its creative methods for extracting flavour or instilling character. The cocktail menu concept reflects the inspiration, mixed according to superpower qualities: Heroes’ recipes are strong, Sidekicks’ less so, and Law Enforcement options contain zero alcohol because some superheroes are teetotallers. Try the Heroes Boy Scout Ol’ Fashion, the sequel to the original ‘Old Fashioned’ with Bulleit Bourbon, described as “short, strong and smoked” or the tall, aromatic, floral Sidekicks Hibiscus Disco with Tanqueray 10, agave, homemade bitters and hibiscus kombucha. The Highly Sassy is top of the list for Heroes supporters, comprising berbere-infused Ketel One Vodka, passion baobab syrup, Kenyan black tea and lime. Long, spicy and sour, it’s one of the Hero Bar’s signature drinks. Among the eye-catching Law Enforcement titles are Sergeant Pepperfield, Marvelous Mrs. Basil, Fizzy Bubblech and Joker Juice.
This is the fourth year that Hero Bar has been best in Africa, fuelling interest in what is happening across the continent, from art, design and flavour to fashion and travel. Ehsani predicts much more to come on the innovation front, with a cocktail lab on the property, that the team uses to workshop what they feel is the perfect cocktail. They’re all about promoting Kenya and East Africa as a whole, as well as the industry in general. Ehsani and Barrow recently led the inaugural Kenya Bartenders Week, an activation of Worldwide Bartender Week, designed to promote cocktail tourism and economic development in Kenya, highlighting bartending as a noble trade and locally crafted spirits made with indigenous ingredients.
Visit hero-kenya.com to read the comic and salivate over the menus, while planning your next visit.
Debbie Hathway brings over two decades of editorial elegance to the page. A doyenne of luxury lifestyle journalism, Debbie’s storytelling pirouettes across fine watches, haute travel, high jewellery, philanthropy, and the arts, with a signature style that’s as refined as the worlds she chronicles. Formerly deputy editor of Private Edition , Debbie is also a decorated contributor and a two-time SADC Media Award winner. Whether dancing her way through a cultural deep-dive or dissecting the mechanics of a tourbillon, she writes with the precision of a journalist and the flair of a true aesthete.
