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1/5
Pronounced 'one-fifth', this sophisticated lounge bar and club has a broad bar backed by a two-storey drinks selection from which bar staff concoct some of Hong Kong's best cocktails. It gets packed at the weekend with a dressy professional crowd but it's still a good place to chill.
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Aqua Spirit
This magnificent restaurant-bar on top of one of Kowloon's new skyscrapers is everyone's favourite place for a brew with a view, which is spectacular enough to take your mind off the equally stratospheric bar bill.
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Bahama Mama's
Bahama Mama's goes for a 'Caribbean island' feel, complete with palm trees and surfboards. It's a friendly spot and stands apart from most of the other late-night watering holes in this part of town. It's also the place to come for a foosball (table soccer) showdown. On Friday and Saturday nights there's a DJ spinning and a young crowd out on the bonsai-sized dance floor.
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Balalaika
Russian theming - from the dacha-style walls to the music, the food and, of course, the vodka - set a fun tone here. Don a fur hat and coat and step into the tiny ice bar if you really want to take the experience to the extreme.
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Bar 109
Tired of rubbing, er, shoulders with working girls in the Wanch? Well, even if not, the 109 will give you 110 reasons to flock here. It's a serious chill-out zone cobbled from a 1920s-vintage bakery and divided into three sections, including a bar, a covered 'outside' area and a 1st floor balcony.
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Bar 1911
This is a refined bar with fine details (stained glass, burlwood bar, ceiling fan) and a 1920s Chinese vibe. It's usually a tad less crowded than other nearby competitors, which makes it great haven from the hubbub of the 'Fong.
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Bar George
This large and raucous place is probably Lan Kwai Fong's biggest meat market; if you can't make it here, you won't make it anywhere. There's a lounge section and a dance floor at the back, with a second bar at the dance floor.
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Barco
One of our favourite Soho bars, Barco has great staff, is small enough to never feel empty and attracts a cool mix of locals and expats.
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Biergarten
This clean, modern place rubbing shoulders with the expanding Minden Rd car and club hotspot has a jukebox full of hits (and misses) and Bitburger on tap. It's popular with visiting Germans and others who hanker after such hearty and filling nosh as pork knuckle and sauerkraut.
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Bit Point
Owned by the same lot as Biergarten, Bit Point is essentially a German-style bar where beer drinking is taken very seriously. Most beers here are draught pilsners that you can get in a glass boot if you've got a thirst big enough to kick. Bit Point also serves some pretty solid Teutonic fare.
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Bliss
What was a popular post-work suit hang-out called Liquid then a sophisticated lounge/dance bar called NU has metamorphosed into Hong Kong's newest low-key gay club, with two bars and ultra-sophisticated lounge. You can't miss the joint; it's next to eye-popping Rock Candy.
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Brecht's Circle
This is a very small and fairly unusual club-like bar. It's an arty kind of place given more to intimate, cerebral conversation than serious raging. Gratefully the décor has been upgraded to this century. Shazam!
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Bridge
This large and airy bar, with great windows overlooking the frenzy of Lockhart Rd, is open 24 hours, serving cocktails to the denizens and the doomed of Wan Chai. Less frenetic than most of its neighbours.
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Café Einstein
This attractive and upbeat bar-bistro, which feels more Lan Kwai Fong than Tong Chong St, has a great bar and lounge with piped jazz and R&B, and serves decent food all day from a short but inspired menu.
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Chillax
This tiny space lit by candles and mainly patronised by young locals, is good for simply sitting, slumping and taking refuge from a day spent dodging through Tsim Sha Tsui. Things get livelier later when the DJ gets going.
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China Bear
The China Bear is the most popular expat pub-restaurant in Mui Wo, with a wonderful open bar facing the water. It's right by the ferry terminal making it the perfect spot for your first and last beer in Mui Wo, and for those in between perhaps. The menu includes offerings such as salads and pizzas for around HK$60 .
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Chinatown
The kitschy Chinese Brothel theming may sound a tad over the top but fear not, this is nothing like one of the nearby go-go bars. The soft lighting and large red lanterns actually combine to make this one of the more relaxed Wan Chai watering holes. It's busy but seldom frantic and the service from cheongsam-wearing waitresses is swift and friendly.
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Cloudnine
If you want to find out what the local kids do of an evening (or at least those with some cash to burn), step through the egg-shaped doorway of this stylish little bar-cum-karaoke joint, take a seat and listen to the Cantopop classics get murdered.
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Club 71
When Club 64, the counter-culture nerve centre of Lan Kwai Fong whose name recalled 4 June 1989, the date of the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing, was forced to close, some of the owners relocated to this quiet alley north of Hollywood Rd. Named after the huge protest march held on 1 July 2003, Club 71 is again one of the best drinking spots for nonposers, with a pleasant little terrace. Access via a small footpath running west off Peel St.
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Courtney's
This hotel snack room-bar, decorated with original and attractive artwork by local painter Pauline Courtney, has a fabulous outdoor terrace, allowing you to watch the goings-on in lively Minden Ave below. Don't expect crowds though; this is a great place for a quiet drink and some elbow room.
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Delaney's
At this immensely popular Irish watering hole you can choose between the black-and-white-tiled pub on the ground floor and a sports bar and restaurant on the 1st floor. The food is good and plentiful; the kitchen allegedly goes through 400kg of potatoes a week. There's also a branch on Peking Rd in Tsim Sha Tsui.
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Devil's Advocate
This pleasant pub in the thick of things is as relaxed as they come. The bar spills onto the pavement and the staff is charming. 'Devilling Hour' ( to ) is even cheaper than happy hour, and there are cheap drinks on Wednesday night.
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Dickens Bar
This evergreen place has been a popular spot for expats and Hong Kong Chinese alike for decades. There's a very popular curry buffet lunch and lots of big-screen sports.
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Drop
Deluxe lounge action, excellent tunes and potent cocktails keep Drop strong on the scene. It's like walking into Wallpaper magazine, but the vibe here is unpretentiously inclusive and the crowd reaches a happy mutual fever pitch on big nights. The members-only policy after Thursday to Saturday is (flexibly) enforced to keep the dance floor capacity at a manageable 'packed like sardines' level. Enter from Cochrane St.
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Dusk till Dawn
Live music from , with an emphasis on beats and vibes that will get your booty shaking. The dance floor can be packed but the atmosphere is more friendly than sleazy. The food sticks to easy fillers such as meat pies and burgers.
