Macao has a bar to suit every taste. From hidden speakeasies and refined bars ranked among Asia’s best to independent cocktail spots pushing the envelope, the city’s drinking scene is more diverse than ever. These are our favourites.
Vida Rica Bar
The Mandarin Oriental’s Vida Rica is several things. By day, one half is a restaurant serving excellent dim sum and Chinese dishes with Western twists. By night, the other half is a bar-lounge, offering Italian favourites, including pastas, pizzas made with slow-fermented dough and classic desserts such as tiramisu, alongside wine, champagne and cocktails. It also offers one of the peninsula’s best vantage points to watch the sunset and fireworks.
Those coming to the latter will appreciate the Friday and Saturday night brunches, when you can get unlimited bubbles, wine, beer, Aperol spritzes and Americanos, plus food, for 588 patacas (888 if you want champagne). But the real highlight is “The Counter.” This semi-private, 10-seat bar is tucked away in the back of the venue, overlooking Nam Van Lake. Here, bartenders serve Mandarin Oriental signatures made with Macao-inspired flavours, from osmanthus tea-infused wine to rice distillate, as well as classic cocktails and custom drinks tailored to your taste.
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Filled with tufted leather chairs facing a backlit, merlot-hued bar, The Counter often hosts guest shifts from bartenders around the world and can also be closed off for private events.
Address: Mandarin Oriental Macau, Avenida Dr. Sun Yat Sen 945, Macao
Hours: Sun-Thu 6 pm-midnight; Fri-Sat 6 pm-1 am; Sat-Sun 2-6 pm; Night brunch Fri-Sat 6-9 pm
Phone number: (853) 8805 8928
The St. Regis Bar
As of 2024, Macao had only one bar ranked among Asia’s 50 Best. That would be the St. Regis Bar. The luxury hotel’s flagship venue has become a must for nightlife aficionados, as much for its nightly live music as for its New York-inspired drinks.
Head bartender Kevin Lai leads a team that cranks out cocktails from a menu that offers about two dozen signatures. As mentioned above, most reflect the brand’s Big Apple roots. Think Forrest and Macready, a blend of bourbon, rum and absinthe with hazelnut and apricot that nods to the Astor Opera House riots in 1849, or the Disco Sazerac, which transforms the New Orleans signature into a glitter-topped tribute to Studio 54.
First-timers often gravitate to the two Macao-focused signatures. The Maria do Leste turns the Bloody Mary into fusion of flavours with chouriço, pink peppercorns, black vinegar and piri piri, reflecting Macao’s Portuguese influences. The clarified Macao Egg Tart, on the other hand, is a sweet drink to sip as you admire the mural of the city that decorates the bar back.
Address: 2/F, The St. Regis Macao, The Londoner Macao, Estrada do Istmo, Cotai, Macao
Hours: Daily noon – 2 am
Phone number: (853) 2882 8898
Long Bar
The name Long Bar is likely familiar with well-travelled cocktail aficionados. The Raffles institution invented the Singapore Sling, after all. In Macao, this legendary brand name aspires to similar must-visit status in its own right – if you can find it.
Macao’s Long Bar is a departure from its namesakes in Singapore, Boston and elsewhere, in that it was designed to be a speakeasy, and the Raffles staff try to keep it that way (although they will give you directions when you ask). Award-winning interior designer Joyce Wang used a Portuguese carrack ship as inspiration to create a space that feels both intimate and transportive. From reclaimed wood to old barrels and seafaring instruments, nautical elements woven into the décor make it feel special and distinct to the city.
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Designed by renowned Hong Kong mixologist Antonio Lai, the cocktails are big on style. The solera-aged selections and Macau Sling – made with clarified pineapple juice and purple lotus-seed syrup – are well worth exploring, but if you want to keep it simple, a well-made gin and tonic is a great bet.
Address: Raffles at Galaxy Macao
Hours: Wed-Mon 6 pm – 1 am
Phone number: (853) 8883 2221
Wing Lei Bar
Tucked away inside Wynn Palace, behind perpetually open jade velvet curtains, this intimate bar feels like a hidden jewel box – easily overlooked but precious.
With just a few seats at the bar and a half-dozen more lining a long, tufted leather banquette, this isn’t a big space. But that’s a strength for Wing Lei Bar, which recently introduced a “no menu” concept that lets the bartenders craft bespoke drinks to suit your mood. Tell them what you like – sweet, strong, sour; gin, rum, baijiu; something to perk you up or cap your night – and they will make you a custom drink, whether it’s a bold baijiu sour with jasmine syrup or a crisp martini with Japanese gin.
The only drawback? The open curtains not only let in bright light. They also invite curious glances from passing guests, like a prelude to their dinner overlooking Performance Lake.
Address: Wynn Palace, Avenida Da Nave Desportiva Cotai, Macao
Hours: Daily 5 pm – 1 am
Phone number: (853) 8889 3663
Wood House
Set in an unassuming two-storey space near St. Augustine’s Square, Wood House is a pioneer in Macao’s independent bar scene. After returning from Taiwan, founder Sola Wong shunned the salary and stability of work in a casino-resort to open his own venue and enjoy the creative freedom of being his own boss.
Wood House serves about 20 signature cocktails, ranging from “fruity and easy” to stiffer drinks inspired by the classics. But what keeps crowds coming back – especially on weekends, when both of the bar’s floors tend to fill up – are the custom options. Tell Wong what you like to drink, and he or his fellow bartenders will make something just for you.
Address: Rua Central 30, Edificio Cheong Seng, Building A, Macao
Hours: Daily 6:30 pm – 2 am
Phone number: (853) 6291 2043
A.P.D. (A Perfect Dose)
A.P.D., the W hotel’s speakeasy-style bar hidden in the back of the Living Room lounge, is a delight for fans of mezcal, tequila’s smokier, earthier agave-based sibling. The bar stocks a dozen-plus different mezcals, including Montelobos Pechuga, made by distilling agave with turkey breast, spices and seasonal fruit, and several selections from Alipús, a company that sources unique mezcals from family-run distilleries in Oaxaca’s rural pueblos.
A.P.D. is small and intimate, shaded in aquamarine with gold trim accents and a vertical hydroponic garden that provides herbs for the bar. There’s almost no separation between consumer and bartender, either. In fact, you will likely start behind the bar, where you can take a close look at the bottles and try a shot.
If you don’t want neat mezcal, pick from a selection of cocktails. Each uses only a few ingredients to let the spirit shine. (The mezcal milk punch, made with Wuyi rock tea and fresh cantaloupe juice, might be one of the city’s best drinks right now.) All these elements explain why A.P.D. has become a favourite of local bartenders.
Address: W Macau – Studio City, Avenida de Cotai, Macao
Hours: Until 1 am
Phone number: (853) 8865 1366
Cinnebar
Set next to the lobby at Wynn Macau, Cinnebar offers a rare outdoor drinking experience in the city. The garden terrace, complete with tropical plants and warm breeze, is an ideal spot for sundowners. Inside is just as welcoming, though, with a warm, red and gold palette giving the bar a refined feel.
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The cocktail menu is limited and Chinese influenced, liberally incorporating Asian flavours such as lemongrass, black sesame and fruit like lychee and yuzu. But you’re likely coming for the selection of whiskies, cognac, wine or Cuban cigars anyway. This is a space for quiet conversation or pre-dinner drinks, not long nights. Cinnebar does these little things well, which makes it stand out as one of Macao’s better bars.
Address: Wynn Macau, Rua Cidade de Sintra, Macao
Hours: Daily 3 pm – 1 am
Phone number: (853) 8986 3663
The Mews
At the Mews at the Londoner, British design meets Thai flavours, with a healthy dash of whimsy. Designed by Ashley Sutton, the cozy space evokes an old-world London stable transformed into a lavish retreat, complete with barrel-vaulted brick ceilings and leather-clad seating. (Anyone familiar with Sutton’s other projects, such as Iron Fairies in Bangkok and Hong Kong, will appreciate signature touches, like the abundance of horseshoes and farrier’s tools.)
[See more: From pub vibes to craft cocktails: Explore The Londoner Macao’s best bars]
While the décor leans British, the cocktails are all Thai. Mixologist Samantha Pun, who cut her teeth at venues like Quinary in Hong Kong, infuses classic Thai flavours into inventive drinks. For example, the Mango Sticky Rice offers a clarified milk punch with a mango daiquiri base and rice pudding foam, while the Som Tum, perfectly captures the sweet, sour and spicy balance of Thailand’s iconic salad with papaya leaf-infused vodka, chilli and kaffir lime leaf for extra zing.
Address: Level 1, The Londoner Macao, Cotai, Macao
Hours: Tue-Sun 5:30 pm – 1 am
Phone number: (853) 8118 8822
Two Moons
By day, Two Moons is a cozy coffee shop, but by night, it transforms into a whisky lover’s paradise. Co-founded by whisky enthusiast Frankie Leong – formerly a bartender at London’s famed Milroy’s of Soho – the bar specialises in independent labels, with shelves stacked high with rare and award-winning bottlings.
From the hundreds available, you can expect selections from Jack Wiebers’s Great Ocean Liners series, Ichiro’s Malt Chichibu – among Japan’s most coveted – and even hand-filled expressions from Isle of Skye stalwart Talisker. The bar also offers classic cocktails if a dram sounds too potent, and there are regular takeovers from top bartenders, as well as expert-led rum, gin and whisky tastings.
Address: Rua de Pedro Nolasco da Silva 32A, Macao
Hours: Mon-Sat noon-2 am, Sun noon-7 pm, 9 pm-2 am
Phone number: (853) 6666 3543
The Ritz-Carlton Bar & Lounge
Few venues boast views as lofty as the Ritz-Carlton Bar. Perched on the 51st floor, this elegant bar and lounge overlooks Cotai through towering, teardrop-shaped windows. The décor likewise radiates class, matching the elevated setting with solid wood flooring, plush sofas, a long Italian marble bar fronted by tall leather-backed chairs and bold contemporary art framing the room’s centre.
For drinks, the highlights start with the extensive gin collection, a list that runs dozens deep and includes high-dollar rarities such as the Cambridge Distillery’s “Japanese Angel,” a gin that the makers claim to distill at a temperature lower than the coldest day recorded at the South Pole. Most come for the Ritz Hour. From 6 to 9 pm, you can enjoy peach bellinis, tequila sunrises, sangria, gin and tonics, and a selection of bubbles, spirits and beer for 258 patacas.
Address: Galaxy Macau, Estrada da Baía da Nossa Senhora da Esperança
Hours: Daily 6 pm – 1 am
Telephone number: (853) 8886 6868
The Gallery
The Legend Palace’s lounge bar underwent a transformation in 2024. Out went the whisky focus of the Gallery and in came Marcus Chan, a veteran bartender given carte blanche to shake things up. Now, the prep room resembles a food scientist’s lab, even if the bar remains clubbish, with its handsome dark wood, framed photos and low-lit jade leather booths.
Using high-tech kitchen tools like a rotary evaporator and sous-vide machine, Chan and his team produce homemade guava, peach and bitter melon sodas, redistill spirits with ingredients like Thai tea, coconut and Sichuan pepper, create syrups with Keemun black tea, cucumber and other unexpected flavours, and clarify cocktails.
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The Gallery’s current signatures largely reflect local and Chinese flavours. For example, the Last Dance combines Sichuan pepper and salted plum gins, Fernet-Branca, lemon and Sichuan pepper oil. “It’s salty, sour, sweet, bitter, spicy – just like life,” says Chan.
Address: Legend Palace Hotel, Macau Fisherman’s Wharf
Hours: Wed-Mon 6 pm – 2 am
Phone number: (853) 8801 8003
Old Taipa Tavern (OTT)
Taipa’s best pub is low on frills and big on fun. A longtime gathering spot for teachers, lawyers and expats of all stripes, the Old Taipa Tavern is the otherwise sedate village’s go-to for after-work drinks. The bar offers a couple dozen different beers – including craft beers from Hong Kong – about 20 wines by the glass and spirits with mixers at pocket-friendly prices.
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Bar games from 6 to 9 pm on weeknights add to the lively atmosphere – beat your bartender in a dice roll, and your drink is on the house. With dart and beer pong competitions, live sports on TV, hearty pub fare ranging from burgers to Macanese minchi and a scenic plaza by Pak Tai Temple to spill out onto late at night, it’s a local favourite for good reason.
Address: 21 Rua dos Negociantes, Taipa Village, Macao
Hours: Mon-Fri 3 pm – 2:30 am; Sat-Sun 1 pm – 2:30 am
Phone number: (853) 2882 5221
