Kinsman

Hong Kong

Love letter to Chinatowns across the world

In a city where cocktail menus are judged as much for their storytelling as their technique, Kinsman's A Tale of Chinatowns is a deeply researched, beautifully illustrated journey through the Chinese diaspora, acting as a cultural map told through Cantonese spirits, familiar flavours and the emotional pull of migration.

The menu's strength lies in the way it moves the narrative beyond its Hong Kong borders while remaining rooted in the city's identity. Illustrated by local artist Stella Lam, it presents 10 signature cocktails across five chapters, each dedicated to an iconic Chinatown found in cities across the globe, from Singapore to Manila, Kolkata to Lima. This wandering structure gives the menu literary rhythm, transforming each drink into a chapter of shared history that transcends geographical boundaries.

This ambition around shared history and unspoken cultural connection feels especially significant in Hong Kong, one of Asia's most international cocktail capitals where an award-winning menu must do more than impress; it must say something fresh about place, memory and perspective in a crowded space.

A Tale of Chinatowns treats Cantonese liquor as both a root ingredient and the protagonist of the story. In the Singapore chapter, the Miss Joaquim nods to the city-state's national flower and the nostalgic bandung drink, blending osmanthus rice wine with Mui Kwe Lu rose wine in a floral twist on the Paloma. In Manila's Binondo, the world's oldest Chinatown, Orh Nee 2.0 reimagines Teochew taro dessert with black glutinous rice wine, taro purée and coconut.

Other chapters push the idea further. The Raita Gin Fizz draws from Kolkata's Chinese community, combining cucumber raita with bamboo-infused Chu Yeh Ching baijiu for a savoury, cooling serve. Bangkok's Bloody Boat Maggi captures the intensity of street food through onion port wine, boat noodle broth reduction and Maggi seasoning. In Lima, the Palo Saltado turns the Chinese-Peruvian stir-fry lomo saltado into a smoky cocktail of rice baijiu, soy sauce and tomato, with added personal resonance for co-founder Gavin Yeung, whose great-grandfather migrated to Peru.

The drinks are conceptually ambitious, but never academic – they remain flavour-led, vivid and accessible, supported by Chinese-inspired classics such as the Shaoxing Vesper and inclusive zero-ABV versions for non-drinkers. Each serve expands the vocabulary of Hong Kong cocktail culture by showing that local and Chinese spirits can travel, adapt and thrive. And the food programme reinforces this idea with a plethora of seasonal Cantonese tapas, including chilli crab spring rolls, whipped mala feta dip and generous servings of eggplant Chencun noodles, made to be eaten with friends or fellow travellers.

In Hong Kong, where bartending has become a form of cultural expression, the strongest menus are not just about innovation behind the bar, they are those that manage to connect flavour to identity, hospitality to heritage and one city's drinking culture to a much wider world, which A Tale of Chinatowns does with aplomb, earning it the Siete Misterios Best Cocktail Menu Award 2026 as part of Asia's 50 Best Bars.

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