Punch Room named London Bar of the Year

Time Out has announced the winners of its inaugural Global Bar Awards, with Punch Room at The London Edition named London Bar of the Year.

The London leg of the inaugural Time Out Global Bar Awards was held at The Rumpus Room, Mondrian Hotel, on 13/6

Spanning London, Paris New York, Los Angeles and Chicago, the Global Bar Awards is the culmination of the Global Bar Programme, which sought out each locale’s best bars and hyper-local trends.

The winners were announced at five separate events – one in each city – held from 16 May to 13 June.

Maison Premiere won the New York Bar of the Year accolade, while The Spare Room picked up the title in LA. The Sixth was named top bar in Chicago, with L’Avant Comptoir de la Mer taking the Paris award.

Expert panels in each city created a shortlist for each category, with Time Out editors then naming the overall winner.

Best Bartender award winners will now be flown to Austin, Texas, for an evening celebration in partnership with with Tito’s Vodka.

Key trends

In London, hotel bars won four of the seven awards (winners in full below), highlighting a trend for high-end chic design, and reservation-only seating, said Time Out.

In the US, the bars that received highest praise were those with an extensive or rotating cocktail list. Classic cocktails with a twist were prevalent in New York and Chicago, while tiki dominated in LA.

In Paris, a noted trend was “prohibition style bars with a clandestine feel”, with experimental approaches also becoming more widespread.

“With a strong brand heritage in being the trusted expert in city nightlife, Time Out has always been a respected voice, guaranteed to advise on what makes a great cocktail bar,” said Noel Penzer, CEO of Time Out.

“Our global bar programme is a way to showcase this on an international level and spotlight those that are driving this industry forward.”

Time Out Bar Awards 2016 winners in full:

London

• Bar of the Year: Punch Room at the London Edition
• Best New Bar: Original Sin
• Best Bar Team: Dandelyan
• Most Stylish Bar: Punch Room at the London Edition
• Hippest Bar: Satan’s Whiskers
• Most Creative Bar: White Lyan
• Classiest Bar: Connaught Bar

New York

• Bar of the Year: Maison Premiere
• Best Bar Team: Attaboy
• Best New Cocktail Bar: Bar Goto
• Most Instagram Worthy Cocktail: Shark Eye at Mother of Pearl
• Best Comeback Kid: Donna
• Best Restaurant Bar Program: Mission Chinese Food
• Best Single Focus Bar: Amor y Amargo (bitters)

Los Angeles

• Bar of the Year: The Spare Room
• Best Bar Team: Big Bar
• Best New Cocktail Bar: The Walker Inn
• Best LA Mainstay: The Varnish
• Best Bar Design: Break Room 86
• Best Restaurant Bar: Terrine
• Best Culinary Cocktail Bar: Birch

Chicago

• Best New Cocktail Bar: The Sixth
• Bar of the Year: The Whistler
• Best Restaurant Bar: Nico Osteria
• Best Bartender/Team: Graham Heubach, General Manager at Sportsman’s Club
• Best Single Focus Bar: Delilah’s
• Best Design: The Heavy Feather
• Best Beer Bar: Hopleaf

Paris

• Bar yum: L’Avant Comptoir de la Mer
• Coolest wine cellar: Septime The Cave
• Best new cocktail bar: Gravity Bar
• Cocktail bar of the year: Beaver Club
• The safe bet: Beaver Club
• Best bar team: Moonshiner
• The heart stroke of Time Out: Tony