Montana

Montana is the antidote to solemn cocktail tasting. Antinori and Caporale take Cuban golden-age recipes seriously, then serve them with cocktail umbrellas, flower-shaped glassware, and a room that feels closer to a Miami disco than a quiet salon. The drinks land clean despite the kitsch, and the energy is contagious without tipping into chaos. If you want one Hong Kong night that is pure fun after the precision of Coa or Gokan, start here, and stay for a second daiquiri you did not plan on.

You walk into a ground-floor shopfront on Hollywood Road and are met with white shirts, drooping black bow ties, and a loud communal ritmo from the floor team. Inside, moody orange leather banquettes and dark green walls replace the usual tropical cliches, while ABBA, Donna Summer, and Latin percussion fill the room. Counter seats suit solo drinkers and pairs; banquettes work for groups who plan to stay late. The bar spans two levels, with an upstairs space reserved for private events and live music on select nights.

Start with the namesake Montana Daiquiri, a 1930s Cantineros-style serve in a green flower-shaped glass, built on rum with maraschino liqueur and a float of strawberry eau de vie. The Piña Colada arrives as a slushy with rotisserie-caramelised pineapple and toasted coconut, far richer than the beach-bar original. The Rum & Coke Sour reframes the Cuba Libre into something sharp and layered, and the El Presidente rests in a bottle lacquered with dulce de leche to soften its edges. SCMP's must-try list also flags Café Havana and Benny Blanco for repeat visits.

Montana sits at Shop A, G/F, 108 Hollywood Road in Sheung Wan, a few minutes on foot from Central or Sheung Wan MTR on the Island Line. It opens Tuesday to Thursday from 18:00 to 01:00, and Friday and Saturday from 17:00 to 01:00, closing Sunday and Monday. The bar is walk-in only with no reservations, so arrive early on weekend nights or expect a short wait at the door. Budget about HK$150 to HK$200 per cocktail, plus snacks if you stay for cubano sliders or chips with smoked queso.

The concept reads as party bar, but the spine is the Club de Cantineros, the Cuban bartenders' guild that codified daiquiris, mojitos, and service standards in the 1920s and 1930s. Antinori and Caporale preserve those recipes, then add theatre: pineapple spun on a rotisserie before it lands in the colada, El Presidente aged in a dulce de leche-lined bottle, classics garnished with deliberate maximalism. Antinori built Bar Leone into Asia's benchmark neighbourhood Italian bar; Caporale co-founded Sips in Barcelona. Together they prove craft and joy are not opposites.

Montana entered our 2026 Asia ranking at No.48 on its first year of eligibility, announced on 28 July at Wynn Palace in Macau. Hong Kong placed six bars on our list, led by Bar Leone at No.4, and Montana's debut extends Antinori's footprint on Hollywood Road. The judges rewarded a room that delivers serious Cuban technique inside an unserious package, and a bar that gives the city a distinct counterpoint to the technical speakeasies that dominate the local scene.