Bar review: Bar Q88, Admiralty – private, luxurious, with a stunning drinks list and great service
Bar Q88 at the JW Marriott Hotel is everything you’d expect from a five-star establishment, offering more for your money than many less high-end bars
The drinks: the signature cocktails all sounded on the sweet side but the two we tried soon set those fears to rest. The Ginger Meggs Old Fashioned ( Ballantine’s 12 years, gingerbread syrup, chocolate bitters, Angostura bitters) was a stunning creation, rich and strong with layers of complex flavours balancing each other beautifully. Silver Dust (Olmeca tequila blanco, grapefruit juice, lemon juice, agave water, egg white, rosewater) prettily decorated with edible silver glitter, was light and citrusy.
Moving to the classics, while a dry Martini with The Botanist gin was very good, it was pipped at the post by a Manhattan with Maker’s Mark, about as good an example of that drink as you could hope for.
All the drinks were priced at HK$130 – good value for this kind of quality anywhere in Hong Kong, let alone in this kind of setting.
The verdict: In a word: class. Drinks, service and ambience are everything you’d expect from a five-star hotel and offer more for your money than many less high-end bars.
Bar Q88, Lobby Level, JW Marriott Hotel, 88 Queensway, Pacific Place, Admiralty. Tel: 2810 8366
Open: noon-midnight (Friday and Saturday until 1am)
