Hong Kong’s first sustainable bar, Penicillin, is now open

Seems like attaining top spot on Asia’s 50 Best Bars in 2019 and being No.2 in 2020 isn’t enough to satisfy the founders of The Old Man Hong Kong.

Agung Prabowo and Roman Ghale, two-thirds of the co-founding team at the lauded three-year-old bar, have left the Hemingway-inspired Aberdeen Street hotspot (citing internal issues) to open Penicillin Bar, that’s making a splash by being the first eco-conscious bar in Hong Kong.

Located in a 1520 sq ft space on Hollywood Road, the bustling city’s newest cocktail bar aims to create a closed loop when it comes to ingredients usage. Every part of an item will either be used at the bar, kitchen or the lab.

There’s a fermentation room too, where we can imagine even more often-discarded edibles being put to good use after being upcycled.

The sustainability aspect extends to the sourcing too. A number of their spirits come in ecoSPIRITS packaging rather than in single-use glass bottlings as is common practice now.

As for drinks, find items like a Goose Negroni (wild gooseberry bitter, roselle vermouth, coconut, local gin) and Foraged & Found. The latter is actually a spin on the eponymous Penicillin, made using ecoSPIRITS gin, wild oregano, shell ginger seeds, carrot cordial, foraged gooseberry and mezcal.

For bar food, expect irreverent, cheeky takes on comfort favourites, with items like KFC, Ultrasonic Fries and Dead Dog on the menu.

Penicillin Bar isn’t the only opening they have in store. Also in the works is Dead & (pronounced “dead end”), a 500 sq ft dive bar on Lan Kwai Fong.

As dive bars go, Dead & is looking mighty promising. Find drinks like a Pandan Colada slushie, get craft beers straight outta a vending machine, and munch on peanuts from a basket as the DJ belts out beats from his deck.

To all our non-HK readers, if these bars doesn’t make you feel like travelling to Hong Kong, we don’t know what else will.