DarkSide
At DarkSide, the Rosewood's jazz bar in Tsim Sha Tsui, the welcome drink arrives with a square of dark chocolate.
Why go
DarkSide is the Rosewood Hong Kong's bar for dark spirits, cigars and live jazz, on the Kowloon waterfront.8 The name comes from Kowloon's cheekier nickname and from a back bar of whisky, rum and cask cognac.3 Two Hong Kong bartenders chose it for that shelf in 2024. Asked by SCMP where he goes for a brown-spirit cocktail, Jay Khan of Coa answered: Hands down at the DarkSide.
He added: The atmosphere and their spirit selection are best for a boozy-style drink.
1 Lorenzo Antinori of Bar Leone gave the same answer: DarkSide has an amazing collection of fine spirits.
1
Marco Maiorano, the bar manager, came to DarkSide from the Connaught Bar in London. Tatler wrote in May 2026 that he focuses the list on forgotten classics mapped by family tree, from the Brown Derby to the Hanky Panky.
2 In June 2026 the bar added Echoes, nine drinks that draw on the city's trades, flavors and rituals.4 One of them, Just 3 Minutes, lists instant prawn noodles beside vodka, gin and Cointreau.5
Tatler's tip is to ignore the cocktails for a night: Skip the cocktail list entirely one evening and surrender to the cask programme instead.
2 The casks hold exclusive blends of cognac, Irish whiskey and French fortified wine.2 Tatler describes a room of pale boiserie, green drapes and hourglass chandeliers that spin slowly as the evening unfolds.
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What locals & experts say
- Foodie (2022): Ashley Tang drank the forgotten-classics menu of the time at a complimentary media tasting:
My favourite cocktail over the evening must be the side car.
10 - SCMP 100 Top Tables (2025):
What regular guests have come to look forward to most, however, are DarkSide's outstanding annual concept menus.
9 - Standings: No. 17, Asia's 50 Best Bars 2024. Tatler Best 20 Bars, Hong Kong, 2026.12
Good to know
- Price: classic cocktails were HK$180 and the Echoes drinks HK$180-190 on the house menus in September 2026.65
- Booking: book a table through the bar's page on the Rosewood site.7
- Timing: it opens every evening and runs to midnight, later on Fridays and Saturdays (Time Out, 2025). Tatler says the jazz starts at 8pm.82
- Cigars: Antinori's advice in 2024 was to
have a cigar if you move to the patio.
1 - Where: 2/F, Rosewood Hong Kong, Victoria Dockside, 18 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. The phone is 3891 8732.11
Verdict
could-visit — Go to the Rosewood's jazz bar for a whisky, rum or cognac drink. In 2024 two of the city's top bartenders named it as where they go on a night off. Cocktails cost just under HK$200 on the 2026 menus.