Zest

Zest is Seoul's most decorated cocktail bar of recent years. It was ranked number two on the Asia's 50 Best Bars list in 2026 and has been named the best bar in Korea in consecutive years, and in 2024 it won the Sustainable Bar Award at The World's 50 Best Bars. The bar is led by a small team including Dohyung "Demie" Kim, Jisu Park and Noah Kwon, and it is often held up as the leading example of a modern Korean bar.

The space is deliberately calm and minimal. Instead of shelves of bottles, the back bar is a plain golden wall with no labels on show, and an open preparation area lets guests watch the team at work on cordials, ferments and distillates. The approach is about using Korean ingredients as completely as possible: peels from Jeju hallabong oranges are redistilled into the house gin, while the pulp becomes cordial or sauerkraut, and the bar makes its own carbonated drinks to cut down on plastic and cans.

The menu is compact and changes with the seasons. Past signatures have included a Jeju Garibaldi made with regional oranges and carrots from Gujwa village, and a Gibson-style martini with cardamom gin, Italian vermouth, a sour traditional yakju and seasonal pickles. Drinks tend to be clean, precise and lower in sweetness than classic tiki-style cocktails, and the bartenders are happy to explain the ingredients or steer you towards something to suit your taste.

This is a bar for people who care about cocktails, couples on a night out and travellers curious about how Korean produce is used in modern drinks. It is not a place for a large, rowdy group. Seats are limited and it gets busy, particularly at weekends, so arrive early in the evening or check the bar's social media for any booking or waitlist arrangements. Expect prices in line with top international cocktail bars.

The bar is in a basement on a side street in the Dosan area of Gangnam, within walking distance of Apgujeong Rodeo Station on the Suin-Bundang Line. Alice, another bar on the Asia's 50 Best list, is on the same street, and the area's late-opening restaurants make it easy to combine dinner and drinks.