Cambodian food and beverage deserves to be recognized and celebrated for both local and international markets. Especially the bar that has been very successful and loved by many. “We have done market research on Cambodia.

We think it is a beautiful country with friendly people, and while it has many amazing bars and excellent bartenders, they are somewhat underrated. 

“Therefore, I believe Cambodia’s Top30 Bar Awards will be an incredible programme for celebrating the country’s top alcoholic beverages, including beers and cocktails, as they fully deserve recognition,” said Alvin Sinclair, founder of the Top30 Awards.

This is the reason why the Top30 Bar Awards is here with us in Cambodia. The Top30 Bar Awards sponsored by Heineken began in Malaysia in 2022, with the first event honoring the nation's finest bars and bartenders.

Note that this award ceremony was always held in Malaysia, Cambodia being the first international host is causing quite a buzz. 

On March 09th of 2023, Top30 Bar Awards hosted The Press Party at Elephant Bar in Raffles Hotel Le Royal that had around 100 participants who are bar owners and bartenders. The night was really lively when we put all people from the same industry together sharing the same topic and enthusiasm.

The Press Party was just a first gathering to get all related people getting to know each other. The main event which is known as “The Gala Night” will be held on March 30th, 2023 at Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra Hotel. 

The event will kick off with the nomination of 150 bars listed throughout the main cities of Cambodia, with a shortlist then whittled down to 100. The shortlisted bars will be evaluated by a group of industry-selected juries to make the 50 finalists, with these continually evaluated until the deserving top 30 bars are presented with their awards at the final gala awards night.

“To participate, bars only need to give out two vouchers so that organizers can arrange the Mystery Diners to head over and evaluate the establishments. The campaign will promote Cambodia overseas so that when people think about travelling to Cambodia, they will know where to hang out, bond and create unforgettable memories,” said Sinclair.

Just to clarify that The Top30 Bar Awards is not a ranking programme but it evaluates the quality of the top bars and presents them with categorised awards without ranking, as they are all wonderfully unique and excellent just the way they are. 

To make all of this happen, thanks to HEINEKEN to be a main sponsor of Top30 Bar Awards. The awards will be presented by HEINEKEN Cambodia on the Gala Night with around 400 participants, including bar owners, bartenders, influencers, industry players and the media, in attendance.

We are really grateful to The Top30 Bar Awards team and sponsors such as Heineken®, Tiger and ABC, as well as exclusive spirit partners Chivas Regal and Ballantine’s, as well as other partners such as Seekers Gin, Giffard, Oh Wow Media, Foodbuzz, Elephant Bar (Raffles Le Royal) the official Media Venue Partner and Celliers D’Asie to make it happens in Cambodia. It’s an honor for us as well to work with The Top3 Bar Awards team. 

We can’t wait for the final Gala Night on March 30th, 2023 to get a chance to see the potential bars and bartenders in Cambodia receiving an award during the night. It’s going to be a first and fun night at Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra Hotel.