Mama’s Night Out: World Gin Day, Negroni Week And Happy Hours In June

Where to go drinking with your gal pals

We admit it – we mamas like a cocktail (or more!) once in a while. Is that so wrong? Not in our book! And when you’ve got World Gin Day, and Negroni Week to celebrate, deals that include free flow, nibbles with your cocktails and more, what excuse is there not to go out? Here are our picks of all the great drinks, happy hours and more for the month of June. Cheers!

World Gin Day

Dr Fern’s Gin Parlour

If a night out with the gals is just what the doctor ordered, head to one of our fave G&T bars on Saturday, 9 June for another prescription! From 5pm to 6:30pm, Dr. Fern’s will be hosting a gin masterclass led by Bar Manager & Head of Prescriptions, Dr. Paul Chan. He’ll mix and match ingredients from four different gins, so you can enjoy Alkhemist gin with Bickford tonic, Ink Gin with Mediterranean tonic, Silent Pool gin with Fever-Tree tonic, and Skulls Gin with yuzu tonic.

Tickets ($550 per person) must be purchased in advance. Click here to reserve your spot.

Dr. Fern’s Gin Parlour, Shop B31A, First Basement Floor, Landmark Atrium, 15 Queen’s Road Central, Central, Hong Kong, 2111 9449, www.drfernshk.com

Blue

This is for all you gin lovers (us!)! For one day only (Saturday, 9 June) from 12pm to 4pm, you can enjoy unlimited G&Ts (and other gin drinks!) for just $250 per person. Eight mixologists will be whipping up cocktails with 20 different gins, so this is your chance to try as many as you can in four hours!

Blue, Butcher and Meat Specialist, G/F, 108 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong 2613 9286, www.bluebutcher.com

Negroni Week

Do $100 Negronis sound good to you (why wouldn’t they?)? Then put down the week of 4 through 10 June in your diary, because BLUE, Brickhouse and Stockton will have just that! And to make the drink even sweeter, $10 of each Negroni sold will be donated to Maximal Karma to fund children’s education and the rebuilding of schools in Nepal. At BLUE you’ll be able to get a White Negroni made with Gin Mare, Lillet Blanc, Suze; at Brickhouse you can have a Numero Ocho Negroni made with Ocho Blanco, Campari, Cinzano 1767, Montelobos Mezcal, and pinch of salt; and at Stockton, there are three drinks to choose from: the Stockton Negroni (Gin Mare, Campari, Mancino Rosso, Cynar, Angostura Bitters), the Beet Me To It (beetroot and cocoa nib-infused Mancino Rosso, Campari, soda, and Prosecco foam) or the Sesame Boulevardier (Michter’s Bourbon, Campari, Mancino Rosso, sesame oil).

Blue, Butcher and Meat Specialist, G/F, 108 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong 2613 9286 www.bluebutcher.com
Brickhouse, 20 D’ Aguilar Street, Central, Hong Kong, 2810 0560, www.brickhouse.com.hk
Stockton, 32 Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong 2565 5268, www.stockton.com.hk

Winstons

Kicking up the charity donations even more, Winstons will be donating $20 from every cocktail during Negroni Week to the Susan G Komen Foundation (to fight breast cancer), so you’ll be doing some good while you have a good time! The $100 Negronis on offer include the Classic Negroni (barrel-aged gin, vermouth, Campari); Coffee Negroni (gin, vermouth, Campari, coffee liqueur); Ginseng Negroni (gin, British aperitif, vermouth); Negroni Tonic (gin, tonic syrup, Campari, vermouth, soda); Kombucha Negroni (gin, Campari, lemon juice, ginger syrup, Kombucha); and, for the mamas-to-be, even a NO-Groni (a non-alcoholic Negroni made of Seedlip, non-alcoholic aperitif, non-alcoholic vermouth).

Winstons, various locations around Hong Kong, www.winstonscoffee.com

Happy Hour Deals

COA

It always feels like happy hour at our beloved new(ish) tequila and Mescal bar, COA. Tempting us with new fermented libations such as the Tepache in pineapple and cinnamon ($80), Seasonal Fruit Ferment ($80), Bloom & Blossom ($100) and Down to Earth ($100), the prices are spot on and we can say from experience, the drinks are, too!

If you feel like making your night out with the ladies super special, join co-owner and mixologist Jay Khan’s special class (on Tuesday, 12 or Tuesday, 26 June from 7pm to 9pm). Jay will lead you on a Mescal-infused journey (you’ll get to taste four different types) through the history, experience and flavours that make this special liquor all the more delicious. ($500 per person, email [email protected] to register.)

COA, 6-10 Shing Hing Street, Central, Hong Kong, 2813 5787, coa.com.hk

Tipsy

If the name alone doesn’t get you, the two-for-one deals might! From 5pm to 8pm daily, you and the ladies (or gents!) can toss back house wines or beer (two for one!). If you’re feeling remarkably cheeky, head there at lunchtime for its three-course lunch set (from $108) because free-flow wine and Prosecco is just $138 a person (from 12pm to 3pm daily)!

Tipsy, 1/F, Little Tai Hang, 98 Tun Lo Road, Tai Hang, Hong Kong, 2818 8807, www.facebook.com/tipsy.restaurant.bar

Alto

The happy hour drinks at Alto start with refreshing $50 cocktails (we’re eyeing the Ginger Buzz, made of pear puree, lime juice, fresh apple, ginger juice, ginger ale and Chivas 12-year-old whiskey), and include wines (red, white and sparkling) from $68, draught beer from $65 and spirits from $68. Daily from 5:30pm to 8:30pm. Bottoms up!

Alto Bar & Grill, 18 Tang Lung Street, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, 2603 7181, www.diningconcepts.com

Tokyolima & The Optimist

Tokyolima and The Optimist have some amazing deals that will have you planning your next Mama’s Night Out in no time. We have to start off the happy hours specials with Tokyolima and The Optimist because drinks and bar bites start at just $48!

We’re talking signature Tokyolima classics, such as the Sake Martini, Tokyo Affair (both $48) and Smoking Gun ($88), as well as $48 Nikkei bar food, such as spicy hamachi, “Ki-mo-chi” fried chicken and pan con chicharron.

The Optimist offers its signature Bramble for $48 and Gin on Ginger ($68), that you can pair with its selection of Spanish-style gin and tonics, and pick at the bar bites which include ham or mushroom croquettes, eggplant fries and Padron peppers (yes, just $48 each!)

Tokyolima, G/F, 18-20 Lyndhurst Terrace, Central, Hong Kong, 2811 1152, tokyolima.hk
The Optimist, 239 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong, 2433, 3324, theoptimist.hk

208 Ducento Otto

What we love most about this deal is you won’t go hungry while you chat with your mates. 208 Ducento Otto lets you feast – for free! – on its antipasta bar (trust us, it’s fab) while you toss back two-for-one Aperol Sprtiz, Peroni, house wines (red, white or rose) or its delish espresso martinis. Daily from 3pm to 7pm.

208 Ducento Otto, 208 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong, 2549 0208 , www.208.com.hk

MEATS

When it comes to drink specials, it’s always happy hour at MEATS. Drinks here start at just $95 (all the time!) and for summer, Bar Manager Jack Byrne has created 12 new mouth-watering cocktails to celebrate the season. How do the Poblano Popper (Tito’s vodka, ancho reyes verde, fresh watermelon and basil), or How’s My Mando? (lavender-infused Cimarron tequila, Fisselier mandarin liqueur, lime juice, rose syrup and spiced salt rim) strike you? Best of all, if you’re a little hungry when you get there, you can enjoy a complimentary hot dog (or more!) during happy hour (daily from 5pm to 7pm).

MEATS, G/F 28 – 30 Staunton Street, Soho, Central, Hong Kong, 2711 1812, www.piratameats.hk

The Envoy

If you and the gals would like to spend an elegant evening outside (when it’s not too hot), head to The Envoy and take your pick from six spritzes ($118 each), including Rosé & Tonic and Picnic Spritz, or go for something more elaborate and get the Eternal Spring ($128) or the Odyssey($128), made with Absolut Pear vodka, pear puree, star anise and champagne.

The Envoy, 3/F, The Pottinger Hotel, 74 Queen’s Road Central, Central, Hong Kong 2169 3311 www.theenvoy.hk

Ori-gin

Taking inspiration from Pantone colours, the cocktails this season at Ori-gin are all about freshness and lightness. Try the Billowing Sail ($118) made with lemongrass, redistilled Tanqueray gin, Malibu, coconut syrup, egg white and soda water, or if you’re a fruity drink kinda gal, the Ultraviolet ($128) made with lavender and berries may be more your style. Gin fanatics can check out the Solar Power ($128), made from jujube slow cooked Tanqueray Gin, crème de cassis, suze, homemade Luo Han Guo syrup and draught beer.

Ori-gin, G/F, 48 Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong, 2668 5583, www.originbar.hk

Bizou American Brasserie

When buy-one-get-one deals start with $98 wines and $108 spirits and includes the complimentary chef’s hors d’oeurves, we take notice! And if your squad has a sassy pregnant mama in it who still wants to hang with the ladies, the mocktails and smoothies here sound just as tempting. Check out the Green Booster, made with avocado, baby spinach, cantaloupe, melon and yogurt. Yum! Happy hour is daily from 4pm to 8pm.

Bizou American Brasserie, Pacific Place, Admiralty, Hong Kong, www.diningconcepts.com

Agave

Did someone say tequila? Get the party started at Agave with two-for-one margaritas every weekday from 3pm to 8pm. Andele!

Agave, 93 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong, 2866 3228, www.facebook.com/agavehongkong

Lilya

The buy-one-get-one happy hour at Lilya happens Sundays through Wednesdays from 6pm to 8pm and includes cocktails (from $120), wines (from $98) and beers (from $80). If you’re feeling peckish while you’re there, you can munch on salads (from $148), Briouates ($288) and combo meals (prices vary).

Lilya, 77 Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong, www.facebook.com/Lilya.Moroccan