At Avoca in Mondrian Hong Kong, cocktails step beyond the glass as the new Art Series reframes drinking as a collectible, artist-led experience.
Perched on the 38th floor of Mondrian Hong Kong, Avoca has, since opening, built its reputation on translating the city’s culinary vernacular into liquid form. Think cha chaan teng staples, dai pai dong nostalgia, and pantry ingredients reimagined with gusto and then refracted through technique. Now, the contemporary rooftop bar has introduced a new cocktail series that takes a decidedly different approach. Running parallel to its core drinks menu, the Avoca Art Series launched last month shifts the conversation away from interpretations of Hong Kong’s food culture towards art.
The premise is deceptively simple. Each edition in the ongoing series is created in collaboration with an artist, served in hand-crafted, individually numbered glassware — capped at 200 pieces — and designed to be taken home.
The inaugural edition is King of Kowloon, built around the legacy of cult graffiti artist Tsang Tsou-choi — the self-styled “King of Kowloon” whose dense, unsanctioned calligraphy once covered the city’s urban surfaces. Hong Kong’s own Banksy, if you will.
Here the cocktail functions as both homage and translation. A base of Hong Kong gin and dry vermouth is lengthened with oolong tea soda for a liberal take on the highball, before being finished with toasted coconut foam and charred coconut flakes — a reference to the street snacks of Tsang’s era.
Then there’s the vessel the drink comes in. Designed by Kwan of Soekjing Studio, the glass uses a ceramic decal technique to mimic ink dispersing in water — an echo of Tsang’s calligraphic gestures mid-stroke. The effect is not merely decorative, offering a visual composition that evolves as you drink.
The Mondrian group of hotels, as a brand, has long traded on a particular kind of cultural currency — one that privileges contemporary art, nightlife energy, and a certain gloss of cosmopolitan glamour. This innovative cocktail series collapses the traditional boundaries between bar programme, gallery, and retail artefact, aligning neatly with that long-standing global positioning.
Avoca
Address 38/F, Mondrian Hong Kong, 8A Hart Ave, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong (Google Maps link)
Opening Hours 6.30pm to 1am daily
Tel (852) 3550 0338
Web mondrianhotels.com/hong-kong/dining/avoca
Facebook AvocaHongKong
Instagram @avocahongkong
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