My Top-20 Favorite EDM Clubs

Closed - none. Though technically Reset, my #3, is closed. I feel bad removing it, mainly because I have it so highly regarded. And doubly so because they opened a terrible velvet rope, mockery of a club in the same location today. 

20.) Pink Chihuahua  (London, England - 2022)

This was a surprising place that I went to twice on my last trip to London. First taken there by a couple work friends - one mostly who swore the place, which is downstairs of a latin restaurant, is great. What I found was perfect. Not too big, but not too crowded. Great mix of 00s hip hop and EDM, with amazing drinks, including some fantastic margaritas. It's only not higher because it isn't really an EDM club, and was more drink forward than music forward, which sin't really the case of most of these on the list.

19.) Pulp  (Melbourne - 2025)

We went to Pulp on a lark - I googled "EDM Club" and it was close by and seemed interesting. It played more hip-hop focused dance music (like dance remixes of 50 Cent and things like this) which was still good. The floor was small, but good airflow, great sound and decent drinks. The only two knocks against it I had was again the music being slightly more hip-hop focused (more an issue for the ranking, as I still like that type of music), and the bathrooms were, how to say, not the best. In the end though, a nice hidden spot in Melbourne.

18.) Aether  (Budapest, Hungary - 2024)

I almost didn't get a chance to experience Aether, as the top floor (same name) is a more traditional hip-hop type shop. But the second day I ventured down to in theory go to the bathroom, and saw the door in the corner leading to the real Aether, the real underground, fog machine, graet ventilation with a long bar, playing good classic techno EDM. Maybe because it was underground, it wasn't too crowded either, but the crowd was there were in absolute love with the music and the energy of the place.

17.) Womb (Tokyo, Japan - 2023)

Womb was the most expansive club I went to in my time in Tokyo - easily the busiest and the largest. Three floors, all showcasing different types of music. The grournd floor with more underground, deeper EDM. The top floor with more traditional, laid-back house. Both of those two were my got to, with a giant laser-light and packed mainstream floor in the middle. Tons of bars, tons of people - it was just a great time in Tokyo. Only thing keeping it from being higher is it could've done great to have better ventilation - a small complaint as it was easy to not even realize getting lost in the great scene.

16.) Culture Club Revelin  (Dubrovnik, Croatia - 2017)

I debated whether or not to put this on the list, mainly because it is more of just all-around club than a EDM/House club. Granted they played a lot of that music, but they also played hip-hop, and had girls dancing in cages, and was more of a pure play party spot, than anything else. Not that it's bad. It migth be the best pure club I've been to, certainly the coolest atmosphere, but to me it fits on the list. Just go there knowing what it is.

15.) Cakeshop (Seoul, Korea - 2022)

Two clubs in Seoul make the list this time, and showcase the different elements of what makes Seoul a great city with everything. Cakeshop is lighter, airier, with a great bar on the side, and great tunes. It is a bit less hectic, less "clubby" and headbanging-ey than other spots in Seoul, with the same carefree attitude that made the city work. The music at Cakeshop was just perfect to enjoy, dance to, imbibe to, right in the heart of Itaewon.

14.) Club Ambar  (Santiago, Chile - 2024, 2025)

If you ever go to Club Ambar in Santiago, avoid their main floor like the plague - the floor with all the trappings of the worst quasi-techno clubs that attract the worst type of crowd. But feat not, because two side rooms at Ambar are just awesome. First is the side room on the main floor, playing just a perfect style of house, with a truly great vibe. Then of course is the basement, with pure hardcore trance - with a cavernous underground feel to match. I've rarely seen a place combine such a mainstream (in a bad way) vibe in their main floor with such great underground vibes in their side rooms.

13.) The Loft @ Skyway Theater  (Minneapolis, USA - 2022, 2025)

On the downside, they had maybe the worst drinks of any of them on the list, which is why its 8th. Admittedly they were strong, but their "soda" component of my whiskey soda order was basically water. But at least they were cheap. Anyway, let's get to the upside of the place. It had maybe the best ventilation system of any large space club i've been to. It was so airy, despite being crowded (not overcrowded) and them going heavy on the fog machine. Also the acts the day I went were spectacular. They seem to curate well as the place isn't open every day on the weekend. Great place, just don't expect drinks. **2025 Update: Moving it up as they've largely fixed the drinks problem - way better this time around. The sound system, light system and filtration remained stellar. Just a great spot.**

12.) Club Under  (Buenos Aires, Argentina - 2023)

Honestly, if I went to Buenos Aires in 2019 or a few years earlier, this probablhy would be higher up the list. The place was everything you want out of an EDM club - good ventilation, good music acts, a ton of people having a grand old time. They probably could use slightly better crowd control (granted, there was still a line to enter), as the Saturday I went it was astonishingly crowded. There's really no complaints here to be had, it was just a bit jarring to, for the first time at an EDM spot, feel old.

11.) Espacio 93  (Santiago, Chile - 2024)

I don't think there has been any club I've been to that was more aggressively fast in its beats. This place was full momentum all the time. Also had some of the best architecture inside, with walls and poles and ledges and various rooms to enjoy the heavy, heavy, fast, fast beats. It was like a better, more compact, darker version of Club Under. The first night I went was some sort of BDSM type event so it was a bit out there. The second night was more traditional but the energy was unparalleled, even if it scared me out at times.

10.) Savage (Hanoi, Vietnam - 2019)

I have another Vietnam spot higher up the list. They are very similar in structure, but the main knock, the only knock, I have on Savage is that it was underground so it was a bit hot. They have one area that you enter that has more poppy house playing and a full bar, with another full bar in a shadowy back room that was hardcore EDM. Perfect mix of options, with full ability to move from one to the next. Savage also had full supply of balloons, more to come on that in a second here. Vietnam also has maybe the best bar service of any of these - in these cases the drink aspect is as much as the music, at least for the entry bar / area.

9.) D-Edge  (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - 2025)

One of the weirdly great places I've been to that combine the worst parts of corporate club world (a card taht tracks all your purchases that you close out when you leave) with the greatest industrial setting on the banks of Gamboa Beach. The setting is amazing. The crowd is great. The drinks are plentiful and fairly cheap. My only real complaints is I wish the music went harder (at least when I was there), and the whole wristband corporate nature of it all. But still, it was an amazing nights in Rio at D-Edge.

8.) Vent (Tokyo, Japan - 2023)

I don't go to clubs wanting to see great architecture and design, but it is hard not to notice these aspects of Vent, a truly special club in Tokyo. The exposed concrete walls, the trees indoors, the high ceilings, the exposed cement bar. It was all just a cool vibe, a great scene. The music was excellent as well, really curated DT setlists and a great energy that attracted an equal mix of locals and foreigners. It was a spot that didn't allow photos (like Modular to come next, would put a sticker on your phone camera), which is a little nuance I actually have come to enjoy. This place was just about having a great time, with a beautiful visage to experience it all in.

7.) Habitat Living Sound  (Calgary, Canada - 2019)

I'm not sure if they're open or not. They definitely closed for good soon after the pandemic, but then re-opened in 2021, but seem to have closed again. Anyway, it was an experience. The only real downside is that it wasn't that big of a space, but on the plus side, they had excellent crowd control, shockingly cheap and decent drinks (i.e. if you ordered a whiskey soda you got a decent amount of whiskey), and the DJs were all pretty good. The good crowd control actually made this one of the more pleasant clubs to be in. I mourn for Canada's loss here.

6.) Oxford Art Factory  (Sydney - 2013, 2025)

I really don't know how I didn't have the Ox on the list until now, but after a triumphant return after 12 years, I quickly realized how much of an oversight taht was. Both stages are excellent, including one of the better pure performance-focused stages I've been to. The drinks are affordable. The people are excellent. The low-key vibe of the second room is great as well. My only real hesitancy moving it any higher is they show a mix of music, it isn't always EDM (as in sometimes they play rock music and the like) but when it is on, few places in the world are better.

5.) Modular  (Cape Town, South Africa - 2018, 2022)

I have to say, Modular gets way more crowded than my places at ahead of it, but they did a great job of not really making it feel that way, with three full service bars in the same area. They also had a pretty great ventilation and air conditioning. It was packed though. They had no real regard for crowd control. Modular had some of the better DJ sets I've heard in terms of quality top to bottom. If even you're in Cape Town, would fully recommend going there on Thursday. It's slightly less crowded, but every bit as good.

4.) Club Faust (Seoul, Korea - 2022)

If I described Club Faust, a dark, large room that is open from 12am-7am, with a series of artists and DJs, you could probably well picture what Club Faust looks like. It is what it is, which is just perfect for what it is trying to be. Seoul is a lot about glitz on one end, but heart and passion on the other. No one would go to Club Faust to be "seen", mostly because you effectively literally cannot see anyone all that well. After a while your eyes do get adjusted, and your ears are great from the get go.

3.) Reset  (Cape Town, South Africa - 2020)

RIP, as this was another one that was a Covid casualty. Luckily Modular still exists, but Reset was just a better venue. With two levels and two performance spaces, a bit more light on the second floor, more heavy in the underground one. Bars had a lot of bartenders. They had great ventilation. The crowd control was decent, but just having it across two floors just made it all seem bigger and better. On the whole Reset was a fantastic place and a real loss in terms of nighttime entertainment for Cape Town.

2.) The Black Box  (Denver, USA - 2021)

There's one major question mark in ranking The Black Box this highly, and that is the fact that when I went in August 2021, they were still doing a reasonable amount of crowd limiting due to covid. There was no mask restriction, but they were operating at half capacity. That said, even if you double the crowd I don't think it would have been so much worse. The space was great - with lounge area with another DJ space when you enter, and a much larger space in the interior. Other than my place at number one this place had the best bar set-up, with at least five bartenders working, and the ability to go to the bar in the outside area at any time. The music was uniformly excellent, with generally three acts that all were great each day.

1.) The Observatory  (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam - 2019)

From the truly loungey lounge that is its main area, to a full service bar with tons of bartenders that make things quick, to the plentiful balloons, to the light, airy indoor more heavy EDM club that had great ventilation, to it also being on the fifth floor with great sightlines of Ho Chi Minh City around you, The Observatory was close to perfect. That Friday and Saturday night spent at it was about as good as it has ever been in a club experience. You truly feel like you are at a rooftop bar one second, and a hardcore EDM club the next. Just an incredible set-up, great msuic, great balloons, cheap but good drinks, and a great crowd with a good mix of locals and expats. It all added up to a perfect experience.

My Top-20 Favorite Cocktail Bars

Closed:

(Was #8/16 - Wa-Shu, Taipei)

Wa-Shu was a Japanese Cocktail Bar in the heart of Taipei that I went to twice. The bartenders were quick to tell me that they were Taiwanese, but the cocktails featured Japanese-based alcohol mostly. I had multiple Japanese Whiskey based cocktails, including my favorite being a weird one that used peanut butter seeped through a coffee filter to create a peanut butter old fashioned. It was one of the places with no supposed menu, where we tell them a certain flavor, or fruit or type of food, and they'll whip up something that makes sense based on that. It worked every time. The Wa-Shu guys knew very much what they were doing.

20.) The Gin House  (Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam - 2019, 2022)

This place may have closed down, it is hard to tell, but The Gin House was a great place in Ho Chi Minh City. My only real complaint is they get a bit too crowded, largely because they had live music Wednesday through Sunday - granted the music was generally good. The cocktails were great. Yes, most were gin based, and I was lucky enough to come when they had a resident mixologist from New Zealand of all places visiting, but they were smooth, refreshing and a great starter for a night out in Ho Chi Minh City - the place I would go to after is coming up in the next category.

19.) Cobbler (Seoul, Korea - 2022)

    

Cobbler was situated in a pretty seemingly quiet part of Seoul, an area not really well known for bars and the like, but deep in this residential area of narrow alleys is Cobbler. It had great decor, made to look like a clubhouse lodge, with exposed wood everywhere. The drinks were excellent, with no set menu and you just give them your preferences. The drinks were all little, interesting twists on classics, the best being a truly incredibly smoked somkey old fashioned that nonetheless as smooth as any I had. The place was well crafted, well maintained, a truly professional outfit that took pride in just serving great cocktails.

18.) Flekk  (Istanbul, Turkey - 2024)

Flekk is too cool and popular for its own good almost - just a palce that people come every day to hang out and chill but just happens to have amazing cocktails, all pretty novel inventions, by the staff in the small bar at the back. As a solo traveler, was able to generally score myself a seat at the bar which made the service a bit faster. But this isn't a place to rush through life, but sit back and enjoy. They were quite liberal with their pours, but exacting in their bitters and syrups and the like. Flekk was a true surprise in how great it was in the middle of the urban maw of Istanbul.

17.) Death & Taxes  (Brisbane - 2025)

This was my favorite cocktail bar in Brisbane, the favorite of the three owned by the same group. Death & Taxes had a classical setup, with bartenders making quite interesting drinks that were all variations of classic cocktails - but in a good way. My favorite was probably the "Green Man" which added absinthe and mint to a normal whiskey based cocktail, or the "Chester Bennington" which added tea to a negroni (msot of them were named after actors or musicians). They also had a great whiskey selection as well, and a really nice vibe (as most places are in Brisbane). In the end, this is just a very solid spot but maybe lacking the pure verve that many higher up the lsit have.

16.) Liz Cocktail & Co  (Rio de Janeiro - 2025)

I'm mixed on the value and efficacy of theme-y cocktail bars. Liz isn't pure theme, but they have a nice menu design where they have 3 drinks representing each decade from the 1930s to the 2020s - one of which is based on a famous artist from that decade. It's a bit kitschy, but what's honestly weird is if they stripped that whole conceit away, and just served the same drinks without the decade / artist tie-in, I honestly think it might be further up. The drinks are neat, easy to drink, playful, strong. All good things, in the posh Leblon part of Rio.

15.) The Bellwoods (Tokyo, Japan - 2023)

You enter into The Bellwoods, see the old timey dress worn by the fun bartenders, and the ragtime era music playing, and you get immediately what they're after. There's no weird entrance or hideaway that pushes into that aspect of a speakeasy - jsut a decor, vibe and sense that you are back in the old days. The Cocktails are excellent, with cool glasses and great presentation, if a bit on the lighter, sweeter side. Still, with a core list of about 20 options, you can go a while without running out of things to try, and ragtime era environment to soak up.

14.) Meteor  (Minneapolis, USA - 2022)

It is hard to judge a place like Meteor, which has zero of the acceptable levels of pretension that come with all five above it. If anything it is set-up like a dive bar, with low lights, mostly bar seating and gourmet hot dogs rolling, but has an inventive, playful cocktail list of about 15 regulars. Their use of strange ingredients, like Sesame in a bourbon-based cocktail, or coconut milk in a gin-based one, was excellent. It isn't too expensive coming in at $12 a pop. They even have a decent draft beer list if you want to mix it up - granted that has no real impact on the ranking here.

13.) Bar Prep  (Gyeongju, Korea - 2024)

Gyeongju shouldn't have a place this nice. Like in a small, fairly sleepy, tourist town is just a gem of a conctail bar, behind a heavy oak door. You're presented with Korean perfection, from the exactness of the drinks, to the little plate of treats they give you. Smoke, crazy flavors (a lot of Korean berries), and so much more. Bar Prep is just better than it should be for a tertiary city in South Korea. And yes, this is me saying that a place this good should exist in a Hoboken. Anyway, the best part is their coffee-based cocktails (expressly not Espresso Martini), which are just amazing.

12.) Deadshot  (Auckland - 2025)

A cocktail bar in New Zealand modeled after New York dive bars and speakeasies, with a bartender from Oregon? Hard to top that combination, but luckily the drinks in Deadshot were about as good as well. It is one of those places without a menu - you just start describing what type of thing you like, and then they make you something. The Oregon bartender made some really interesting twists on Old Fashioned, Boulvardiers and the like with interesting ingredients like almond, peanut and a few others. The place was dim, grimy (in the best way) but the concoctions were brilliant, strong, smooth and generous.

11.) Summer Experiment (HCMC, Vietnam - 2023)

Ho Chi Minh City is a city on the rise, and much as it has in every area of life, it is setting it sights higher and higher on top cocktail spots. Summer Experiment is like almost everything in HCMC, up two stories in a dark alley, but enter through its doors and you walk into a sleek, dark bar with some outside seating, and a long bar with weird ingredients, hundreds of bottles and young bartenders looking to develop some crazy stuff. Not all of it is perfect, but their good concoctions, like the best frozen cocktail I've ever had, to a great play on a Manhattan, knock it out of the park. Summer Experiment is relatively new, so I foresee it rising in promenance.

10.) Tres Monos  (Buenos Aires, Argentina - 2023)

This place just hit all the notes really well. It is very well reputed, but not too crowded (a bit plus in the bustling late-night mecca that is Buenos Aires). The drinks are excellent - inventive without being pretentious (granted, a few places higher on my list could be accused of being such). In the end, this place consistently served great cocktails and had a great Ho - a mix of bar-front seating to watch the mixologists do their thing, to a lot of couch and chilling space, which of course like any top Buenos Aires space, spilled out into the streets.

9.) Backroom Bar  (Santiago, Chile - 2025)

My preferred Santiago spot, Siete Negronis, closed (it probably sat just outside prior lists), but instead I discovered a place that was frankly better. Chile's best offering is its insanely good weather. Well, at Backroom you got to combine that with their amazing cocktails. The place in the back("room") was enclosed walls, but no ceiling, with being able to see the stars and the beauty of night in the gem of South America. The drinks were strong, with their own concoctions of various martinis, various martinis, and so much more. Backroom is a great place, even if the unique selling point is mostly the atmosphere.

8.) PS40  (Sydney - 2025)

I don't know if there's a place where I tried a greater set of their cocktail menu than PS40, a great spot in Sydney's CBD. Sydney had a few other nice spots, but none were as strong and convenient as PS40. The menu was inventive, with some really interesting elements, be it their most notable cocktail that combined cold and hot elements, a "banana old fashioned" that tasted way better than you would think, to really nice plays on martinis. PS40 is the type of place I would want to go every month (about the rate they change up some of the menu) if I lived in the city. I'll be thinking about that hold and cold drink for a while, but similarly of their use of aquavit or lychee or apple.

7.) Hotsy Totsy  (Budapest, Hungary - 2024)

How do you like 52 drink options? Hotsy Totsy gives you that with teh conceit of them all being grouped into four types and put on playing cards. You sit down in their underground bunker type bar, and you are given a deck to cycle through. A bit gimmicky, sure, but the drinks then prove themselves anyway. The crispest, the coldest, the best cocktails I've had in Europe, with the added bonus of a really cool scene and fun bartenders to talk to. Hotsy Totsy was in the heart of the Budapest nightlife scene, but more understated, classy and coolly dark than the vividness of the Jewish Quarter outside.

6.) Alice (Seoul, Korean - 2022)

Alice was quasi-gimmicky, in that it was Alice in Wonderland theme - but they didn't hit you over the head with the theme, but instead hit you over the head with great cocktails. There were interesting ingredients, from utilizing soy bean paste, to beer foam and flowers, to so much more. Even the names were whimsical - like "Hippity, Hoppity" and similar things. The best part I appreciated is that none of the drinks were overly strong or bitter, just perfectly balanced, perfectly inventive.

5.) Bar Trench (Tokyo, Japan - 2023)

Small but incredibly strong, Bar Trench was the favorite place I went to on my recent trip to Japan, with a wealth of cocktail options, all liquor-forward to not make you feel cheated, with also incredibly knowledgeable, entertaining bartenders that will play around with different styles and make stuff on request without going too far down the pretension rabbit hole. Bar Trench just makes super good, strong, solid, inventive drinks - plus has a really great vibe aided by teh smaller size and great decor with a giant library-style wall of bottles and fermentations, all to make your head spin for all the right reasons.

4.) Carnaval  (Lima, Peru - 2022)

Carnaval shows up the Worlds Best 50 Bars list, and after going there I have to say it earns that spot. It gets crowded, but is in a posh area of Lima, doesn't let in more people than they have seats for, and had a great energy aroudn it. The drinks were wild, in both preparation and design - things like alcoholic cotton candy as part of a play on an old fashioned, to a frozen watermelon cocktail that is melted when you tip your glass to combine it with a mint cocktail. It was all a scene, and it was just great.

4.) #FindTheLockerRoom (Bangkok, Thailand - 2022)

Sometimes speakeasies can take the concept of just how hidden their entrance can be a bit too far. FindTheLockerRoom, down a wet and damp alley, and a row of lockers, toed the line. But the second you're greeted with an almost farcical second set of lockers, you enter a beautiful dark, roomy, bar with some incredible cocktails. The cocktails themselves are all reinventions of old classics, and were all uniformly great. The only real complain is the bar was a bit small, but I take it in a sense that fits with the speakeasy theme. Great concept, made a lot better by peerless execution.

2.) Cause Effect  (Cape Town, South Africa - 2020, 2022)

Cause Effect shouldn't be this good. It is placed right in the heart of the most touristy place in Cape Town. Basically this is like if a bar in Times Square was an amazing place. But somehow it is. They are easily the most inventive cocktail makers. Nearly all of their 20+ standard cocktail offerigns are a production, with props and set-ups and incredible staging. My favorite was one where you are given a plate with a depressed area in the middle, which is covered by an image of a bird and you're told you need to puncture the image which then combines with the cocktail below it to create something magical. The place has to be visited to truly understand it, but it is just incredible, and I can't overstate enough how brilliantly weird it is that this place exists in the V&A Waterfront.

1.) Licorecia Limantour  (Mexico City, Mexico - 2018)

I went to Licorecia Limantour without even knowing it was seen as a world renowned cocktail bar. It is high up the Worlds Top 50 bars. Granted, they have multiple locations - I went to both the main one and one in Polanco. Both have the same menu. Unsurprisingly a lot of cocktails were tequila or mezcal based but they were all crafted brilliantly. None were to too strong, all were super smooth to put down. The place had a great vibe in the heart of the city's more trendier areas, with an open layout letting you basically step inside from teh street. Licorecia Limantour was a marvelous part of my trip to Mexico City, and has only increased its reputation since 2018.