Hidden bar named for sci-fi film Cloud Atlas, Corsican Stars in Hong Kong is an invitation-only back room wreathed in myth

Open four evenings a week and with seating for just 20 guests, Corsican Stars has immersive artwork in its foyer that’s like a trailer for what’s inside

Guests need a token to enter the bar, which they can win or buy; in future it will be up to staff of Causeway Bay vinyl cafe Mercury Recalls to admit them

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The atmospheric interior of Corsican Stars, a new hidden bar in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. Once its soft opening phase ends, admission will be by invitation only. Seats are limited to 20, and the drinks have no name. Photo: Corsican Stars

Published: 11:15am, 12 Mar 2024

Speakeasy-style bars are a dime a dozen in Hong Kong’s thriving bar scene, from the newly reopened 001 to the not-so-secretive back room at The Diplomat and Room 309, which even has an “invisible” menu.

To cocktail lovers, they provide the illusion of an exclusive experience that seems almost inaccessible to those not in the know. For the wider public, they are among the city’s most popular and sought-after drinking holes.

The charmingly named Please Don’t Tell, accessed via a phone booth at the Landmark Mandarin Oriental’s MO Bar, for instance, is a sister bar to the legendary New York original.

Now comes Corsican Stars, a novel, members-only concept with an elaborate mythological narrative, immersive artwork and a seasonal cocktail menu designed to entice a specific type of curious drinker.

A patron waits for the bartender to finish making a cocktail at Corsican Stars. Photo: Corsican Stars

The hidden bar is inspired by the line “Find me beneath the Corsican Stars, where we first kissed” from the sci-fi film Cloud Atlas (2012), based on English writer David Mitchell’s 2004 novel of the same name.