Review: Summit Bar, Hilton Port Moresby

Summit Bar has rebranded as a cocktail bar. Credit: Hilton, Port Moresby

It’s 6.30 on a Thursday evening and Summit Bar on level 15 of the Hilton Port Moresby is buzzing. At the front of the room, near the bar, a musician is turning out some very respectable covers. At the back, a private function seems to be winding up. Some patrons have opted for the relative tranquility of the balcony, offering a twilight view of the city. Smartly dressed staff breeze around providing table service.

All this comes as a surprise to me. First, I am impressed all these people have managed to find what is the only public venue on the top floor of the hotel. Second, the last time I visited, shortly after the hotel opened in 2018, Summit was a rather low-key whiskey bar.

These days it identifies as a cocktail bar, though a full range of drinks is available. The signature cocktail list leads with Clarified Milk Punch (‘rum, port, mango, condensed milk, cream cheese, milk and lemon juice come together in a surprising way’). Popular cocktail classes run every Saturday, where you can learn how to mix your own (booking essential).

There’s also a snack menu, comprising mainly share plates (spring rolls, chicken lollipops, gourmet fries), though you might want to keep the ceviche verde (marinated fish, lime chilli, extra virgin olive oil) all to yourself.

Summit is highly recommended, either as a place to kick back after work or to tack on to a visit to PNG’s quintessential fine-dining experience, Mumu, also in the Hilton precinct.

This article was first published in the May-July 2026 issue of Paradise, the in-flight magazine of Air Niugini.