Dean & Deluca
Location : BTS Chong Non-si Station Mahanakorn Sales Office
Atmosphere : The only branch in Southeast Asia of New York's most famous gourmet deli "Dean & Deluca" has just specifically landed itself in Bangkok. Of course the place is packed! Despite the fact that they've expanded the outdoor zone there is still a long queue, especially on Sundays. But thanks to its high ceiling, customers can always still relax and enjoy their conversations without feeling all crammy. The grocery section next to the seating area is full of quality goods in adorable packaging that comes reasonable price. The gourmet food served at Dean & Deluca is moderately pleasing but the coffee is superb. Make sure you order espresso or macchiato shots when you visit here. They also serve "Kopi Luwak" or civet coffee (yes, coffee beans in civet's poop), which costs approximately 1,000 bht per gram and is supposed to taste divine. So the price per glass is out of the question. But if you want to have a place in D & D's database, order the poop.
Rating : 3.5/5
cheers
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Minibar Royale
Location : Sukhumvit 23 (Soi Prasanmitr)
Atmosphere : Minibar Royale can be counted as one of the hippest place in Bangkok as it is always crowded and packed with celebrities. Sitting here feels a lot like hanging out in a sleek Parissien bistro where you can just be there from dusk till dawn. And that is actually a fact because they serve you food all day; brunch, lunch ,and dinner.
Minibar's food often comes in New York style diversity with bit of twist. For example instead of just serving normal fries they choose to serve "chilli cheese fries" which actually tastes lovelier and looks more interesting. Apart from the food Minibar Royale offers a surprisingly wide range of beverages which includes its own signature drinks, Belgian draft, a page of wine list and seasonal premium selected. Promotions here vary from time to time such as Francis Ford Coppola wine tasting sessions, tapas specials, oysters season, festive meals. You have to keep up with these things.
All the staff here are so casual and friendly that sometimes you feel like they are your friends once you've become a regular. And, remember, whenever the weather is nice Minibar Royale outdoor zone is one of your first choices.
Rating : 4.5/5
:-9
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HOBS (Aree Garden)
Location : Areesamphan
Atmosphere : Another Belgian beer place offer by HOBS. Originated in the heart of Thonglor this version of HOBS (House Of Beers) is more of an isolated hipster hangout place with a bit of a greenery feel to it. It generously provides more space, more comfortable chairs, and friendlier staff. All the the beer promotions are the same as HOBS at Thonglor. If you are an existing member you can also exercise your privileges here. However, while the Thonglor branch is full of hot girls here you might not find many!
Rating : 4/5
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Shades of Retro
Location : Soi Tararom 2 Thonglor
Atmosphere : Shades of Retro is the place where you can just randomly walk in alone, have a drink, and just gaze out to nowhere thinking about life. Here you will find yourself surrounded by vintage furniture, decors, clothes, accessories, and even some cool bikes. Some of them are for sale. You can ask all the lovely staff just about anything.
Distilled drinks are the main focus here. Instead of food and draft beer, they give you a refillable bowl of hot brew popcorn and a Jagermeister tab. The cocktails are all super gorgeous. Most of them are depictions of its own history with some of its favourite customer friends such as "Yuki Suffers", "Suriyes", "Kong". Sometimes you could even get lucky for extra shots or upsized glasses once you've become one of the regulars.
Even after countless visits Shades of Retro still offers an oddly warm feeling just like when you visit a friend's house.
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Iron Fairies
Location : Thonglor opposite Ton-krueng Restaurant
Atmosphere : Iron Fairies has a really great concept for itself, that shows tremendous dedication and effort for making everything happen, along with wonderful cocktails, friendly people, great jazz, and good food that comes in generous portion. You can also shop for some books and real iron fairies, all handcrafted, at a small workshop behind the bar. Looking up the spiral staircase stands a compact space just enough for a quartet and a singer. What I love most about this place is the toilet under the stairs with its vintage bath tub, floating candles, and a black and white movie. Also in case anyone wants a private party you can book a VIP room upstairs hidden as a secret chamber. Ash, the owner, is always an active blackberry user.
Rating : 5/5
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Durty Nelly's
Location : Ekkamai Soi 2
Atmosphere : Durty Nelly is a newborn irish pub that still doesn't have much audience despite its great food. The service is also outstanding unlike a lot of other newly opened places. It can be a little pricy sometimes but where else can you find a nice cold pint of Kilkenny in Ekkamai?
Rating : 3.5/ 5
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Tiger Sleep Eat (Seur+ Non Kin)
Location : Sukhumvit Soi 31
Atmosphere : Apart from the homy ambience with a whole bunch of vintage toys and furniture, the food is a killer, especially the mackerels menus. Tom Yum Platoo is highly recommended. The outdoor area is more amicable (when it's not raining) for its funny garden ornaments and the green aroma. Just watch out for mosquitos when you sit near the bush!
Rating : 3.5/5
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23 Bar
Location : Sukhumvit 16
Atmosphere : Hidden in a high-rise residential area in sukhumvit 16, a 2-storey shop house resides a cool and super cozy Japanese bar that you can secretly smoke inside. 23 Bar has no actual closing time because when looking from the outside it seems to be closed all the time anyway. They cover all the windows with shaggy bits of paper boxes and metal doors so it can be tricky spotting the place sometimes. The decoration of the place was simply executed with a few pieces of vintage furniture and a couple of toy decors. But the cool part is that they have a huge cupboard full of Japanese DVDs you can borrow. The crowd is mostly indie people and a lot of them are Japanese. Here people tend to sit at the bar and have chat with bartenders and others at the bar which is quite an uncommon behaviour for Thai people but you can do it normally in 23 Bar. The music they play is mostly alternative rock from the 90's and some Thai indie music. From time to time they organize little gigs with both local and foreign indie bands.
Rating : 4/5
Sorry i'm a bit drunk and my camera skills is terrible
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Hotaru
Location : Sukhumvit 51
Atmosphere : If you have ever read Haruki Murakami and had an imagination of a cozy Japanese bar with jazz music alongside, here is it in Bangkok. "Imo", the owner (actually I didn't know his real name but heard the waitresses called him then I learned afterward that his name is Mr.Tabata,) provides almost every kinds of alcohol from Japan for instance, imo, shochu, sake and odd Japanese cocktails. I highly recommend "Short island" because it is definitely one of the best vodka ice tea in town. Hotaru also serves divine Japanese style finger food. With a complimentary Edamame (I've never had any better Edamame anywhere in my entire life) as your first free appetizer, you just can't stop ordering more. And oh, if you happen to be there on your birthday Mr.Tabata will play a complimentary "Happy Birthday" song for you with his tiny Yamaha piano too!
Rating : 4/5
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