With it’s breezy days and balmy evenings, January is Bangkok’s peak cool season, and there’s no better time to get outdoors. From raucous open-air beer courts to glam rooftop bars and twinkly riverside diners, the city embraces eating and drinking en plein air. Mingle with the style set at one of these alfresco supper spots…
Thiptara
Shrouded by ancient banyan trees, Thiptara – The Peninsula’s riverside Thai restaurant – is hands-down one of the city’s best for glittery water views and old-world ambiance. Pull up a front-row pew and languish in the sights, sounds and scents of the Chaophraya as you eat your way through a menu of tasty, farang-friendly, Siam classics. Neighbouring eatery The River Café & Terrace is also enduringly popular for its lavish East-West buffets, complete with live-cooking stations and shaded seating.
Eat Me
This perennial boho-meets-cosmo favourite has garnered a stellar rep for its gutsy game n’ seafood plates, and while it’s a super-chic spot year round, it really comes into its own in the cool season. Book a table on the bamboo-bordered balcony to soak up the creative, global vibe.
The Never Ending Summer
Perched close to The Peninsula, The Jam Factory’s urban-industrial diner scores high on the style-o-metre with its polished concrete floors, exposed girders and masculine, monochrome furniture. But when weather permits, opt for a table on the laidback, tropical deck, replete with twinkly lights and river vistas. It’s the perfect situ to while away a few hours over upscale comfort bites, with Siam-style cocktail in hand, of course.
The Jam Factory, 41/1-5 Charoennakorn Rd. +66 2 861 0953
Bo.lan
Thai-Oz and American couple Duangporn Songvisava (Bo) and Dylan Jones (lan) have won multiple gongs – including a recently awarded Michelin star – for their game-changing interpretation of locavore, heritage recipes, served in a beautifully renovated trad Thai abode. Heralded as Bangkok’s first zero-waste restaurant, this is slow food for design-conscious epicures, better yet, enjoyed on the romantic terrace outside.
Indigo
This charmant Gallic eatery in a colonial-style house of whitewashed interiors has been a hit with the local Franc-pat community for decades. And while they flock here year-round for the top-value lunch sets, succulent meat dishes, homemade bread and excellent wine list, it’s the pretty tree-strewn courtyard that keeps them coming in cool season.
6 Convent Rd, Silom. +66 2 235 3268
The original version of this article was written by LUXE for PenCities.
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