From Bangkok to Brooklyn (And Back Again)
From food trucks to foraging, Bangkok has fallen in love with New York’s hottest fads. But weren’t we doing these things already?
10 years ago
Our city is obsessed with Brooklyn. Subway tiles, drip coffee bars, barrel-aged cocktails—nearly all of Bangkok’s most popular trends are imported straight from the streets of New York’s booming hipster borough. But as Thonglor becomes swamped with food trucks and our chefs take to the forest to forage for new ingredients, we ask: didn’t these things happen in Thailand first, only under a different name? Here are the ways in which Bangkok beat Brooklyn to it.
Infused Spirits
Also known as: Yadong
Bars lined with large unmarked jars containing mystery liquids fermenting in various botanicals don’t begin and end with Sugar Ray. Older than the whiskers hanging from the mole on your nearest street-stall peddler’s jaw, yadong wrote the book on potent, herb-infused spirits long before the existence of barrel-aged cocktails.
Studio Lam bar
Old School: Check Suan Plu Soi 8 at night for one of our faves. If you don’t fancy going street-level, head to DJ Maft Sai’s Studio Lam bar (Sukhumvit Soi 51, www.fb.com/studioiambangkok), the new home of Paradise Bangkok, where classic yadong is served in a stylish environment.
Sugar Ray
New School: Vesper (10/15 Convent Rd., 02-235-2777. www.vesperbar.co) is well worth a visit for the barrel-aged negroni. Sugar Ray (2/F, Baan Ekkamai, Ekkamai Soi 21, 086-547-4633) specialize in home-infused syrups, while Barka (128/10 Phahon Yothin Soi 2, 081-483-4070) also does a good barrel-infused Jameson.
Iced Coffee
Also known as: Oliang
We know, we know. Cold brew isn’t just iced coffee. It goes through a specific process in room temperature to extract a particular kind of flavor from the beans. But it’s still cold coffee. And what tastes better than iced coffee? Iced coffee laden with so much sugar syrup it makes hot chocolate look like a healthy alternative.
Old School: Whether inside the capital or out of town, you can guarantee an iced coffee seller is never far away.
I+D Style Cafe x Brave Roasters
New School: Rocket Coffeebar (149 Sathorn Soi 12, 02-635-0404. www.rocketcoffeebar.com) and I+D Style Cafe x Brave Roasters (G/F, Siam Center, Rama 1 Rd.) both offer authentically-made and stylishly bottled cold brew.
Foraging
Also known as: How half of Thailand still eats
Foraging has taken Bangkok longer to catch onto than many of the other international food trends. Why? “Imported goods sound a lot sexier than fresh foraged goods from the mountains or forests,” says Bryan Hugill, co-founder of Raitong Organics Farm, “which is very ironic since traditional Thai food is foraged.”
Old School: For a classic Thai foraged meal, try the kaeng pa at Kaeng Pa Sri Yaan (954/2 Nakhon Chaisi Rd., 02-241-4216).
Seven Spoons
New School: The owner-chef of Seven Spoons (24 Chakkaphatdi Phong Rd., 02-629-9214), Somkiat Pairojmahakij, is leading Bangkok’s foraging movement with ingredients found both in the city and the wilderness.
Craft Life
Also known as: Handicrafts
Move over graphic designers, there’s a new contender for the coolest job title in town: “craftsman.” From leatherware studios to carpenters to jewelry workshops, Bangkok has been following in Brooklyn’s footsteps with a love of all things handmade. But with Thailand’s own rich craft culture, there is also plenty of scope to add Thai twists to contemporary handicrafts—and everyone loves a good Thai twist.
Old School: Jim Thompson Thai Silk (9 Surawong Rd., 02-632-8100. www.jimthompson.com) can still turn out some of the most affordable and well-made fabrics in the country.
Smitheries
New School: Smitheries (2/F, Black Amber Building, Sukhumvit Soi 55 [Thonglor]. www.fb.com/smitheries) is exactly what you’d expect from a jewelry shop in partnership with one member of Yellow Fang. Cham Learn Studio (95 Soi Phraeng Sapphasat, Tanao Rd., 080-587-6331) runs ceramics and fabric-dyeing workshops.
Farmers’ Markets
Also known as: Talad sod
Up and down the country, farmers’ markets take place each and every day—places farmers and producers go to sell meat and fresh fruit and veg to consumers and traders. It’s happening from Chiang Rai to Hat Yai. In fact, about the only Thai farmers’ market that isn’t a farmers’ market is the Bangkok Farmers’ Market, where “farmer” is used as a catch-all phrase to represent anybody selling anything so long as the production is done from their parents’ kitchen.
Old School: Bangkok’s legendary wet market at Klong Toey is the best place in the city to pick up not just meat and fish, but also fresh fruit and veg.
Bangkok Farmers' Market
New School: Bangkok Farmers’ Market (various events and locations. www.fb.com/bkkfm) is the city’s epicenter of all things locavore and non-mass-produced.
Nose-to-Tail Dining
Also known as: Kreung nai
Before nose-to-tail was even a thing, Thailand was happily tucking into chicken-heart kebabs, parson’s nose skewers, pig’s blood soup and all the other bits of an animal which trendy urban restaurants ignored. Strange, since so few modern Bangkok restaurants have actually managed a legitimate nose-to-tail menu. There are bone marrow dumplings, pig’s blood chocolate tarts and plenty of terrines, but are these dishes chosen because of what’s left on a slaughtered animal’s carcass, or by what’s going to sell best on the specials board? For real nose-to-tail dining, head to the street stalls at the top of Soi Nana.
Old School: Sukhumvit Soi 4’s street vendors specialize in classic offal street food like grilled chicken hearts and pork intestines.
Opposite Mess Hall
New School: Both Opposite Mess Hall (27/1 Sukhumvit Soi 51, 02-662-6330. www.oppositebangkok.com) and Bo.lan (24 Sukhumvit Soi 53, 02-260-2961. www.bolan.co.th) make a point of using as much of an animal as possible.
Sriracha Sauce
Also known as: Sauce prik
Say hello to the most hotly debated condiment on the planet. Is it American? Is it Thai? Will it exist next year? Does anyone know how to pronounce it correctly? Wherever you stand on Sriracha, the name definitely comes from a coastal town in Thailand, and we were definitely dousing our omelet in it long before American cool kids—even if our stuff doesn’t have that now-infamous sharp, smoky flavor.
Old School: Thailand’s favorite sauce prik brand is also called Sriracha. Order a fluffy kai jee-ow and enjoy.
Bao & Buns
New School: Ari’s Asian-fusion Rock Restaurant and Bar (7/1 Phahon Yothin Soi 9, 082-688-8200. www.fb.com/rockrestaurantandbar) does a house-made Sriracha sauce, while Bao & Buns (27/1 Sukhumvit Soi 33, 090-950-1666. www.fb.com/baoandbuns) slathers the bottled stuff all over its crispy chicken bao.
Food Trucks
Also known as: Street food
There are now almost too many food trucks in Bangkok to keep record. The latest we’ve seen is a hot dog specialist at the Baan Silom vintage car market (every Wed and Fri 12pm-12am) called Hip Hot Dog, but no doubt three more have opened since then. So what makes one thing street food and something else a food truck? Ignoring the socio-economic standing of their owners, not much aside from price and the fact one does Western and the other Thai food.
Old School: Everyone has their favorite. BK picks include Mr. Fat’s moo ping in Silom (outside 7-Eleven, top of Soi Convent) and the Thonglor clubbers’ staple, baa mie haeng (on the corner of Ekkamai Soi 19).
Summer Street
New School: Daniel Thaiger(Sukhumvit Soi 38, 084-549-0995. www.fb.com/danielthaiger) consistently ranks as one of Bangkok’s best burgers. Ari’s Summer Street (Phahon Yothin Soi 2. ow.ly/yM08G) bucks the fast-food trend by offering seafood platters from a stylish caravan. Banh Mi Boy does Vietnamese sandwiches.
Flea Markets
Also known as: Talad nad
What’s the difference between Made by Legacy and a regular weekend market? A whole lot of influence from Williamsburg and a couple of zeros on the price of everything. While Made by Legacy provides more opportunity for people-watching and partying than it does to actually buy stuff (aside from cheap sangria, that is), the flea markets which Bangkok kids have been going to for decades are always a source for cheap furnishings and fashion. It’s just a shame they’re dropping like flies from prime-real-estate locations.
Old School: Check out Chinatown’s Woeng Nakhon Kasem (Thieves Market) for nearly-new and vintage items of dubious pedigree.
Talad Rod Fai
New School: Made by Legacy (www.fb.com/MadeByLegacy) and Cheeze magazine’s Hanger Market (www.fb.com/cheezelooker) are held as special events throughout the year. Talad Rod Fai (Sri Nakarin Soi 51, 081-1827-5885) has a new permanent home behind Paradise Park.
Coffee Shops
What five years of Brooklyn influences have done to them.
How Coffee Shops in Bangkok Looked Five Years Ago: Elefin
There is a definite Euro-vibe to this Suk Soi 1 café which back in 2009 we ranked as one of the best in Bangkok. Vintage, yes, but in an art-nouveau-lamps-and-colonial-lounge-chairs kind of way.
How Coffee Shops in Brooklyn Looked Five Years Ago: 61 Local
Dried flowers sit on tables while pipes, bulbs and bricks are all left exposed. The coffee bar itself is a charmingly slapdash affair, cobbled together from the owner’s keen eye for upcycling.
How Bangkok Coffee Shops Look Now: Casa Lapin x49
Ounce for Onion, Casa, Karmakemet, Gram, Roots—in the space of a year the city’s coffee scene has been completely transformed into a blur of subway tiles, red brick walls, repurposed light fixtures and terrariums.
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