Battle of the Burbs: The best places to eat, drink and shop in Town-in-Town and Chaengwattana
The tale of two rising neighborhoods.
9 years ago
Town in Town
The Scene and Tree Square
Sabroso
Accessible from Lad Phrao Road or Ram Intra, Town in Town is perhaps known as the home of countless TV/entertainment studios. However, this year has seen the neighborhood welcome a spate of new community malls, bars and restaurants. The Scene is the biggest community mall, here, home to chain restaurants, banks and coffee shops, while newcomer Tree Square (1133 Inthra Phon Rd.), located five minutes away, offers a more happening atmosphere. Here, you can find Mexican food at Sabroso (02-935-6800. Open Tue-Fri 3-10pm; Sat-Sun 11:30am-10pm), which is run by the previous owner of Tacos and Salsa (on Sukhumvit 18), Jorge Bernal, who whips up enchiladas (B150), tacos (pork, beef, chicken or fish, B120) and tostadas (toasted tortilla with chicken, B70). On top of Thai-style drinking spot Tamsabai (081-695-6590. Open daily 5pm-2am), there’s also the small Beer Cellar (02-934-6194. Open daily 5pm-2am), which offers only imported bottles, from Belgian brews like Kwak and Triple Karmeliet to craft beers like Rogue and BrewDog. The mall also has pet-friendly zones, plus you can bring your cat to the Kitty Cat Café (081-113-9398. Open Tue-Sun 11am-9:30pm) and enjoy a cup of coffee, too. But note that they're relocating soon in the same area.
Color Bar
While nearby CDC and Crystal Park are home to many fancy bars to drink away the night, live music lovers keep coming back to this long-standing venue. This very Thai bar—think Parking Toys in Kaset Nawamin or Prop Bar in Prachachuen—is the place to share a bottle of Jack Daniels or Red Label and down draft Singha while grooving to 90s alternative rock.
24 Soi Lad Phrao 94. 02-949-0977
Rom Mai Ai Aoon
Just across from Tree Square is this café set in a glass house with a sizeable garden—the kind of place you can bring your laptop to work on weekends. Indoors is decked out like a living room with most tables having power outlets, while the outdoors is filled with garden benches. Coffee starts from B65 for a hot latte while the food features crepe cakes (B85) and egg and ham ciabatta (B60).
349 Lad Phrao soi 94. 087-528-5665
Town in Town place
Tinee Eatery
This complex is home to a number of top food spots. Start with Tinee Eatery (Town in Town Place, across Si Wara Soi 4., Praditmanutham Rd., 02-559-2475, 083-015-4555. Open daily 9am-6pm), a self-service café that serves Western comfort dishes for lunch as well as grab-and-go options such as liver pate and marinated goat feta. They stick to local produce, with beef, cheese and vegetables sourced from the Royal Projects and almost everything else homemade. Enjoy comforting mainstays like beef stew (B105) and pork balls (B105) or pop in early for breakfast dishes like Moroccan baked eggs with onion chutney and bacon (B180).
Pizza Aroy
Next door is Pizza Aroy (Town in Town Soi 4/4, 081-752-6368. www.pizza-aroy.com. Open Tue-Sun 12-8pm), which sits somewhere between food truck and street stall as it’s basically just a pizza stove next to a small number of plastic seats. Choose from traditional toppings like nduja (thin crisp crust, garlic base, mozzarella and spicy nduja salami, B349) or Thai fusion options like Pizza Mai Sabai (mozzarella, spicy minced chicken, basil, bell peppers and oregano, B249).
Nearby is the music-inspired coffee shop Ukucafe (Town in Town Soi 4, 02-530-7432. Open daily 10am-8pm) which serves up coffee and homemade ice-cream in a small room decked out with, you guessed it, ukuleles.
Q&A: What’s the best thing about your neighborhood?
“Town in Town is a really good area to live. We have almost everything—community malls, restaurants, bars—while getting into town it pretty easy with the expressway. The only problem is the traffic in the area is really bad because there are lots of offices and schools. It’d be perfect if we had the BTS or MRT, here.”
— Sarun Chuenmanus, 19, Cloud Behind bassist
“Town in Town has got everything you need, from food to clothing and spas. But the best thing? Here's the area where you can find tons of production houses and the cute guys that tag along.”
— Chayajee Krittyapongsakorn, 23, assistant film director
Chaeng Wattana
Que Pasa
Que Pasa
Don’t judge gated community Nichada Thani by its entrance at the dusty Samakhee Road because this little slice of wealthy American suburbia has a few cool spots for its expat families. Long before La Monita, we were getting our Tex-Mex fix at Que Pasa. Having started out serving up various Mexican and Tex-Mex dishes like tacos with beef or fish (B59), tostadas with beef or pork (B69) and enchiladas with beef chicken or veggies (B139), they’ve now expanded to offer international dishes like steak and pastas, plus Thai food as well.
Samakhee Rd., 02-960-3821. Open Tue-Thu 10am-9pm
Paulaner Garden Restaurant
Paulaner Garden Restaurant
Run by the importers of Paulaner (Denmark), this is the only place in town where you can find all four varieties of draught Paulaner (original hafe-weissbier, dunkel hefe-weissbier and original munchner, B220/1,300 per half/pint). The old colonial-style house has been renovated into a restaurant with events room, while outside there’s a huge garden staffed by waitresses dressed in Bavarian costume. The highlight dishes include pork knuckle with sauerkraut and roasted potatoes (B450) and German sausage with various side dishes (from B195-295). Italian pizza is also available (from B395) as well as Thai-fusion dishes like pla salmon (salmon in spicy salad, B180) and deep-fried mushroom in spicy dressing (B180).
42/99 Moo 7, Samakhee Rd., 02-584-4831, 082-790-1783. Open daily 5pm-midnight
The Smoking Duck
Sat near the legendary Kai Thong Restaurant, this new Chinese restaurant claims an expertise in smoked duck. Start off with the deep-fried shrimps (goong tord prik gluea, B120), which comes with chopped spring onion and a slice of lemon, before you move on to the main event, smoked duck served with mashed taro and pickles (B299 for small/B950 for a whole duck). They offer sukiyaki (B250-B280), too.
Soi Chaengwattana 33, 02-982-9341. Open daily 11:30am-9:30pm
Chantanee
Chantanee
Just 10 minutes’ drive from Nichada Thani along Klong Prapa Road, Sport City combines a fitness center, Villa Market and restaurants. Among all the chains is established standalone Thai restaurant Chantanee, serving traditional fare like pla krapong tod nam pla (deep fried sea bass with fish sauce, B240) or nam prik goong seab (sundried shrimp chili paste, B115). Southern dishes like kanom jeen nam ya tai (Thai noodle with southern-style fish curry, B90) are a real highlight. The place also serves homemade baked goods.
20/492 Prachachuen Rd. 02-574-4432. Open daily 11am-10pm.
The Slider Shack
The Slider Shack
Located in front of Nichada Thani, opposite Que Pasa, The Slider Shack is an American-style diner. Previously known as the BBQ Sandwich King in Soi Samakhee, the place just moved to Nichada, rebranded itself and launched a longer menu. Try their classic burgers (deluxe, BBQ chicken breast and beef, from B150) or the Chicago Dog (B260). All dishes are served with yummy tater tots (nugget-shaped hashbrowns).
33/1 Samakhee Soi 29, 086-773-4140. Open Sun-Thu 11am-9pm; Fri-Sat 11am-10pm
Three Mangoes
Three Mangoes offers a few things we cannot get enough of in the city—lots of space, lots of trees and a big pond. The restaurant serves Thai and fusion dishes along with live Thai bands. Tuck into khao pad namprik long ruea (B110) or rad na (noodles in gravy with fish, B120). Not up for live music or a beer tower? Head for the the cute cafe in the garden out front, where you can order sweet treats like waffles with ice cream (B85) and mango and sticky rice (B110).
25/3 Chaengwattana Rd., 02-574-0909. Open daily 10:30am-midnight
Q&A: What’s the best thing about your neighborhood?
“Bars with good and cheap food and drinks lined up for you to choose. Seafood is quite heavenly, too, such as Jae Khai (1300/3 Prachachuen Rd. 02-585-3641) or Jae Lieb which is soon to open a branch here. Make sure you try bai por pad moo sub (stir-fried vegetables) at Jae Khai and the cockles at Jay Liab."
— Suthida Pamadee, 25, student
“I love the natural aspect of the area. The vast amount of trees and the landscaping makes me forget that I am in an urban area. I like the American suburbia feel of the place but I feel we would benefit from the BTS or MRT. We could do with fewer speed bumps, too.”
— Nathaniel Ashburner, 25, designer
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