The buzz: Following the likes of Juju Bar and Kaze, here’s another renovated shophouse in Thonglor drawing in the chic crowds. As the name suggests, it serves up mostly raw food menu, focused mainly on seafood, ably supported by a stylish nautical-inspired décor. The owner, Lalita Bautet of Bouchot Restaurant (Sukhumvit Soi 24), initially opened the small counter-like Belon Oyster & Raw Bar on the ground-floor of SeenSpace last year, before expanding to incorporate a full menu, here.

The décor: With its big steel chains and ropes lying about the wood-dominated décor, the narrow venue somewhat resembles below decks of a ship, albeit a well-stocked one. Downstairs, you can pull up a stool at the seafood bar to ogle the fresh catches, while upstairs there are a handful of standalone tables and a DJ booth. A tiny terrace with some greenery sits out back. 

The music: The soundtrack keeps things energetic with funky house, r n’ b and old-school hip hop, welcoming guest DJs on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.   

The crowd: Well-moneyed Thonglorites in their 30s-40s. 

The food: On top of the wide selection of fresh oysters (from B185), the food is focused on raw dishes from all over, like carpaccio (thinly sliced raw meat), tartarki (thinly sliced seared raw meat) and ceviche (Spanish-style sashimi salad with citrus dressing). Back to those oysters, a good place to start is the Dirty Oyster (six oysters served with caviar, sour cream and shallots, B990). Other appetizers include the Hokkaido wild scallops with truffle vinaigrette (B590) and seared tuna tartarki with spicy garlic soy dressing (B360). Fear not, there are also cooked dishes like the angel hair Canadian Lobster arabiata (B1,650). 

The drinks: The drinks reflect the seafood focus, with plenty of white and sparkling wine; the house pour is the Chilean Tamaya Sauvignon Blanc Silver Medal at B300 per glass or B1,500 per bottle. Sparkling starts from Prosecco spumante extra dry at B1,600 per bottle. The seasonal cocktails, too, are designed to go well with raw food, like the Apple Slice (apple cinnamon rum, sake, pineapple, raspberry and vanilla syrup garnished with slice of orange coated cinnamon powder and cinnamon stick, B320) and Red Velvet (tequila, cointreau, mint, pomegranate and lime, B350). Hofbrau is the only beer on tap (B230/280 per 330ml/500ml) but they also have a full list of Brew Dog by the bottle (B250-340).       

Why you’ll come back: The Raw Bar is a pleasant, relatively laidback place to shuck some fresh oyster while downing a bottle of Prosecco.