Thonglor rooftop bar, Gir, known for its juxtaposition of cave-like interiors and cosmopolitan setting, has created a series of cocktails inspired by various cities across the globe. And no, this is not some cop-out menu featuring Moscow mules and Singapore slings, they are going for something deeper here and a few of the references will fly over the heads of less-traveled drinkers. 

 

“90-percent of the cities in this line-up are places that the team have personally visited,” said Throntan “Pae” Siriwittayacharoen, the bar’s F&B director. “If we haven’t been there, we’ve done extensive research to capture its essence.”

 

Some of the drinks don’t bear the flag of a single city, but rather the urban life of entire countries. Take the “Naver Map Only”, a drink representing Korean cities, where the bar team took a page from classic Korean barbecue cookbooks, recreating flavors of smoked ham, kimchi, pickled radish and infusing it with white spirit (a staple on the Korean party scene). 

 

“The name is a popular navigation app that locals prefer to use over Google Maps,” explained Pae.

 

Similarly the “Texas Flood” cocktail is a reference to the Stevie Ray Vaughan song of the same name and follows a flavor profile you will find in cities across the U.S. state: smoky barbecue.  

 

“We want to showcase how Texans consume and prepare their meat,” said Pae. “So we recreated the flavors of slow-cooked smoked barbeque, taking beef jerky and distilling it with Texas bourbon and mixing it with some cherry heering.”

 

But Gir doesn't only go for obvious references. The “Ho Chi Minh Pizza” pays homage to Pizza Four P franchises that dominate the streets of Vietnam. 

 

“There’s always a queue, even early in the morning!” said Pae, speaking of the chain’s popularity.

 

The menu will only be available for three-to-six months, said Pae. This Nov 22 from 8pm-late, Gir will also welcome Atsushi Suzuki, a mixologist and founder of The Bellwood Tokyo, which has made both the World’s 50 Best and Asia’s 50 Best bar lists. In line with Gir’s current drink theme, Suzuki will attempt to translate the idea of a kaiseki dinner through his cocktail menu—main course, side vegetables, desserts, the whole sha-bang.