Tint Bike

It was only a matter of time before Bangkok’s bike obsession met with the craze for personalization. The latest specialist bicycle shop offers classic road bikes that customers can specify in a whole range of color combos for frame, tires and rims. The standard Tint Bicycle Signature features a lightweight Hi-Ten steel (11kg) frame and starts from a really reasonable (the bikes are made right here) B7,500, or B8,500 if you want drop handlebars. On top of that, you’ll be paying B450 for a stainless-steel fender or B790 to choose from 22 single or dual powder coat colors. There’s also a bunch of accessories to personalize your ride even further. If you’re lucky and only have basic requirements, expect your bike to be ready within an hour, but they’ll need a day or two for fancier orders. Online purchases can be done through Facebook or website with products delivered within a week.

 

Garage Records Shop

Garage Records has been one of Bangkok’s most reliable vinyl purveyors since it launched as an online shop a couple of years ago. Now it's expanded into a proper shop, welcoming crate-diggers to Ladprao Soi 8. Despite the tiny space, it’s packed with rare finds from the store's specialty genre, ‘80s-‘90s alternative rock, including both used and new stock imported shipped from Japan, the UK and Germany. The space feels kind of like a cafe, too, making it easy to sit and browse. Highlights we found include Weezer’s Pinkerton, The Cure’s Disintegration, Sonic Youth's Goo and the Pulp Fiction soundtrack. Prices are pretty varied from B300-400 up to over 4,000.

Organic Supply (Facebook)

Jirafu

Ladprao is the latest hood to welcome a new after-work izakaya. Jirafu, which refers to the Japanese pronunciation of giraffe, is set in a two-story warehouse decked out with lots of raw concrete. Boasting more than 30 Japanese beers (including hipster favorite Hitachino, priced from B120-B600), the restaurant’s food menu is made for drinking; try the Jirafu Yaki Mori (B450), which comprises grilled chicken, shiitake mushroom and sherry tomatoes. There’s also plenty of sashimi, sushi rolls and donburi with highlights like the wagyu hotate roll with stuffed Hokkaido scallop and miso saikyo spicy sauce (B560) and the spider crab salad (B260), deep-fried softshell crab and ebiko.

The Mud 26

A little like Ari's famed Summer Street, here every table comes with a tabletop charcoal brazier so you can grill your own fresh seafood amid an American barn-style setting. The highlight is the XL Sea Platter (B999), comprising a 30cm-long giant squid tentacle, Japanese scallops and freshwater prawns. Finish your meal with a classic campfire dessert of s’mores (chocolate and toasted marshmallow between crackers, B80).