It must be all the Japanese investment. One of Bangkok's late-night izakaya favorites, the Osaka-hailing Shakariki 432 (165/133 Moo 10, Surasak, 038-312-049, www.shakariki432.com), has opened a branch in Sriracha

The new spot boasts the same warm, down-to-earth ambience as its Bangkok counterpart, with plain wooden tables and walls filled with laminated printouts of their food. Their food is the same, too, with decently priced dishes such as curry katsu udon (deep-fried beef intestine udon with curry soup, B230) and okonomiyaki (Japanese-style pizza, B230)—not to mention its hilariously inappropriate dessert known as Men's Parfait. The best news? They're open till 3am, which means no more midnight McDonald's runs. 

The restaurant opens in the same complex as another recent Bangkok arrival, pizza specialists Peppina. Now Sriracha just needs a couple burger trucks and we promise to do a full travel story about it.