One of the more popular additions to Bangkok’s Korean dining scene over the past couple of years has been ANJU Korean Rooftop Restaurant & Bar atop the 31st floor of Sindhorn Midtown Hotel Bangkok, Vignette Collection, an IHG Hotel — a regular in BK Magazine’s Top Tables and BAD Awards yearly guides since it opened. 

 

The venue made waves during its opening for its noted K-Pop aesthetic, elevated take on classic Korean food, and fearlessness in dipping from tradition to add a few European or American twists along the way. 

 

The man spearheading that movement so far has been Head Chef YoungDae Shim, who’s brought a wealth of international experience to the hotel’s flagship rooftop restaurant and has firmly found his footing in Bangkok’s dining scene. He’s also become somewhat of a TikTok star for the restaurant's new channel, where chef Shim can be seen doing cooking challenges like making a meal for B100 using only 7-11 ingredients (the video has amassed over 100,000 views already).

 

 

This month, the venue is releasing an all-new slate of a la carte dishes, aiming to continue chef Shim’s goal of “redefining Korean cuisine in Bangkok”. 

 

Inspired by tapas culture and modern Korean bars found in cities like New York, the new dishes emphasize refined flavors and premium ingredients while maintaining a sense of casual conviviality.

 

 

“Korean food is popular here, but there are definitely styles of Korean food that you can’t find in Bangkok,” says chef Shim. “New York is a great example. There are many Korean bars there serving small bites and cool Korean cocktails, so that is one of the twists I was inspired by for the new menu. This isn’t typical barbecue where you have the grill right on the table, which is what a lot of people expect, but here we grill it ourselves.”

 

One of the key features of the updated menu is the use of a high-temperature charcoal oven, one of their fancy new pieces of kitchen tech that the chef says is a “secret weapon” of sorts, which provides a fast, crisp, and smoky sear to the venue’s meat, fish, and vegetables by cooking at extremely high controlled temperatures.

 

 

Among the new offerings, the mala chili garlic chicken stands out as a bold, spice-forward dish. Inspired by Korea’s street food scene, it features biting Sichuan green and red peppers, bringing heat and depth to the crispy, flavorful bites. Another noteworthy addition is the beef oyster blade jeon, a reinterpretation of the traditional Korean pancake that incorporates thinly sliced beef into the batter for a richer, more savory experience. Chef Shim’s approach extends beyond just technique—he also prioritizes ingredient sourcing. While many Korean restaurants in Thailand rely on imported frozen rice cakes for their tteokbokki, ANJU uses fresh, locally made rice cakes produced by a specialized supplier in Thailand. 

 

“Most other restaurants in Bangkok use frozen rice cakes for dishes like this,” says chef Shim. “But ours are locally produced. We were lucky enough to find a local supplier here with their own machine to make them using locally grown Thai rice. They come to use as fresh and can be — sometimes still hot! When you are trying to make an upgraded version of beloved street food from Korea, little details like that matter.” 

 

 

Or take the new beef galbi, for example, which is prepared using a multi-step process that involves marinating, vacuum-sealing, and slow-cooking the short ribs for 14 hours before finishing them in the charcoal oven with a flavorful glaze. This method results in a tender, deeply infused dish reminiscent of traditional Korean celebrations.

 

“This is as close as you can get to the Korean beef bourguignon," Shim laughs. “The slow cooking gives it an incredibly soft texture, and then a quick blast in the oven for smokiness. It’s definitely the number-one signature dish of the restaurant right now.”

 

 

For those seeking comforting flavors, the kimchi fish cake udon soup delivers a balance of fermented spice and umami, while the perilla oil cold soba noodle offers a refreshing combination of house-made buckwheat noodles, hon tsuyu sauce, slow-cooked pork, and a touch of jalapeño for subtle heat.

 

Communal dishes take center stage with the hamachi gamtae ssam, which pairs fresh hamachi with gamtae seaweed, sour kimchi, and jalapeño for a textural contrast. The crispy kanimiso gimbap, featuring nori-wrapped sushi rice with creamy kanimiso and ikura, is complemented by a Sriracha sesame aioli for added complexity. For meat lovers, the sous-vide braised wagyu beef shank is a must-try — a dish that undergoes a slow-cooking process to achieve maximum tenderness before being finished in the charcoal oven for a smoky depth of flavor.

 

 

The dessert selection introduces innovative takes on Korean sweets, such as the cro-boong & croissant ice cream, a fusion of almond croissant, chewy kirimochi, and sweet red bean, served alongside comforting croissant-flavored ice cream. Meanwhile, the to-ba-bing tomato basil bingsoo challenges conventional expectations with a combination of marinated tomato, green apple basil ice cream, olive oil caviar, and melted ANJU Chocolate.

 

To complement the meal, ANJU’s bar program offers creative cocktails that incorporate Korean ingredients. Drinks like the “Hallabong”, inspired by the Jeju citrus fruit, and the “Chogroni”, a Korean twist on the Negroni, add another dimension to the dining experience.

 

 

With its latest menu, ANJU Korean Rooftop Restaurant & Bar solidifies its place in Bangkok’s culinary scene as a destination for modern Korean dining. By blending street food nostalgia with refined techniques and premium ingredients, the restaurant provides a fresh perspective on Korean cuisine while maintaining a sense of authenticity and innovation. 

According to chef Shim, he already has plans for the next menu items, which he thinks are going to lean heavily on the use of beef, which is growing in popularity around Thailand as more farmers commit the time and space to raising cattle. 

 

The new menu is available now. You get a taste for yourself or make a reservation, check out the details below.