Thailand Trip 2014: Where to Drink in Bangkok

In my last two Thailand posts, I shared some general observations about visiting Thailand and documented the best things we ate. We also did a fair amount of imbibing throughout our honeymoon (duh, we were on vacation) but after we left Bangkok, our options were significantly more limited. That's why I'm going to share our favorite places to drink in Bangkok... and add that if you're anywhere else in Thailand, hope you like Chang!

Mikkeller Bangkok

Doug and I visited Mikkeller's San Francisco location last summer, so when Doug realized that they also have a location in Bangkok in addition to their flagship locations in Denmark, it was a given that we would visit. (I'll also again recommend that you read this NYT Magazine piece about the founder of Mikkeller and his twin brother who owns another of our favorite breweries, Evil Twin Brewing.)

Let me tell you, Mikkeller Bangkok is not easy to find. If it hadn't been for this guy's very helpful blog post, a readiness to walk down lots of dark residential alleys, and the promise of air conditioning on a 90°F night, we never would have found this place.

I can only imagine what it must be like to come to Mikkeller when you've been in Bangkok for longer than two days (like we had been). It was like a little slice of hipster USA.

There were 30 taps featuring house brews and guest taps and between the two of us, we ended up trying a good amount of their selection. Mikkeller brews just a handful of their own beers in Bangkok: a pilsner, a brown, a pale, and a wit. The best was their Sukhum' Wit. It was a good balance of sweet and light, perfect after our long, humid trek out to the tap room.

However, the best and most unique offering was from Danish brewery To Øl. The chalkboard in the bar called the beer "Split N' Lick" Oreo Imperial Stout and after a bit of research (yay wifi!), we concluded it was the Goliat Imperial Coffee Stout that was being poured through a randall of Oreos. This heavy dark beer exploded with sweet, chocolately coffee flavors and was so, so good. Any Portland breweries want to attempt to recreate this? Cuz we'll be there ASAP.

Khao San Road

A couple of years ago I had a gig writing hotel blurbs for Travel + Leisure. One of the cities I covered was Thailand (go figure) and I distinctly remember writing about a backpacker-friendly B&B in the Khao San district. I remember thinking that it sounded like a really cool area, if not a little sketchy. I don't know why then, when Doug and I were actually in Thailand, that it didn't come across my mind that we should check out Khao San Road until our last night in Bangkok.

I can't believe we almost missed this place! What started in the 80s as a street that housed a few cheap guesthouses for backpackers has turned into a bustling neighborhood with bars, cafes, massage parlors, and food and clothing stands every few feet- and lots of lots of tourists.

Khao San Road proper was just crazy- basically Thailand's version of the Las Vegas Strip with way less fancy hotels and and way more dive bars, some with signs like this:

We much preferred Soi Rambuttri, a horseshoe-shaped street that runs parallel to Khao San Road. It's a little quieter and has lots of bars with tables that face out to the street so you can enjoy your drinks while people-watching.

Soi Rambuttri is also where we found this fun little VW bus-turned-bar (apparently a popular thing to do in Thailand, as we would come to find out) which featured cheap cocktails and it's very own chihuahua.

Cheap Charlie's on Sukhumvit Soi 11

Soi 11 is like Khao San's much tamer, more refined little brother. The street is a favorite of expats with some tourists and locals thrown into the mix too and it's super easy to get to as it's just a block or so down from the Nana BTS stop.

There are lots of little bars and clubs nestled along the road but our hands-down favorite was Cheap Charlie's. Cheap Charlie's is a cozy little shack of a bar with a few bistro tables and stools scattered around its perimeter. It's been open for almost twenty years now and the drink prices certainly reflect its name. We're talking 60 baht ($1.80) for a Chang and 70 baht ($2.15) for a vodka soda.

Charlie's doesn't serve any food but there are lots of street food options on Soi 11, including stands selling delicious pork satay, boat noodles, and pad see ew. 

Octave Rooftop Lounge and Bar at Bangkok Marriott Hotel Sukhumvit

Bangkok is known for its bevy of opulent rooftop bars whose prices tend to hover more around US prices than Thai prices. We knew we wanted a fancy night out, but also didn't want to blow our whole daily budget on a round a drinks. 

After doing some research, I came across Octave Rooftop Lounge and Bar at Bangkok Marriott Hotel Sukhumvit. With its great happy hour specials and panoramic views of the city, it seemed like the perfect choice.

Happy hour is from 5-7pm and includes 2-for-1 drinks. That meant that Doug and I had to get the same cocktail, but that was a small price to pay.

We started out with two Thai Mojitos (350 baht or $10.75) made with Thai rum, lime juice, mango, and Thai basil.

For our second round we tried the Shining Sun (375 baht or $11.50) made with pisco, tamarind, pomelo and lime shrub, mango, pineapple, and a dash of absinthe.

These were the best cocktails we had in Thailand and while they were definitely on the pricey side compared to most spots we had been frequenting, the views from the bar were worth it.

That's it for my Thailand recaps! Whether or not I actually get to one about Kuala Lumpur remains to be seen... but don't you want to know all about a Malaysian speakeasy, the most delicious iced coffee/tea hybrid, and Doug's near-death experience? Okay, fine. I'll work on it.

Bay Area Weekend Highlights: Cream, The Trappist, Bi-Rite Creamery, Mikkeller Bar, and Mission Chinese Food

Two weekends ago, Doug and I flew to the Bay Area for the San Francisco Rock n Roll Half Marathon. It was our third half marathon but definitely more challenging than the Portland or Seattle halfs we had run previously thanks to all those SF hills. Of course, we rewarded ourselves for our efforts with lots and lots of good food and drinks. Here are some of our favorite stops from our trip: 

What: Cream
Where: 440 University Ave, Palo Alto, CA
Honeys Heart: Ice cream sandwiches

Lauren and Kyle graciously played host to us for the weekend. After a tasty dinner at Tacolicious in Palo Alto on Friday night, Lauren suggested we get some dessert at Cream, a custom ice cream sandwich shop.

Cream offers a menu of 20 ice cream flavors and 10 cookie options. You can pick two different cookie flavors for your ice cream sandwich, or you can diverge from the ice cream sandwich thing and get a milkshake, malt, float, or just plain ice cream or a cookie.

We all agreed that these messy, melty sugar bombs were quite delicious but very filling.

What: The Trappist
Where: 460 8th St, Oakland, CA
Honeys Heart: Mikkeller's Spontaneous Series on tap 

Lauren, Sarah, Doug, and I headed to Oakland to watch the Mariner's beat the A's (yeah, that win was unexpected) on Saturday afternoon before moving on to The Trappist, a Belgian beer bar in the Old Oakland neighborhood. 

The Trappist has over 20 beers on tap as well as several bottles and some food offerings. Lauren and I both sampled some beers from Mikkeller's Spontaneous Series. The series features oak-aged lambic beers with various fruit additions. Lauren opted for the Mikkeller Spontanpeach while I chose the Mikkeller Spontancassis. Both were very good and, as we would find out the next day, a very good deal considering the price of Mikkeller bottles.We also liked the nice little patio out back.

What: Bi-Rite Creamery
Where: 3692 18th St, San Francisco, CA
Honeys Heart: Ricanelas ice cream (cinnamon with snickerdoodles)

After a two-hour drive back over the Bay Bridge (yep, you read that right... so much traffic), we were more than ready for dinner. We did some carbo-loading at Zero Zero before making a quick stop for dessert at Bi-Rite before heading back to Palo Alto.

Bi-Rite makes all their ice cream, soft serve, and baked goods by hand in small batches using local, organic ingredients.

I opted for their take on salted caramel (it had a much darker caramel flavor than any salted caramel ice cream I've had before) and ricanelas (cinnamon with snickerdoodles). The ricanelas was so, so good as was Doug's pick of malted vanilla with peanut brittle and milk chocolate pieces. Plus, while I'll give it to Salt & Straw that their line does move relatively fast, Bi-Rite really has their ish together. We breezed though their block-long line in under 10 minutes.

What: Mikkeller Bar
Where: 34 Mason St, San Francisco, CA
Honeys Heart: Um, everything

Doug did quite a bit of research before our trip and was adamant that we stop by Mikkeller Bar after the half despite the less than ideal parking situation. Maybe we were all still feeling the affects of those running endorphins, but seriously, all the beers that we tried here were excellent. Every single one.

Mikkeller obviously puts a lot of care into the selection of their beers and the way they serve them too. The menu is divided by what temperature the beer is served at: 40^o, 45^o or 55^o.

Some group favorites included Siren/Mikkeller/Hill Farmstead Limoncello (tart Imperial IPA), Mikkeller/Prairie American Style (American IPA w/ Brett), AleSmith Speedway Stout, and Tahoe Mountain Double Burgundy (farmhouse with black currents).

One caveat: we found out the hard way that the Mikkeller Spontaneous Series bottles on the menu are only 11oz (maybe the menu mentioned that, but we didn't notice)- so yes, that $25 price tag is a bit exorbitant, though Lauren's Mikkeller Spontanmandarin was really good. 

(Also, you should definitely read this NYT Magazine piece about the founder of Mikkeller and his twin brother who owns another of our favorite breweries, Evil Twin Brewing. Interesting stuff!) 

What: Mission Chinese Food
Where: 2234 Mission St, San Francisco, CA
Honeys Heart: Pork Jowl and Dumplings

After finishing our beers at Mikkeller, Sarah, Doug, Lauren, Kyle, and I all wanted to grab dinner in the city before Doug and I had to catch our flight back to Portland. After much deliberation, we reluctantly decided to head to the Mission for burritos (Lauren was hoping to take us somewhere with a little more hip factor). But, as luck would have it, we happened to pass by Mission Chinese Food on our way to burritos and saw that there was no line and no one on the waitlist. Whaaaat??? Usually Mission Chinese has a 1-2 hour wait so this was a big deal. Obviously burritos were no longer happening.

Some quick online research gave us an idea of what to order. Here are our favorite dishes from most-loved to liked-a-lot.

Stir-fired Pork Jowl with crunchy radish, radish greens, chicharrones, and shiso.The radish greens were my favorite part of this dish as they soaked up all the delicious sauce and were super tangy and flavorful.

Grandma's Pork Dumplings with pea tendrils, garlic chives and ham broth. A very simple dish executed to perfection.

Squid Ink Noodles with something or other (sorry, the online menu doesn't have a description of these).

Tea-Smoked Eel with fresh rice noodles, chinese celery, salted plum hoisin, braised pork, and cognac soy.

Ma Po Tofu with braised shiitakes, aged chili paste, sichuan peppers, and scallions. This was incredibly spicy. Perfect for Lauren, but the rest of us stayed away.


Thanks Lauren, Kyle, and Sarah for a great weekend! We'll be back soon!