Region: Bangkok And Surrounds> Province: Bangkok> Location: Bangkok » Bangrak

Silom & surrounds

The Silom area, serviced by the BTS stops at Sala Daeng and Chong Nonsi and the Silom subway stop, is both a busy financial district and a popular tourist destination. Probably as close to a CBD as Bangkok gets, many of the restaurants in the area cater to the office crowd, but there are plenty of excellent bars and restaurants, particularly along Silom's low-numbered sois: Sala Daeng, Convent, Soi 4, Patpong, and Soi Thaniya, which cumulatively contain a concentration of dining and nightlife options that rivals Sukhumvit.

Thai
Silom has some great, inexpensive Thai food. The Ba Mee Stand, on the corner of Convent and Silom, across from California WOW is the first of a line of Thai food stalls. While all serve arguably great, really inexpensive food, the noodles with spicy pork (ba mee mu daeng) at the first cart is worth trying out. Hover near the card tables beside the "kitchen" and look expectantly at a waitress and she will find you some seats. Just down Soi Convent, Som Tam Convent, a bustling, no-frills place just opposite Starbucks is famous for its delicious barbecued chicken with som tam and sticky rice, accompanied by several tasty sauces. Not much English spoken, as it mainly caters for Thais who really love good food, but service is attentive and prompt. Their great standard meal (just point) will set you back 86 baht, including water. Get your hot and spicy fix at North East Thai Restaurant with delicious and extremely well-priced dishes from Isaan, Thailand's north-eastern region served by friendly staff. It has a meat-heavy menu, as with most north-eastern places. The atmosphere is bright and cheerful but not a spot to linger. Finally, for a leisurely lunchtime break check out Jim Thompson's Farmers Market, a small, leafy house-restaurant does very good international and Thai food but the kitchen can't handle the lunch-time rush. If you're not in a hurry this is a fine choice, with good desserts and coffee worth lingering over.

To the south of Silom, down on Charoen Krung Road, which once boasted a tram-line, but is now home to chronic bad traffic there are several options to choose from. Packed with top-class hotels and pricey restaurants to match, it's also home to the occasional cheapie. A great area to wander and graze on street food. Harmonique is very popular with travellers and tourists due to its proximity to big hotels, charming setting and reasonable prices. The service, alas is dreadful, but if you're in the area, it's still worth a try -- the seafood is great. At the very end of Charoen Krung Road -- a 15-20 minute cab drive from Silom Road – is the sprawling riverside Good View, which has a festive atmosphere with live Thai bands churning out the usual covers. It's a great spot to meet up with a crowd of people but be sure to book in advance if you want a table near the water. Often packed, the friendly staff still manages to provide great service. Excellent selection of Thai food, though be sure to check the bill as mistakes occasionally happen here.

Ba Mee Stand: corner of Convent and Silom, across from California WOW. Open Tues-Sun 17:00 – 23:00.
Harmonique: 22 Charoen Krung Rd Soi 34, Bangkok. T: (02) 630 6270. Open Mon-Sat 11:00-22:00.
Jim Thompson's Farmers Market: 120/1 Sala Daeng Soi 1, Bangkok. T: (02) 266 9167. Open daily 11:00 – 23:00. www.jimthompson.com/restaurants.asp
North East Thai Restaurant: 1010/12-15 Rama IV Rd, Bangkok. T: (02) 633 8947. Open daily 11:00-17:00.
Som Tam Convent: 2/4 – 5 Convent Rd, Bangkok. T: (02) 631 0216. Open Mon-Sat 10:00 – 21:00.
The Good View: 2525 Charoen Krung Rd, Bangkok. T: (02) 689 1393-6. Open daily. www.goodview.co.th/

Western and Indian
Tucked away in the Dusit Thani Hotel, Hamilton's, a small, 1920s-themed steakhouse offers a fine-dining alternative to the more raucous pubs, and their red-meat offerings are superior too. The service is impeccable but the steaks aren't as great as the prices suggest they should be.

Eat Me works as both a gallery and a restaurant, with great food served up in an intimate atmosphere. Occasional openings push back the restaurant kick-off time, so do ring ahead. The sticky date pudding comes highly recommended. Indigo, tucked away on a small soi off Convent, is a charming bar and French restaurant laid out in a renovated old-style house with a leafy garden and dining area. A nice spot for a drink but the food gets mixed reviews and is a little overpriced. Further down Convent, Himali Cha Cha was founded by the chef to Indian Ambassadors for 20 years and is now run by his son at this one of three locations around the city. Both the atmosphere and the cuisine is authentically Indian, and worth a mean for any aficionado of North Indian, vegetarian, and Halal foods.

Half way down Soi Sala Daeng is Zanotti, one of Bangkok's finest Italian restaurants. Their comprehensive menu includes some excellent pasta and meat dishes and wonderful desserts. It's not cheap, but try their lunch set menu for a bargain. Service is top-notch. If making a reservation, be sure to ask for a window spot.

The area has two decent Mexican restaurants to try. The most recent addition is Coyote, which has made a great reputation for itself by giving away free margaritas to women on their bi-weekly ladies nights -- Wednesday and Saturday -- in addition to their buy-one-get-one daily happy hour. They boast over 75 margaritas, and honestly need to give some away for free, as a few of the concoctions taste awful. As for the food, it's a bit pricy and hardly authentic, but you may need some greasy tortillas to help soak up all the booze in its fun party atmosphere. On the corner of Patpong and Silom, Patty's Fiesta has been serving decent Mexican fare for over a decade -- certainly the location doesn't hurt, but the food is quite good and they have several good tequilas on the shelf.

Coyote: Sivadon building, 1/2 Convent Rd, Bangkok. T: (02) 631 2325. Open Daily 11:00 – 01:00
Eat Me Art Restaurant: Soi Pipat off Convent Rd, Bangkok. T: (02) 238 0931. Open daily 15:00-01:00
Hamilton's: Dusit Thani Hotel, Rama IV Rd, Bangkok. T (02) 236 0450. Open daily Sat – Sun / 11: 30 – 14:30 / 18:30 – 22:30 Mon – Fri
Himali Cha Cha: Soi Convent, Bangkok. T: (02) 238 1478. Open daily 11:00 – 15:30 / 18:00 – 22:30
Indigo: 6 Convent Rd, Bangkok. T: (02) 235 3268. Open daily 11:00-15:00 /18:00 – 24:00
Patty's Fiesta: 109-111 Corner of Patpong Soi 1 and Silom Rds, Bangkok. T: (02) 632 8961. Open daily: 10:00-01:00.
Zanotti: 21/2 Soi Sala Daeng, Bangkok. T: (02) 636 0002. Open daily 11:30-14:00/ 18:00-22:30. www.zanoti-ristorante.com

Food with a view
If you are looking to drop some serious baht and perhaps don the tailored clothes you recently purchased, try some of Silom's more hi-so dining establishments, unsurprisingly located far above the city's skyline. Sirocco is the 64-storey State Tower's crowning glory -- an open-air restaurant perched on top of the building with absolutely breathtaking views of Bangkok. The circular bar is set on a slight outcropping, seemingly floating in mid-air. If you're brave, slide around to the far side where the only thing between you and 200 metres of nothing is a metre-high glass divider and some tattered, flimsy nets. The food is mainly scrumptious Mediterranean food, with generously-sized starters from 350B and main dishes from 700B. The wine list is extensive -- how about a bottle of Chateau Petrus 1990 for 122,000B? -- and the service is top notch. A talented jazz band provides ambiance but can be a touch loud for intimate conversations. If you're not hungry or the food is beyond your budget, at least pop in here for a drink and the views to kick off or polish off a night out.

Once you've enjoyed the atmosphere at the bar, pop inside to Distil, which has cosy leather seats and sofas where you can splurge on sushi or oysters while sipping cocktails by one of the most competent Thai mixologist staffs in Bangkok. There's even an outdoor lounge with less of a view than Sirocco, but with sofas to chill out on. For a more intimate dining experience with a similar outdoor atmosphere, try Breeze, the Asian/seafood restaurant on the 52nd floor.

Finally, V9, one of Bangkok's few wine bars -- although it's a restaurant as well –- offers more outstanding views of the city. The selection of wines is excellent: taste their special "flights" or choose a bottle from the bins at the entrance. It's not the bargain it used to be, but still represents a decent deal.

Breeze: 1055 Silom Rd 52nd floor State Tower, Bangkok. T: (02) 624 9555. Open daily 18:;00 - 01:00.
Distil: 1055 Silom Rd 64th floor State Tower, Bangkok. T: (02) 624 9555. Open daily 18:00 – 01:00.
Sirocco: 1055 Silom Rd 64th floor State Tower, Bangkok. T: (02) 624 9555. Open daily 18:00 – 01:00. www.thedomebkk.com
V9: 59th floor, Sofitel Hotel, 188 Silom Rd, Bangkok. T: (02) 238 1991. Open daily 17:00-01:30. www.sofitel.com/asia

Pubs
First comes the Irish Xchange on Soi Convent. Once Delaney's, then Shenanigans, and now the Irish Exchange: this ever name-changing pub still attracts a loyal following swapping baht for overpriced pints. The Friday buffet lunch, however, is a good deal. It's very popular with office workers and resident money-making expats and they even feature live Irish music several times a week. O'Rileys, on the corner of Silom and Soi Thaniya -- aka Japanese Patpong -- is big and boisterous, and serves up reasonable pub grub. A mixed Thai and western crowd keep things lively, but the restaurant upstairs offers a quieter retreat.

About halfway down Soi Thaniya is the Barbican, set amidst the Japanese-only bars and restaurants that line most of this soi. Enjoy the unavoidable screeching hostesses, most of whom are more fluent in Japanese than English, until you escape into the Barbican, where you may be equally accosted by stodgy, tightly wound, middle aged British expats. Regardless, it has some of the most professional and welcoming staff in Bangkok and a reasonable international menu -- great salads -- and a separate upstairs dining area.

Just around the corner from the west end of Silom is the three story Roadhouse BBQ. On draft they have one of the only ales brewed in Thailand. Try a pint then stick to the multitude of happy hour and specials that make bottled beers so much more reasonably priced. Sidle up to the third floor games-room, which includes two foosball tables, a dart board, pool tables, and shuffleboard, and order a plate of their tasty, authentic spicy buffalo wings.

Barbican: 9/4-5 Soi Thaniya, Bangkok. T: (02) 234 3590. Open daily 11:00-01:00.
Irish Xchange: 1/5-6 Convent Rd, Bangkok. T: (02) 266 7160. Open daily 9:00- 01:00.
O'Reillys Irish Pub: 62/1-4 Silom Rd, Bangkok. T: (02) 632 7515. Open daily 10:00-01:00.
Roadhouse BBQ: 942/1- 4 Rama 4 Rd, Bangkok. T: (02) 236 8010-1. Open daily 11:00 - 01:00. www.roadhousebarbecue.com

Bars
If you are still in the mood to party, the area around Silom is zoned as an entertainment district and is allowed to stay open later than other parts of the city –- many stay open until 3am. Consequently, things don't get really started until around 10pm.

Kick off your night on Silom Soi 4 where the diversity of clubs makes for a great spot for a night out. While this was once the gay soi of Silom it now attracts a mixed crowd on the prowl for clubs, bars and restaurants, though a few establishments still draw a predominately gay clientele, including Balcony Bar and Telephone, located directly opposite one another. Straight or gay, a great way to start you Soi 4 experience is with people watching and cheap drinks at the long-running Balcony Bar, where you'll be served by chatty staff wearing brightly coloured shirts with their names emblazoned on them, indicative of their flamboyant demeanour. There's an upstairs area if the crowds bother you but the sidewalk is a great people watching spot, attracting a mix of regulars and tourists.

At the far end of the soi is Noriega's, which draws a mixed crowd, attracted here by the promise of good live music, though that's only delivered some of the time. Still, they mix it up, with high school punk bands, accomplished Blues musicians, and a great vinyl collection. Generally dead till about 10pm, it's worth a swing by if the music's good or if you want to hear stories about the neighbourhood from proprietor Frank, who's often hanging around the bar.

In addition to a couple of other dance clubs on the soi, which tend to change their names regularly, but host the occasional event-oriented party night, there is the long running Tapas, which attracts a loyal crowd of repeat Thai and international customers. Good tunes and funky interior downstairs, though there is occasional fee, which covers one drink. While many places in the city have come and go, Tapas is again one of the hippest clubs in the city although it gets a bit too packed later on in the wee hours of the night.

Even Patpong itself has a couple of nightspots worthy of mention (other than the ubiquitous sleazy sex-show clubs.) Home to Bangkok's infamous red-light district along with some good eateries, bars and clubs it's quite sleepy during the day, but when night falls it becomes a heaving mass of shopping and sex. Some love it, some loathe it, but you really shouldn't leave town without a stroll down the soi, just watch your wallet; you'll be tempted to buy some super cheap souvenirs and pick-pockets will be tempted by you. If you're on Patpong around 10pm Radio City has Elvis and Tom Jones impersonators. The Thai showmen appear as aging as the King and the Tiger are, but they each put their heart, and their pelvis, into their nightly shows. Watch out for flying panties! Afterward, move on upstairs to Lucifer, one of Patpong's longest running nightclubs. It's dark, smoky, and filled with laser lights, and is a great place to dance with a mixture of expats, normal Thais, and more than a few ladies of the night. Sinfully fun.

Lastly, if the above is all too down-market, head to the 130 year old Oriental Hotel's Bamboo Bar. The bar features rotating international jazz singers in the colonial style hotel within an exotic jungle environment. Light up a Cuban cigar, have a glass of 30 year old scotch, and discuss the works of Summerset Maugham while listening to arguably the best music in the city.

Balcony Bar: 86-88 Silom Soi 4, Bangkok. T: (02) 234 5891. Open daily 1730 – 02:00. www.balconypub.com
Bamboo Bar: 48 Oriental Avenue, Oriental Hotel, Bangkok. T: (02) 659 9000. Music from 22:00 nightly.
Lucifer: 76 /1-3 Patpong Soi 1, Bangkok. T: (02) 234 6902. Open daily 22:00-3:00.
Noriega's Bar: 106/108 Soi 4, Bangkok. T: (02) 233 2813. Open daily 18:00 – 01:00.
Radio City: 76 /1-3 Patpong Soi 1, Bangkok. T: (02) 266 4567. Open Mon-Sat 18:00-02:00.
Tapas Room Club: 114 /17-18 Silom Soi 4, Bangkok. T: (02) 234 4737, 632 7884. Open daily 20:00 – 03:00.
Telephone Pub: 114/11-13 Silom Soi 4, Bangkok. T: (02) 234 3279. Open daily 18:00 – 01:00. www.telephonepub.com