The FARANG Speaks 2 Much (tfs2m)

Thailand is renowned for its amazing diversity in bars, women and food. From time to time I crave some real urban eats, an urban setting and a feeling of escapism. So the other night I set out looking for new experiences but as typically happens when I go walking around in Bangkok I missed the place I was looking for but decided to try a place I have passed by many times. Other interesting things happened later but I will save that for another post but as I continue the quest, I find that when I am not looking I happen upon something unexpected.

I took a cab to Soi 23 and decided to walk around a bit in search of the Outer Room. I had been hearing interesting things about the place as a loungy bar with some interesting DJs spinning jazz, latin, raregroove and house. Since the place is on a mini-Japan street it tends to attract a Japanese crowd which usually means the spinning is something different. Anyway - it was a Sunday night and since the place was not busy I actually walked right by without seeing it. Then I continued to walk around from Sukhumvit 23 to Suk 31 and happened by Alex’s Restaurant and Bar. The place looked cool so we decided to have a drink and check out the menu.

Alex’s reminds me of being in Melbourne - one of my favorite cities for lounge bars, good eats and funky backstreet clubs. One of the best bars in Melbourne is the Gin Palace on Little Collins St. The booths with the curtains came in handy. What I like about Melbourne joints is the simplicity in design, the inventiveness of food/drink and the chill out factor all rolled into one. Stopping into Alex’s was like being transported to a nice side street eatery in Melbourne but in downtown Bangkok. Due to its location on Suk soi 31 I am sure they don’t get a lot of walk by traffic but they seem to have built up a nice regular following.

We sat at the bar and checked out the extensive cocktail menu and snack menu. Being Bangkok these were not the cheapest eats or drinks but they are not so over the top to make you feel like you are getting taken to the cleaners. The cocktails were between 200-300 baht but were all made with quality booze and generous pours. What I was impressed with was the originality of some of the drinks combining alcohol with some local fruits or stuff like ginger. I had the Canadian Mule and also tried the Candy Apple Martini - both of which were quite good and different from the normal cocktail menu selection. It looks like they also make a point of having 1 or 2 special cocktails each day.

The food menu had some of the typical surf and turf options but also had a lot of daily specials and a 3 course tasting menu that looked pretty interesting. We opted for some items from the tapas menu which was a bunch of smaller but unusual dishes. I tried the polenta bites, the mango shrimp salad and then we shared one of the Australian ribeye steaks. All the food was pretty amazing with the presentation, the mixture of flavors and the fresh ingredients. The flatbreads with the pesto dips were a nice touch as well.

We chilled and ate at the bar so I could chat with Alex a bit and just look out over the place. I like places where one can eat at the bar because it provides a nice way to chat with a bartender or manager while having a nice dinner. Alex was saying they plan on turning the top floor into more of a lounge bar versus its current usage as second floor seating and a place for the occasional live band. Seems the direction is to have the restaurant downstairs and the lounge bar upstairs. I think it could work but will have to see how it turns out. There may even be a separate name for the bar versus the restaurant.

All in all I had a great time at Alex’s with the food, the cocktail selection, and the top notch service. Alex gave us some of their homemade ice cream for dessert to finish off the affair. Their wine selection also looks pretty extensive as well. I left Alex’s stuffed, buzzed, contented and headed for Cowboy. I will explain why later. So if you are in the mood for a nice dining experience then swing by and try Alex’s for something a little different.

Back to the regularly scheduled programming…