BKK Social Club — Restaurant in Yan Nawa Subdistrict

Stayed in Bangkok for 4 nights, and spent 3 of them at BKK Social Club, the only reason is that it is closed on Monday:(

For the last night I was still at Koh Samui at 8.20pm, arrived at Bangkok airport at 9.30pm and got on a taxi at 10:15pm and headed straight to the Social club. I had another international flight back to Melbourne the next morning, but I told my wife that I had to go because I wonder which will come sooner: men set foot on Mars, or I drink another Martini as good as the Social Martini.

Before my visit to Social Club, the best hotel bar in my mind was Park Hyatt Tokyo, where Bill Murray said “For relaxing times, make it Suntory time” then met Scarlett Johansson. It is not any more. So if Sofia Coppola wanted another lost and this time in Bangkok, the Social Club is the place to be. And here’s the line for Mr. Bob-san, “For social times, make it Martini time”.

As a wise man once said, “One martini is all right. Two are too many, and three are not enough”, so I had a total of 8 to 10 (can’t remember exactly how many so just another thing to show how good and solid they are) Martinis during my 3 visits, some of them I had the honor and fun to drink with Philip the bar manager, who is an amazing gentleman with the magic to know what you want better than yourself, and his attention to details is beyond your imagination.

I may have put too many good words on their Martini (I still feel thirsty when I write this review), but their other drinks are also top notch. The Bananazo (an old fashioned twist), Manhattan, Negroni and Pisco Sour are among the best I’ve ever had, let alone their welcome drinks and complimentary snack which you can feel that they really put some thoughts into them rather than just saying we need to have that. I still believe they are somehow under-priced for the quality of drinks you get, the pre-Art Deco atmosphere you dive into, and the one-step-further service you experience.

The Michelin 3-star restaurants mean “exceptional cuisine that is worth a special journey”. By this standard, the Social Club alone is definitely worth a...

When you're listed #1 cocktail bar in Thailand and you're operated by the Four Seasons you have an expectation of excellence in all aspects of the experience, but BKK social is mostly an overhyped bar.

The good:

The venue itself is absolutely beautiful, to the very last detail. I would say it's worth visiting just for that. We had the empanadas as a snack with our cocktails and they were legit.

The neutral:

The bar takes inspiration from Argentina/Buenos Aires, but the music didn't really reflect that. It was kind of all over the place going from slow jazz to house beats.

Service was ok. Started off really great, attentive and as soon as it got a little busy, good luck flagging down someone. It's also obvious that some of the staff work much harder than others. Our waitress was gracious about it but you could tell she was trying to keep up with her tables. She was great

The bad: Cocktails. I don't get it. We go to cocktail bars often and went to 4-5 across Bangkok before coming here and BKK was second worst. We tried light, spirit forward, complex, acidic and they were at best ok. Also I get having presentation of cocktails and a visual aesthetic, but what's with a massive ice cube sticking out of the glass making it super awkward to drink?

BKK feels like the venue was at the forefront and the cocktails like an afterthought.

Go for the venue, but don't expect much on the cocktail scene.

Best thing I got at BKK social club was a recommendation for a really good cocktail bar.

If you're in the neighborhood, 10 min walk is Ray Cocktail and Bite. It was empty at midnight, but cocktail redemption! You want to try the actual best cocktail bar in Bangkok from venue to music to atmosphere to cocktails? Opium...

An opulently stylish bar with an interesting choice of cocktails, besides its obvious comprehensive bar design and drinks list. Ambience is spot on and is perfect for any hedonistic pursuits - whether for celebration, a date, solo or any gathering on an elevated note.

The complimentary crisps is a nice touch and served to pair nicely with the drinks. However, the drinks were good but nothing to wow for really; which is below my expectation for such place - especially resting on the fact that this bar is listed as one of the world's best 50 bar. My friend and I both enjoyed two drinks each to ourselves. While the drinks were enjoyable for the both of us, there was nothing worthy of memory from any of them. The latter reaction remains the same for the small bites, which was the fries we ordered - plain and simple but enjoyable enough to carry us through the night. The sauce was superb! Of course, the drinks and the food are worth a try despite my high expectation for places that charges a Four Seasons price tag.

Service was delivered with warmth and smiles, but I feel the attentiveness is lacking as I had to signal quite multiple times.

The ambience at this bar is an understandable quality that earn its title in the world's top 50 bars; but, beyond the aesthetic appeal the drinks could do a little more wow (or maybe I might've ordered the wrong stuff...) A room for improvement for sure would be the service attentiveness. Enjoyable place overall. Would love to revisit on a more...