The buzz: While Pandanus, the restaurant is all about big open white spaces, the “bar bistro” hidden upstairs has a much warmer, darker, more urban feel. Rub shoulders with Sathorn’s moneyed expats while sipping martinis with far-fetched names and flavors.
The décor: A tree stump crawling with orchids, floral motifs painted on walls and columns, cutouts on the bar releasing colored light, coral lamps, a bed section to eat and drink like a Roman—there’s a lot going on for a single bar. And yet Pandanus maintains a cohesion,character, and even a certain edginess.
Music: Six DJs rotate throughout the week, from 9pm onwards. They kick it off pretty chilled and progress to house later in the night. The same DJ, an ex from the Met, does Fri and Sat.
The crowd: 90% foreign and mostly from the neighborhood, which means high-income expats. Since the place is new, people are not coming from very far—yet. Busy by 10:30pm.
The bill: There’s real effort put into the drinks list. Cocktails are more or less organized by strength and, as several of the partners work for airlines, placed under jet-setting headlines, from Take-Off to Emergency Exit (B150-210). There's also wine (B850-950), beer (B100-160) and Nicolas Feuillate Brut (a little known but excellent Champagne, B3,900 or B5,200 for the Reserve Particuliere).
Why you’ll come back: If this is your crowd, Pandanus manages to score high on just about everything: décor, music and drinks. It’s the closest you’ll get to New York without leaving town.