Tag: View

The Good View Restaurant Bangkok

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Good View is one of the more upscale local Thai restaurants of Bangkok. With live music from Thai bands, open air dining and plenty of beer towers on the go, a trip to Good View in Bangkok makes for a great authentic Thai style restaurant experience – complete with a tranquil, riverside view.

The Good View Riverside Restaurant

The restaurant itself is rather big with a large, wooden floored outdoor area and an indoor bar. The outdoor part of the restaurant at Good View is partially covered by a roof, featuring open views out onto the Chao Phraya river of Bangkok. You can either sit under the shelter of the roof, or on the open air seating lined along the riverside front of the restaurant.

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Enveloped by the wooden seating area underneath the shelter part of the outdoor seating, is a small, natural grassed area with trees and plenty of greenery. Lanterns hang freely throughout the venue, hanging from the tree branches to give an elegant and charming ambience.

The Good View Menu

The Good View riverside restaurant has an extensive menu of Japanese, European, Chinese and traditional Thai dishes. Prices are a little high considering that the food there doesn’t taste much different from cheaper Thai restaurants in Bangkok. However portions are of a generous size and the pleasant environment makes up for it.

Prices start from 150 baht for a standard Thai dish such as Green Curry or Cashew Nut Chicken. Prices increase to 390 baht for steamed mussels in soy sauce and garlic, sushi, fish heads or grilled whole snappers. As Good View is an authentically Thai restaurant, it also has a large choice of sharer dishes in order for you to dine the traditional Thai way.

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Sharers start from 150 baht per dish and include spicy banana blossom and prawn salad, or northeastern Thai-style grilled beef. Another Thai tradition, the beer tower, costs 560 baht per 5 litre tower. Soft drinks start from just 35 baht. Desserts are purely Thai style: Syrup and ice with fruit.

How to get to Good View Bangkok

Good View is located to the very south of Charoen Krung Road. You can ask a taxi driver to take you to the nearest landmark – Charoenkrung Pracharak Hospital – and then keep walking south towards the river from there for about 5 minutes. You can’t miss the restaurant it’s pretty big with a massive car park and signs on the roadside.

Thai-English phonetics are pretty bad, the hospital name is more accurately pronounced like: ‘Rong-pa-ya-baan Ja-roen-grung Bra-cha-rak’… Bit of a mouthful, sorry.

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The indoor bar

Steve Cafe & Cuisine Bangkok

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Off the beaten track and hidden among rickety, wooden plank pathways along the Chao Phraya riverfront, Steve Cafe & cuisine is truly a unique, hidden gem amongst the hustle and bustle of Bangkok. If you’re an expat wanting to try something different in Bangkok, or simply on holiday longing for somewhere a little more adventurous and local, the laid back Steve Cafe may be just what you’re looking for.

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A journey to Steve Cafe

It’s certainly not an easy feat trying to navigate one’s way to Steve Cafe. Balancing your way along the maze of thin, creaky boardwalks; squeezing through drunken, saucy gangs of fishermen getting lairy on Sangsom; and dodging old locals hauling rice sacks on their backs is a mini adventure in itself. (It’s not that bad – I just got REALLY lost. Follow my directions below to avoid the rabble of local drunks)

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Navigating your way to the little riverfront restaurant is all part of the fun of visiting Steve Cafe & Cuisine in Bangkok though. The quaint, little alleyways and energetic atmosphere of these riverside stilt houses represent authentic, local Thai culture perfectly.

The fruits of a successful search

When you arrive at Steve Cafe, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the contrastingly clean and inviting-looking riverfront building tucked away at the end of a winding alley of ramshackle, wooden planks. Greeted by a welcoming sign on the teak wooden doorway, you’ll be asked to remove your shoes and stow them on the homey shoe rack next to the entrance.

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The layout of Steve Cafe is authentically casual, bright and airy: simple white furniture lines the terrace along the river front, while the inside section features cozy sofas and mismatched seating. The basic setting is complimented with the odd charming, subtle decoration such as rambling roses climbing pillars, minimalist Thai temple paintings on the walls, a typical Thai spirit house embellished with offerings of flowers, and random old stuffed toys in hanging cages… wait, wtf? Creepy.

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As for the view at Steve Cafe, the opposite side of the river provides a rather sparsely populated view: void of impressive Bangkok high rises or grand, Thai temples as you might get at other famous restaurants on the Chao Phraya river like Amorosa. When visiting Steve Cafe, expect a more simple, broad riverfront setting – just sit back and appreciate the rare calm of the big city.

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The soft, lapping sounds of the river, along with the decent mix of popular, easy going background tunes from artist’s like Jack Johnson, give Steve Cafe a pleasantly relaxing ambience. Furthermore, despite the humble surrounding landscape, it’s still fun to watch the little boats and ferries go by, and the giant, creepy river fish thrashing around in the water while the locals feed them from the busy neighbouring dock.

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The menu at Steve Cafe

The menu at Steve Cafe is thickly packed with a huge range of both traditional and modern Thai dishes. Typical meals cost between 140 baht and 200 baht for simple dishes like Pad Thai & fresh prawns or Southern style sour soup with lotus stems & tofu; or up to the 400 baht mark for more elegant dishes such as deep fried sea bass with herbs.

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Food is reasonably priced considering the decent portion sizes and quality – dishes are obviously cooked with love at Steve Cafe. You’ll find pretty much any Thai dish you can think of on the menu at Steve Cafe from dry curries, soup curries and sour soups, to veggie dishes, salads and stir fries.

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How to get to Steve Cafe

Steve Cafe is set in a peaceful area, hidden behind a beautiful temple and museum through the local back streets. The best way to get to Steve Cafe is by ferry. You can take the BTS to Saphan Taksin pier, then take the ferry to pier no. 15, Thewet Pier. This should cost about 15 baht depending on which boat you board.

Once at pier 15, walk straight down the road for a couple of hundred metres until you reach a small bridge on the left hand side. Cross the bridge, turn left and follow the road around the u-bend. Just ahead on your left hand side there should be a narrow alleyway – walk down and turn left at the end. This will take you a temple entrance.

Make your way behind the temple until you come to a parking lot with a museum on the right hand side. Just past the museum is a wooden walkway towards the river that leads to Steve Cafe.

Website: www.stevecafeandcuisine.com

Artist’s House Cafe & Art Gallery Bangkok

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The Artist’s house, known locally as Baan Silapin, is a traditional, old Thai canal house hidden amongst the outskirts of Bangkok city. The building itself proves difficult to find amongst the crammed Thai khlongs; this, combined with it’s unacknowledged status in guides and magazines, makes the artist’s house all the more a unique, unspoilt hangout to visit in Bangkok.

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If you’re looking for some authentic Thai entertainment off the beaten track in Bangkok, then the Artist’s House is a must visit.  Once you’ve navigated your way through the quiet local alleys along the river, you won’t be disappointed by this quirky, rustic wooden building. The Artist’s House has something for everyone: daily Thai puppet shows, an art gallery, souvenir & book shop and a beautiful canal side coffee shop.

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Hanging Out At The Artist’s House

The atmosphere of the Artist’s House is perhaps it’s most striking feature. The rickety building shows a unique character  and creative ambience with it’s intricate decorations of cheerful lanterns, hanging plants, overflowing bookshelves and charming works of art. With large, open patio doors overlooking the tranquil canal, visitors can sit and enjoy an iced tea while sitting at the water’s edge, feeding the fish next to the unusual statues.

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 Thai Puppet Shows At The Artist’s House

The building consists of a larger theatre area which leads out to an enclosed back garden, complete with it’s own 600 year old Chedi. This is where guests gather to watch traditional Thai puppet shows in the afternoons. The Artist’s House puppet shows usually start at 2pm, however they are not guaranteed to perform everyday as have been known to be booked at other venues elsewhere around Bangkok city.

Keep walking along the canal boardwalks past the theatre room, and you’ll come across the shop and cafe area of the Artist’s House. Here they have a selection of art and culture books, postcards, Thai masks, jewellery and art prints for sale – this is really useful for buying souvenirs for people back home. Prices are very reasonable and there are some very unique items for sale.

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The Artist’s House Art Gallery

Head up the creaky old stairs from here, and you’ll find a photography & art gallery overlooking the canal. As well as having beautiful pieces of art to admire, it also has beautiful views over the quiet canal houses and ancient Chedi in the garden.

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Once you’ve had time to explore the unique interior of the old house, you can enjoy a peaceful cup of coffee on the seating downstairs or outside on the boardwalk by the river side. The menu is rather modest in choice, however at 25 baht for a cup of coffee and with peaceful surroundings like these, who’s complaining? 

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How to get to the Artist’s House Bangkok

From my own experience, many taxi drivers don’t seem to know any of the nearby landmark’s and main roads nearby the Artist’s House in Bangkok. However, the best way that I have found to get there, is to take the BTS to Talat Phlu station and catch a taxi from there.

If you can’t get anyone to take you to Baan Silapin (which is quite likely, but worth a try), then ask the taxi driver to take you to ‘Jaran Sanitwong Saam’ (written: Charan Sanitwong 3) instead – they should know this road at least. It’s about a 10-15 minute walk from the bottom of this road, so it’s best to try and get him to drive you all the way to the end of Charan Sanitwong 3 road. However if not, you can catch a songtaew to the end of the road for 5 baht.

Once you’ve reached the end of the road you’ll notice what looks like a dead end and a 7/11 store on the right hand side. Keep walking past the 7/11 and you’ll notice a small path which leads to a bridge across a canal. You should be able to see a temple ahead , to the right of the bridge on the other side of the canal – this is Kuhasawan Temple. If you look to the left, you should be able to make out a little red statue up ahead – that’s the Artist’s House.

Now, cross the bridge and walk along the canal walkway to the left – the opposite direction of the temple. Keep walking all the way along, past the little shops along the wooden boardwalk until you get all the way to the end. The locals are very friendly and can point you in the right direction if you get lost.

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Sky Bar at Lebua State Tower Bangkok

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The world famous Sky Bar at Lebua State Tower, featured in the helicopter scene of the popular Hangover 2 movie, is hailed as the highest open air, rooftop bar in the world. It has mixed reviews among Bangkok expats, locals and tourists as being a ridiculously over priced disappointment; So is the Sky Bar in Bangkok really worth a visit? Or is it truly just a scam of a bar feeding off of the famous Hangover 2’s popularity?

An experience in the Bangkok Sky Bar

Enter through the lobby of the Sky Bar Hotel, complete with sparkliness, shininess, man on piano and all the general poshness of a ultimate luxury hotel. After making your way through the dazzling hotel lobby, you will be greeted warmly by what I can only describe as an army of well dressed Butlers who will direct you to the elevators for the 63rd floor.

Once you’ve reached the 63rd floor, you’ll be shown outside to the huge open terrace. Hit by a strong breeze to remind you just exactly how high up you are, you’ll be stricken hard yet again by the marvellous panoramic views of Bangkok. My trip to the Sky Bar was all worth it just for that long, silent walk across the empty terrace and down the wide steps towards the bar, all the while admiring this amazing cityscape view down over Bangkok city.

The Sky Bar in Bangkok is definitely no ordinary rooftop bar.

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There is a large seating area for people dining at the Sky Bar below these steps and terrace. Above the restaurant area, there is a band area on the dome’s terrace which towers above the diners. The bar itself is small and rather crammed with staff serving drinks in the centre and glass walls allowing patrons to admire the views from all sides. The Sky Bar is more of an attraction than an actual rooftop bar per se.

Drinks prices at the Bangkok Sky bar

Drinks are super expensive at the Sky Bar but well worth the money for the experience in my opinion. Just think of the over priced drinks as a kind of entry fee for basically what is now a world famous attraction in Bangkok: The rooftop Sky Bar from Hangover 2 and the highest open air bar in the world!

The cheapest drinks at the Sky Bar are the shots of Tia Maria, Baileys and Amaretto; these cost 280 baht a glass with added 10% tax too. That’s about $9 each. Beers are next up and cost around the 330 baht mark. Soft drinks are surprisingly no cheaper – around 300 baht if I remember rightly.

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They have some nice cocktails that are quite strong as well (for this price, I should think so too) – the Hangovertini is really good with a herby kick and a sprig of rosemary do finish it off. Cocktails cost 520 baht each. Plus tax. Like I said though, it’s worth it! It’s an attraction in it’s self.

Sky Bar Dress Code

I usually hate bars and clubs with dress codes and the Sky Bar in Bangkok has a very strict dress code: No flip flops, no shorts and even no carrier bags if you’re coming after a spot of shopping. However, the Sky Bar is part of an upscale hotel, and what with Hangover 2’s promotion of the Sky bar world wide, it does kind of needs to enforce a dress code to keep out the ‘scruffier’ tourists in order to uphold this reputation.

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How to get to the Sky Bar Bangkok

The Sky Bar is open from 6pm, which is a good time to visit and catch the sunset before it gets even busier. The State Tower is located in Silom on the intersection of the main Silom Road and Charoenkrung Road. The nearest BTS stations are Surasak or Saphan Taksin. It’s about a 10 minute walk up Charoen Krung Road from Saphan Taksin BTS (facing away from the river, walk left up the main road). Alternatively, most taxi drivers will recognise ‘State Tower’ or ‘Sky Bar’.

You can book to stay at the State Tower Hotel here.