First opened in the winter of 2003, Sirocco at The Dome (www.thedomebkk.com/sirocco_home.htm) has generated a lot of buzz from the beginning. The Sirocco roof bar restaurant is pretty breathtaking jutting into the skyline of the city like the deck of a space ship with the entrancing glow of the Sky Bar. When sipping on after-dinner cocktails, Sirocco bar is also one of Bangkok's best live jazz venues, with international performers six nights a week.
On the 52nd floor of State Tower, glass sky-bridge, complete with a majestic viewing gallery of the city below, brings you into Breeze (www.at-bangkok.com/news_breeze_restaurant.php) in dramatic fashion. Breeze Restaurant serves an array of authentic, luxury-class Asian-style seafood and barbecue dishes with the finest seafood imported from all around the world. Balcony edged seats offer guests the opportunity to dine while enjoying vertical views of the city below.
Not quite as elevated (but no less spectacular) is one venue perched at the top of The Oriental Bangkok hotel, where you take a private lift to a long room with the Chao Phraya River on one side, and the glittering city on the other, under the glow from fine chandeliers while black-tied waiters greet you with the perfect blend of friendliness and formality. This is Le Normandie, certainly one of Bangkok's best French restaurants.
Situated adjacent to the BTS station at Surasak, the regal Blue Elephant (www.blueelephant.com/bangkok) restaurant sits in a beautifully renovated building that once was a leading department store and served as the Japanese Military headquarters during WWII. The interior's beautiful decor now exudes an extremely warm charm along with elegant table settings while Thai cultural dancers in traditional dress entertain guests.
Tsunami (www.tsunamibangkok.com), of course, means big wave and an impressive sculpture waveform runs around each section of the expansive restaurant at the JW Marriott, creating an interesting, unique space. The sections are Tsu; traditional Japanese cuisine, dedicated to sushi and sashimi. A bar and lounge and another section called Nami, which is teppanyaki style, is where chefs show their cooking skills in front of patrons. Guests can select from Kobe, Matsuzaka, or Australian beef, seafood or seafood/meat combinations.
Hidden in the middle of busy Bangkok, The Face restaurant and bar (www.facebars.com/en/bangkok/restaurant/) is a large wooden Thai traditional house rendered in the Lanna (northern Thailand) style. The chic ambiance of is complete with Indian and Thai cuisine, a classy bar, pastry shop, and café. It is ideal for a great atmosphere, surrounded by lush vegetation and encapsulated in the grounds of a beautiful residence, where travelers and traders come to eat, drink and talk face to face.
The celebrated Mahanaga (www.mahanaga.com) restaurant offers a blend of classic and modern Thai cuisine, in an elegant setting within a converted colonial house, a cozy cocktail lounge opens up into a lush garden courtyard where you can dine under the stars or in air-conditioned in one of the pavilions alongside the garden.
In London, Met Bar is hottest nighttime haunt west of Ibiza. Now, its newest sister, The Met Bar (www.metropolitan.como.bz/bangkok) Metropolitan Hotel Bangkok, delivers the same for the Asian capital, answering a sophisticated need for privacy and energy in a space reserved for hotel guests and members only. The who's who of Bangkok can be seen here boogying down on Friday night or at the occasional late-night fashion show.
For a more sedate vibe, there is Diplomat Bar (www.at-bangkok.com/restaurant_diplomat_bar.php), an upscale lounge inside the Conrad Hotel, is decorated with silk couches for lounging, features a large bar with premium liquors along with live jazz. The crowd here is made up of the diplomatic corps from nearby embassies as well as well-heeled Thai socialites.
And you can't go wrong at the legendary Bamboo Bar in The Oriental, where you can sip on anything from a tropical Mai Tai or a classic martini in a sophisticated setting Joseph Conrad or Humphrey Bogart would approve of.
Shopping in Bangkok
Thailand is a shopper’s paradise, world famous for it's incredible range of fun and wonderful treasures. It is no wonder that many tourists come to Thailand specifically as a shopping excursion.
Located at the prominent Rachaprasong intersection, Gaysorn (www.gaysorn.com) is Thailand's most exclusive shopping center, specializing in luxury designer brands, with flagship stores of Prada, Gucci, and Louis Vuitton, as well as a selection of Thailand's most innovative designers such as Fly Now, Senada Theory and Kloset Red Carpet.
Across the street from Gaysorn, CentralWorld (www.centralworld.co.th) is the largest lifestyle-shopping complex in Southeast Asia, with an unrivalled mix of products and services at prices that put the fun back into shopping for Thai consumers and tourists. CentralWorld is cleverly divided into zones that make navigating the largest shopping center in Bangkok surprisingly easy. Specialized anchor 'mega-store' include SuperSports , PowerBuy, B2S, Central Food Hall, SB Furniture and Toys 'R' Us .
Continuing on in the heart of Bangkok just down the road from CentralWorld (and accessible by a breezy skywalk) is a strategically located national showpiece.
Siam Paragon (www.siamparagon.co.th) enhances the Thai capital's status as a world-class destination for a supreme shopping and entertainment experience. This newest jewel in Bangkok's shopping district sports an assortment of fine dining, designer boutiques, and Thailand's largest department store. Siam Paragon also boasts the most all-embracing food destination in Asia as well as Siam Ocean World, the biggest aquarium in Asia.
Located a bit down Sukhumvit from the frenetic Siam Square area, The Emporium (www.emporiumthailand.com) is like a glossy magazine come to life. Behold the seven layers of shopper's paradise, where the first three floors are dedicated solely to fashion. Thailand's premier art and design resource, TCDC is located on the sixth floor. Fashionistas, this is your playground.
Speaking of which, Playground! is the latest "inspiration" multi-store in trendy Soi Thong Lo, houses an entire floor of cutting-edge fashion, an art space, funky homewares, a bookstore specializing in art and design, and trendy restaurants (Kuppa@Playground, Sonie's and Vanilla Industry), Playground! adds yet another hip, hybrid, hi-so concept store to Bangkok's shopping scene, providing welcome relief from the searing sun and cookie cutter malls.
Another boutique mall worth checking out is Erawan Bangkok, which provides shopping in luxurious comfort, standing out from the rest. Spacious yet cozy, a comfortable shopping experience and a pleasant respite away from the bustle of the city outside. The Urban Kitchen in the basement has several up-market outlets for Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese, Thai and other cuisine, as well as the posh Erawan Tea Room on the third level.heeled Thai socialites.
