Over the past couple of years, Bangkok has been steadily establishing itself as one of Asia's premiere cocktail destinations. This culminated with last year's Asia's 50 Best Bars ceremony, in which Bangkok had seven bars on the list, more than even Hong Kong and Singapore, which had long dominated said lists.
During a recent visit to the city, I got the opportunity to visit one of those bars, Bar Sathorn, which was No.48 on the 2025 list, and do a full review of its cocktail menu.
Housed inside the historical House Of Sathorn at W Bangkok, Bar Sathorn is one of Bangkok’s most well-established bars, and is currently led by bar manager Marco Dognini.
It is located in the House Of Sathorn, a heritage mansion that is now part of W Bangkok.
The mansion itself has served several purposes over the course of its 136-year history, and Bar Sathorn pays tribute to that history with a menu that categorises the drinks based on the mansion's different eras.
The drinks in each section are also based on classic cocktails that were invented during that particular period of time.
The first section is 'History Of Sathorn' spanning the years 1888 to 1929. The mansion was constructed in 1889, and was originally a private home owned by Yom Bisalayaputr (or Chao Sua Yom), a wealthy Chinese businessman who engineered the digging of what would become the Sathorn Canal.
The drinks honour Yom's legacy with drinks that have subtle Thai and Chinese flairs and flavours, while also celebrating the origins of the cocktail scene, dating back to the late 1800s when some of the first iconic drinks were crafted.
The purple, tropical Rice Blossom was a highlight of this section. Based on the classic Ramos Gin Fizz, it mixes gin, mango, coconut, butterfly pea flower, lime, and jasmine rice water for tasty, fizzy drink that is inspired by the mango sticky rice Thai dessert.
Klong is a bold, herbal drink that adds lacto-fermented salak fruit for a Thai-tinged twist on the classic Tuxedo cocktail; while Pig's Knees is a tropical twist of the Bee's Knees with loads of familiar Thai flavours.
My favourite, however, has to be the Silk Road, which takes the classic Adonis cocktail and turns it into a herbal, floral, spirit-forward wonder.
In the 1920s, an Italian lady named Madame Staro turned the House into the ultra-luxury Hotel Royal. Spanning the years 1926 to 1948, this section of the menu uses Italian ingredients to pay tribute to that period of time. It also celebrates what is known as 'golden era of mixology', with drinks based on the Negroni, Bloody Mary, Spritz, and Sbagliato.
This part features the bar’s most famous and iconic drink – Bangkok Brunch, a visually stunning Bloody Mary twist that comes with an entire frozen tomato in the glass.
Made with a mezcal and tequila base, it incorporates flavours from the iconic Thai dish Pad Krapow (pork bacon, Thai basil, chili, black pepper), mixed with salted tomato water, rice vinegar and vanilla for a vibrant, savoury drink that you won't get enough of.
(Fun fact: All the uneaten tomatoes are not thrown away, but rather, used as compost in W Bangkok's rooftop vegetable and herb garden.)
Another highlight is Las Dolce Vita a ‘white’ Negroni that is not an actual ‘White Negroni’. Made with gin, and a fortified Negroni distillate, it adds parmesan, olive, and passion fruit water for a savoury sweet palate, topped off with a 'dirty Negroni sphere' that explodes in your mouth, filling it with the more traditional bittersweet notes of the original Negroni.
The two-tone Staro Sbagliato with lemon sorbet was a nice palate cleanser, while the Hotel Royal Spritz, topped with rambutan wine, would make a tasty refreshing start to any drinking session.
From 1948 to 1999, the House Of Sathorn served as the site of the first Soviet-and later Russian-Embassy in Thailand. Today, Sathorn Road is also home to a number of other embassies (including Malaysia's!), thus the name ‘Embassy Row’, which has drinks based on cocktails that have 'influenced global cocktail culture'.
The Consular Sip is the standout here, a great hot/cold twist of the classic Bullshot, with hot Tom Ka Broth as the soup element.
The Pina was especially interesting to me cos I’d never had a cognac-based Pina Colada before; while the Madame Siam is a Thai homage to the Margarita, with Prik Kaeng Phed curry distillate and coriander giving it a spicy, herbaceous profile.
If you like espresso martinis, make sure you try the Oh Liang, an elegant, nutty take on the classic coffee cocktail using rum, pandan, Pu Muen coffee, and almond, among others.
‘The Present’ has drinks that reflect the House's present-day location among the modern buildings in Bangkok’s central business district (CBD), based on modern classics like the Penicillin, East Side, Gin Basil Smash, and Paper Plane.
Penicillin riff Metropolitan Medicine stood out the most by virtue of achieving the feat of using durian distillate, and keeping the, er, durian-ness to a lovely, subtle background note.
The Skyline Drift is a Paper Plane riff that uses the bar’s house Apsara Bar Sathorn Thai Amaro to great effect, while CBD Kombu is a umami-rich twist of the East Side, with cucumber and kombu seaweed and umeshu playing sweet and savoury games with your palate.
And last but not least, Vinyl Smash substitutes basil for guava Leaf & champee flower, for a Gin Basil Smash riff that is bursting with refreshing, floral elegance.
All in all, Bar Sathorn lives up to its reputation as one of Bangkok’s top bars, contrasting the lovely interior with a modern vibe and great cocktails. Come for the tomato drink, and stay on for more!
Michael Cheang does not recommend trying to eat the frozen tomato. Follow him on Instagram (@mytipsyturvy) and Facebook (fb.com/mytipsyturvy).
