Koktail Kuisine highlights 8 Bangkok restaurants made for relaxed meals, easy drinks and chill days or nights that never feel rushed.

With Bangkok’s sheer number of restaurants, you would think a relaxed meal out is easy to come by. In reality, many places still move at a fast pace and the real challenge lies in finding somewhere that encourages you to settle in, slow down and stay a little longer.

This Koktail Kuisine feature brings together eight Bangkok restaurants made for chill days and easy evenings, where the food looks beautiful, the atmosphere stays light and everything feels just a touch more fun than expected. Each restaurant also brings a strong sense of identity, whether through personal storytelling, cultural influence or a distinctive approach to food and space.

ANJU Korean Rooftop Restaurant & Bar

Seoul-style rooftop energy in Bangkok with neon and K-pop, led by Chef Shim’s Korean plates made for soju-fuelled ordering

ANJU, Bangkok’s inaugural Korean rooftop venue, lifts the full sensory rush of Seoul nightlife high above the city: neon brilliance, K-pop beats and late-night glamour set against unbeatable skyline views from the 31st floor of Sindhorn Midtown Hotel.  At the centre of it all is Chef Young Dae Shim, whose moreish Korean fare is dangerously easy to keep ordering, especially once the soju is flowing and restraint begins to loosen.

Korean small plates awaken the palate early on, none more memorable than yellowtail gamtae ssam: sashimi and seaweed rolls brightened with kimchi, jalapeño and the nutty sheen of sesame oil. Then comes sausage ragout tteokbokki, all chewy texture and savoury depth, with pork sausage simmered in tomato sauce beneath parmesan espuma. Seasonal fruit bingsoo works beautifully as a closing dish, bringing a fresh, cooling end to the night.

Sindhorn Midtown Hotel Bangkok, 68 Soi Langsuan, Bangkok. Tel: +66 2 796 8888. Open daily from 5pm-2am. 

Grisbi

French–Mediterranean dining where the terrace hums like a Parisian café and the interior tightens into a moody, wine-first hideaway

Straddling French and Mediterranean influences, Grisbi brings together the best of both culinary worlds in a design-forward space washed in red neon glow. Outside, the dining area feels like a reimagined Parisian café – animated and lively but inside, the atmosphere tightens into something more intimate and moody. It’s a space made for slow pours and easing into the night over wine and conversation.

It’s the oysters that draw attention first: Fines de Claire, served ice-cold, notably fresh and briny with a clean finish, coupled with either mignonette or Thai seafood sauce for an additional kick. Up next, Galicia anchovy tartine delivers a simple savoury bite of anchovies on toast. Iberico pork chop is rich and hearty, cut through straight away by Dijon mustard and gherkins. Potato gratin comes after, soft and creamy, rounding everything out. 

GM Estate Hotel & Executive Apartments, 55 Sukhumvit Soi 20, Bangkok. Tel: +66 97 238 1956. Open Sunday-Thursday from 3pm-1am, Friday-Saturday from 3pm-1.30am.

Macaria

A spacious and relaxed Yucatan Mexican restaurant by Íñigo and Yam, where layered flavours and personal storytelling come together

Macaria is, above all, a passion project by Íñigo Mantecón and Teirra “Yam” Kamolvattanavith, who connected in high school through their shared love of food and ingredients. The cuisine focuses on Yucatan Mexican flavours, created as a tribute to the woman who raised Mantecón. The restaurant space reflects this identity throughout, with Mexican cultural details, including a Frida Kahlo mural, proudly woven into its design. 

Caldo de piedra is among the highlights: Oaxacan stone soup cooked tableside with lava rocks and raw seafood. Castaqueso taco leans rich with pork belly and melted cheese. Trio de panuchos plays with cultural contrast, ranging from green curry chicken to hang le pork belly, before pescado zarandeado brings smoky sea bass and green papaya freshness. For dessert, go for churro de chinko with vanilla–pasilla ice cream and tortilla ash.

Maple Hotel, 9 Srinagarindra Rd, Bangkok. Tel: +66 65 439 9314. Open Tuesday-Saturday from 5pm-11pm, and Sunday from 11.30am-3pm and 6pm-10pm.

Riedel Restaurant & Wine Cellar

A relaxed wine-focused restaurant at Gaysorn Village, where thoughtful food pairings, over 40 premium labels, easy conversation and slow afternoons over good wine come naturally

Riedel may be best known for its glassware – no surprise to wine enthusiasts – but here it steps confidently into food, with a clear focus on expert wine pairings. At Gaysorn Village, the space reads upscale at first glance, then quickly settles into something more relaxed: a wine-by-the-glass destination with around 40 premium labels. With music and a lively atmosphere, it appeals equally to dedicated wine lovers and casual visitors.

Small plates anchor the menu designed for sharing and easy pairing. Expect cheeses, charcuterie, bruschetta and marinated vegetables, alongside an Iberia charcuterie spread of cherry tomatoes, Spanish cold cuts, peppers and cheese. Tapas include seared scallops, chilli-garlic prawns and truffle cheese fries, while mains lean into indulgence with Okan wagyu ribeye and black angus tenderloin. 

Gaysorn Village, 999 Phloen Chit Road, Bangkok. Tel: +66 2 656 1133. Open daily from 10am–12am.

Sanitwong

A vintage-style shophouse by Chef Baitong, where mosaic arched windows and Thai Mediterranean cooking create a space that feels both European and distinctly Thai

Sanitwong is an unpretentious neighbourhood restaurant that feels integrated into its local surroundings – the kind of place for focused flavours and familiar comfort. Chef Kamares “Baitong” Rithdaychar crafts a Thai-Mediterranean progressive menu rooted in heritage and sustainability, translating remembered pleasures into grounded cooking with clean, unfussy execution. Mint green walls provide a calm backdrop that does not distract from the table, thereby making the food so much more tempting.

Soft and aromatic at the start, Earl Grey burrata delivers creamy tea notes. The palate turns fresher with seasonal greens, cured fish and walnuts, bringing brightness and crunch. In plara pasta, fermented fish (plara) is incorporated into the sauce base, giving it a pronounced savoury depth typical of fermentation, all of which is tempered with herbs and chilli. Salmon en papillote finishes the line-up, baked with local herbs and sharpened by apple and tomato.

184/12 Charan Sanit Wong Rd, Bangkok Noi, Bangkok. Tel: +66 94 554 7455. Open Tuesday-Sunday from 11am–10pm.

Sotthep Bangkok

Sotbap claypot rice anchors this Korean-Thai concept, a small and warmly intimate space filled with careful technique, thoughtful flavours and artistic charm

Sotthep sits at the intersection of Korean and Thai culinary craft, built around sotbap claypot rice infused with distinctly Thai flavours. Ingredients are regionally sourced, but it’s the technique that binds them, amplifying aroma while holding onto depth. The expressive mood extends beyond the plate, with walls lined by the works of the late National Artist Thawan Duchanee, creating a calm harmony between food and art. 

Claypot rice drives everything here, with different bases shaping each pot. Jumbo crab lump and roe sits on tom yum rice, loaded with blue swimming crab, roe and fat, then finished tableside with seafood sauce, garlic, shallots, chilli and lemon. Fried snowfish comes with squid ink rice, spicy mango salad, caramelised fish sauce and clear chicken soup. On the drinks front, expect Thai sato, gin, craft sake and natural wine.

27/1 Sukhumvit Soi 33, Bangkok. Tel: +66 92 270 8382. Open Tuesday-Sunday from 5pm-11pm.

TANA

TANA’s Chinese-Thai cooking is shaped by over 50 years of matriarchal home recipes, where family memory and local market ingredients are woven together beautifully

In Tha Tien, TANA builds itself around the idea of locality, though not in the borrowed, overused sense the word often carries. Its motto, “Local lifestyle by local people”, feels less like branding and more like a declaration of intent. Named after the Tanarojpiyatach family, the restaurant folds generations of domestic memory into its cooking, where recipes carry the steady hand of more than half a century of matriarchal culinary lineage.

The kitchen draws from Teochew traditions, with Thai inflections throughout the menu. Pork dumplings filled with organic salted egg yolk stand out immediately, their richness cut through by a homemade spicy sauce. Mains move between stir-fried chicken massaman with cashews and crisp-skinned sea bass. Much of the restaurant’s soul, however, sits behind the counter in drawers filled with Chinese herbs sourced from Yaowarat, later folded into a pork stew infused with 18 different varieties.

117 Maharat Rd, Phra Nakhon, Bangkok. Tel:  +66 81 581 8028. Open Tuesday-Sunday from 11am-4pm.

VIVIN-Café grocery bistro

Part café, part grocery and part hidden wine bar, VIVIN brings an unhurried atmosphere to a restored wooden house, where shelf-to-plate dining and Thai artisanal produce shape the experience

There’s something pleasantly unfixed about VIVIN. One part feels like a café, another like a gourmet grocery, another like a tucked-away wine bar hidden inside a restored wooden home in Sukhumvit 22. Upstairs, a library-style room with balcony slows everything down. Downstairs, the shelf-to-plate concept means the ingredients on your table can usually be found on a nearby shelf not long after.

Much of the space revolves around its grocery selection, where shelves of local charcuterie and house-made preserves sit alongside a temperature-controlled cheese display dedicated to Thai artisanal producers. The menu acts almost like an extension of the grocery shelves around it. Signature soufflé omelette highlights local eggs through French technique, while khao soi duck confit bridges cultures with surprising ease.

Sukhumvit Soi 22, Bangkok. +66 80 463 5747. Open Sunday-Thursday from 8am-9pm, and Friday-Saturday from 8am-10pm.