Inspired by the golden age of Buenos Aires and Mexico City, and polished to a glow with a deft touch of contemporary Thai flair, this bar sums up the ever-surprising spirit of Bangkok.
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Bangkok is one of those great paradoxical cities of the world where the only time you should be surprised is when nothing is out of the ordinary. It’s a place of the unexpected, and the hotel bar of the Four Seasons in the riverside district of Sathon illustrates my point to a tee.
As we disgorge from the taxi into the sweltering heat of the Bangkok afternoon, Christina and I breathe in the warm air before stepping into the delicately scented air conditioning of the hotel’s beautiful lobby.
We’re here to check out the watering hole of the Four Seasons Bangkok at Chao Phraya River: the BKK Social Club, recognised as one of the world’s best bars.
Since 2022, this bar has won a swathe of awards: 14th best bar in the world, 10th best bar in Asia, number one in Thailand… an impressive haul, but we’re curious to see what the best bar in a city like Bangkok looks like.
BKK Social Club, Four Seasons Bangkok at Chao Phraya River
We pass slowly through the hotel, elegantly decorated and interestingly furnished. The gleaming white marble floors give way to occasional water features that trickle and tinkle behind subtle music and the muted chatter of other guests.
Winding our way to the back of the hotel where the broad milk tea waters of the Chao Phraya River sweeps by.
On our right are tiered pools that step down towards the riverbank, but on our left is the bar itself: the BKK Social Club with its grand dark doors flung wide for us.
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Once we’re welcomed in and seated in a comfortable booth, we take in the majesty of our surroundings.
Hugely vaulted 5m ceilings hold up beautiful art deco lights. Hanging from scalloped pendants that glide into gilt geometric patterns, this pairing of colonial Latin America and traditional Southeast Asian architecture is so striking.
From the ceiling, towering columns glimmer in the low light, while the bar gleams golden along the back wall. Along both sides of the room, booths like ours sit under high-arched facades, and the middle of the bar are tables and comfortable lounges.
Food and Drink at BKK Social Club
As we sit down, a non-alcoholic welcome drink and some snacks arrive on our table. The drink seems to be chilled rosella but with a flare that gives us an insight into the wonders within the pages of the cocktail menu.
As for the food, the bowl of crisp veggie chips and mini tacos of corn and chipotle make us realise that we’re actually quite hungry.
Round 1
Soon, our cocktails come out: a Carratera and a Jimador. The Carratera is a smoky yet balanced mezcal negroni blended behind a wall of coffee vermouth and the sweetness of pineapple Campari.
The Jimador, a tequila cocktail, is fresh and perfectly balanced with its flavours of citrus and pistachio.
To go with our delicious cocktails, we have beef tartare on wonderful little discs of purple corn tostada that crumble rather than crunch. The beef is diced to finely it’s almost a paste then mixed with smoked capsicum and eggplant, cipolline onion and guacamole.
We also have some soft tacos filled with the most incredibly tender barbecue pork belly. The dish is smoky and moreish, and the hint of spice from chimichurri goes perfectly with our tequila and mezcal cocktails.
Round 2
For our second round of drinks, we go barrel-aged with the Pique and the Since 1942, Don Julio Old Fashioned.
Named after the World Cup mascot from Mexico 1986, this clever cocktail is like biting into a crisp apple, bringing out all the rich flavours of the Japanese whisky while the touch of heat from the Ancho Reyes chilli liqueur warms you from the inside.
Using decedent Don Julio Extra Anejo tequila, Since 1942, the Don Julio O.F. is easily the most expensive cocktail on the menu and the most opulent too. Along with this exquisitely balanced old fashioned style drink comes some serious food theatre flex that only the Four Seasons could think of.
Borne on a silver platter, the cocktail’s only garnish is a perfectly clear ice block with the bar’s insignia melted into it. Next to the thick crystal tumbler is an amuse bouche of pandan jelly and a bump of beluga caviar. It’s a crazy drink, but the flavours gallop and party in your mouth for days.
We’re not finished yet!
Just as we’re about to leave, we’re told there’s a leaving drink. We should finish with a frozen margarita. The fruit changes every day (today’s is strawberry) and — to quote our server — it’s “the tastiest, booziest frozen marg you’ve ever had!”
I tell you what, she was right.
And while we’re quoting people here, these are some of the snippets of conversation we overhear during our visit to BKK Social:
- “That’s the best cocktail I’ve ever had.”
- “Every cocktail tonight has been perfectly balanced.”
- “That’s one of the best smelling bathrooms I’ve ever been in.”
If that’s not enough to convince you that this is the best bar in Thailand, I don’t know what will.
The BKK Social Club is a superlative bar, completely in tune with Four Seasons’ ability to create a bar worthy of any world-class city’s drinking scene, but that fits with this city’s identity perfectly.
We visited the BKK Social Club as media guests, but our experiences and opinions remain our own.
