43

Opium

Bangkok

New Entry

Just upstairs from Potong – No.13 on Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2025 list – Bar Opium occupies the top two floors of a 120-year-old Bangkok Chinatown shophouse that once operated as an opium den. Today, it delivers one of Bangkok's most transportive cocktail experiences. Created by Arnon 'KK' Hoontrakul and led by Italian bartender Matteo Cadeddu – whose résumé spans Australia, Singapore and Mumbai – the bar offers a deep, imaginative menu of nearly 50 cocktails and mocktails, along with four house-made gins – each with the character of a different Thai regions – and a selection of inspired tasting flights. 

Among the more theatrical serves: the Opium Oath, inspired by Chinese blood oaths and finished with a splash of fake blood made from Por Kun Ear Boh – a proprietary menstrual remedy sold in the building's earlier life as a medicine shop. It's playful, provocative, and rooted in the building's history. The superlative bar food comes from the award-winning kitchen downstairs, with highlights including slow-cooked char siu beef or pork ribs, and 'dragon skin' of crispy chicken skin, onion cream and caviar. On weekends, the team offers tuk-tuk rides to nearby bars, turning a night out into a rolling Chinatown adventure.

Contact