Deciphering Bangkok’s biggest F&B trends in 2024, over dinner and drinks

Last year, when I wrote this story, I asked for a Dirty Martini to accompany it. In Bangkok 2024, the Martini has evolved. Throw out your olive and bring me an Oyster Martini. Vichayuth ‘Kook’ Chantan and I are back to discuss F&B trends across the city this year.

Despite naming a THB-850-Gimlet as the ultimate ‘naughty’ on his Naughty or Nice list this year, Kook can’t seem to stay away from this gin-based cocktail. As we sit together with our spirit of choice to decipher the biggest F&B trends of the year, we’re aware of newfound dining habits, and where we’re willing to splurge.

After all, it does take some splurging to eat and drink out in Bangkok city in 2024. We visit restaurants and bars every week of the year, we attend house parties with chefs, and get drunk with bartenders. The F&B scene is a key component to our jobs (and our social lives), yet while we love to read and write about it, we also take one day a year to sit back, do a pensive sip/chew, and reflect.

What trends shaped the bar and restaurant industries this year? Who came out victorious? What fell behind? In no way experts or serious critics, we always — over some dinner, more drinks — manage to find a way to suss out a few key patterns. Some ingredients came out to play, while others found their way back to the storage room. Average consumer behaviours adapted to global trends and social media lenses, while chefs scurried (or ignored the scurry) behind.

In our very own opinions, here are the biggest F&B trends we saw in Bangkok this year. Start us off hot, Kook.

Dining

Discussing Thailand bar and restaurant trends in 2023 over dinner and drinks

Deciphering Bangkok’s biggest F&B trends this year, over dinner and drinks

Food-inspired drinks and grandiose garnishes

KV: There are a lot of trends developing in the cocktail world for both taste and presentation. For taste, Thailand is fully embracing savoury flavours and food-inspired drinks. We see more “unconventional ingredients” being experimented with, and that pushes our industry into a fun new direction. Bar Voyage in Pattaya has a drink made with redistilled sea crabs. F*nkytown‘s new drink is inspired by khao soi. Mahaniyom uses three types of worms in one drink, so business as usual at Mahaniyom.

LG: I agree, it’s a big year for food within the drink space. Hong Kong’s Bar Leone was named Asia’s best bar, and what are they (most) famous for? Mortadella sandwiches.

KV: I know I’ve eaten my fair share of shrimp siu mai at Find The Locker Room this year…

KV: It even continues on to presentation. We’re seeing the love for more big, grandiose garnishes in contrast with the minimalist, clarified drinks. Many times, they’re so big they’re pairings at that point. Kilik Social Club slaps a chocolate-filled pani puri on top of one of their menus. Find the Photo Booth has a whole egg on a cocktail to dip crackling pork in. Vesper is now serving a whole tea set with one of their signature drinks, because why not? G.O.D is also riding a big wave, and now famed for their oyster and uni pairing with wonderfully-made Martinis.

I think this trend will keep growing, especially seeing how Gen-Z drinkers are hitting cocktail bars, and we need something to be Instagram-worthy. A slice of dehydrated orange or a few flowers won’t cut it in this competition anymore.

LG: So much won’t cut it anymore, and I feel like bars are really pushing that boundary. There were so many international guest shifts, and I remember hanging out with guest bartenders, checking out new Bangkok bars, and watching them go “wow.”

Big-name chefs in Bangkok city

LG: For restaurants, the “wow” has often been linked to guest chefs, too. A major trend has been the arrival of super big-name chefs opening restaurant outposts in Bangkok. The world-renowned Umberto Bombana gave his name to Cannubi by Umberto Bombana at the Dusit Thani Bangkok. Vicky Cheng opened his first restaurant outside of Hong Kong with K by Vicky Cheng. Guillaume Galliot gave his name to Palmier by Guillaume Galliot at the Four Seasons Bangkok Hotel. I even got a sneaky preview of Sartoria by Paulo Airaudo as an early Christmas present.

While most of these chefs aren’t here a lot of the time, their names act like a magnet to the well-travelled foodie. I’m curious to see how this will evolve.

A good twist on the Martini

KV: Speaking of evolving, the Martini has evolved a lot this year.

LG: Cheers to that.

KV: People loved a good twist on the Martini this year. It’s a great cocktail base if you want to go savoury. After all, a good Dirty Martini can make somebody’s night, and boy, we love our Martinis absolutely filthy. Dry Wave Cocktail Studio has a menu blending a Clover Club and Dirty Martini together. Bar Sathorn has a Martini with lychee and longan vermouth, along with sakura vermouth. 1970, a new opening inside Dusit Thani Bangkok, has a Martini trolley. It’s hard to resist a Martini trolley.

LG: We should get one for the office.

KV: Is it not boozy enough in there?

Popularity of boozy bistros and wine bars

LG: Speaking of being boozy enough, I had a hard time putting this trend into words, but I really want to give it a shout-out. The boozy bistro. Sometimes disguised as a wine bar, I’m referring to the super popular Mod Kaews of Bangkok, the IODEs, the Sababas, the Chenins… The restaurants that are casual (but not cheap), and serve up a vast selection of wines, often natural. The food menu is designed for sharing, and is often some sort of fusion of cuisines. Everything is vaguely familiar and somehow comforting, but it has a modern edge. The interior is funky, there’s a neon light sign, and everyone is cooler than you. Moreso than fine dining, I feel a lot of people flocked to these spots on the weekends. It became very “see and be seen,” without the white table cloths.

Digitalisation in restaurants, and criticism in food awards

KV: There were no white table cloths, and there were no menus, either. Both in drinks and food, another developing trend is that we’re being handed QR codes when asking for the menu. True, going digital is not something so surprising, and it’s way easier that way to fix and update entries in the menu, plus there’s less paper usage. Still, people do miss having something physical you can flip through and learn about each drink. It’s me, I’m people. A good bar menu adds to the vibe of the bar.

LG: I agree. Remember when you wrote that piece on a food award being selected by artificial intelligence?

KV: Escándalo.

LG: The digitalisation of F&B took an interesting turn with that. It’s no secret that there’s an avalanche of food and drink awards now, and adding AI to the mix gives it a whole new dimension. I felt there was an interesting movement and generally disappointed sentiment amongst foodies around food and drink awards, listings, and rankings. They’ve lost some credibility, and their motives have been questioned, causing organisers to really reevaluate where their priorities lie. Nobody wants to feel like their prize or award was bought for money. I wonder how we’ll tackle this next year.

Sake in cocktails, and a continued influx of Japanese goods

KV: Maybe we’ll tackle it with some sake in hand. Another new thing in the bar scene has been new spirits entering cocktail bars in ways we’ve never seen them. Sake seems to have broken the limits of being a pairing beverage and is now being used in a lot of cocktails. Nobu’s rooftop bar menu uses a whole lot of sake for their signatures. G.O.D has a Saketini, combining the best of both trends.

LG: I was going to say, Japanese food and drink is still as trendy as ever in Bangkok. Is there a limit to how many new Japanese restaurants can open across town? The answer is no. We never tire of caviar on almost anything, new pizza places to check out, and a fresh rotation of Japanese restaurant chains (Hikiniku to Come, Kinroll Handroll, Katsu Midori Sushi, to name a few). We even got our first Japanese depachika at One Bangkok this year.

KV: Closer to home, Thai spirits are the new “Thai presentation” rather than just ingredients. They’re prominently featured at Nuss Bar, in every single cocktail in the drinks programme at Le Du Kaan, and we even had the first-ever Thai craft spirits fair at Emsphere (MeraiThailand).

Earthling mushrooms, everywhere!

LG: Thai ingredients have long and increasingly been kitchen heroes of course, especially as more and more Thai restaurants win prestigious accolades. If I had to zoom in on one home-grown ingredient this year, I’d say mushrooms had a hot moment this 2024. I cannot count how many times I was woo-ed by a gorgeous, meaty mushroom in a fancy or funky restaurant (Nothing Sacred, Electric Sheep, and Penthouse Bar + Grill come to mind), only to find that it was yet another product by the amazing Earthling.

KV: I assume you don’t mean drugs.

LG: You assume.

Sharing plates, communal dining, and sense of community

KV: In food, and I guess in that other thing too, sharing is becoming a bigger thing. Many casual dining spots and tasting menus come with an element of sharing, even if it’s just two clear portions put together in one plate, we see restaurants trying to put in that sense of community that comes with sharing. Kwann Restaurant serves big portions of grilled meats to share, to evoke that Asian family dinner feeling. Every course in IGNIV’s tasting menu has always been to share. Cento Bangkok encourages people to come in groups, and they often organise communal dinners.

LG: Community is a big thing. Throughout the last few years, many restaurants and bars have been increasingly supporting local communities, be it with coffee beans from up north, honey from the Thai forests, or even edible flowers from local farms. It sounds sentimental, but a sense of connection is important.

Even in our city, we saw the eruption of drinking or dining enclaves, as smaller neighbourhood communities come together. The sense of community is great when you’re bar- or cafe-hopping around Soi Nana Chinatown, Song Wat, or even Langsuan.

KV: So long as it doesn’t become a cult or commune…

LG: 2025, here we come.

For more F&B recaps for 2024, check out the best new restaurants, the best new bars, and the best new cafes.