Bangkok’s dining scene has acquired another polished feather for its increasingly opulent cap, with the opening of Bardo Brasserie at One Bangkok, the capital’s ambitious new mixed-use precinct that aims to become the city’s answer to Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands, albeit with better food and fewer financial headaches.
With the paint barely dry, Bardo Brasserie has already begun drawing the city’s well-heeled office tenants, design-conscious diners and the culinary curious, the kind who can confidently pronounce coq au vin without sounding like they’re ordering replacement printer parts.
Located on the G Floor of The Storeys, Bardo Brasserie blends the classic charm of a Parisian corner brasserie with the contemporary hum of Bangkok’s latest lifestyle playground. Think warm lighting, sandstone textures, and an agreeable hum that suggests conviviality without raising one’s voice or blood pressure.
After the success of its Mediterranean-leaning original in Sathorn, Bardo’s expansion into One Bangkok marks what one might describe as its “grown-up” phase, less dolce vita, more Paris-meets-Sukhumvit with linen napkins and a knowing wink.
French Soul, Bangkok Pulse
The menu is best described as a culinary comfort blanket woven in French tricolour, with a sprinkling of modern Bangkok’s cosmopolitan appetite. The kitchen turns out brasserie staples with confidence and the occasional flash of indulgence.
Among the standouts is the Steak Café de Paris, a dish that, like the Brasserie’s décor, evokes familiarity without falling into cliché. The Chicken Milanaise, a signature from the Sathorn bistro, makes a triumphant return here. It is golden-crumbed and altogether too photogenic to eat without first annoying your dining companions by pausing for a photo.
Seafood lovers may find themselves lingering over the Seafood Tower, which is plentiful enough to warrant its small pontoon. Those with more worldly appetites can explore a roster of pizzas and pastas that broaden the offering for groups that can never quite agree on a cuisine.
Add to this a curated selection of wines, champagnes and cocktails, including a partnership with Moët Hennessy Thailand that brings exclusive offers on Veuve Clicquot, and one starts to understand why Bardo’s founders have not skimped on the details. This is a brasserie with its cufflinks firmly in place.
Crafted for the Long Lunch (and the Longer Evening)
Whether one seeks a demure business lunch, a post-work apéritif or a dinner that stretches lazily into the evening and the bar’s later closing time, Bardo Brasserie is designed to accommodate it. The open terrace provides that quintessential “just one more glass” setting, a dangerous promise that has been the downfall of many a well-intentioned early night.
The venue is open daily for lunch, dinner, and drinks, and special previews, curated menus, and weekend brunches are rolling out as part of its debut season. If the brunch features Champagne, one suspects nobody will complain.
The Business of Brasserie Culture
From a business perspective, Bardo’s move into One Bangkok is well-timed. With the precinct gearing up to become Bangkok’s new centre of gravity for corporate HQs, luxury residencies and retail, the early movers in the hospitality game will likely benefit from the “work-lunch-leisure” trifecta.
Suppose One Bangkok is to become the city’s next essential postcode for power lunches and soft-lit corporate courtships. In that case, Bardo Brasserie has positioned itself neatly at the intersection of appetite and aspiration.
Whether diners arrive for the food, the Champagne, or the ability to name-drop a “new French brasserie at One Bangkok”, the establishment seems destined to enjoy healthy footfall.
