Food & Drink

We update this article regularly to ensure the information remains accurate and current. Please check back for the latest updates. Updated March 2026: We’ve refreshed our list of the best book cafes in Bangkok to include some newcomers to the city. Recent additions include Balzac Bangkok, Nielson Hays Library Garden Café, Open House at Central Embassy. Watching the city's under-35s spill out of the MRT at Queen Sirikit for the annual Book Expo tells you plenty about how book reading is going in Bangkok. Sure, we’re not quite Tokyo, with its Jimbocho book district, nor Paris with its Seine-side bouquinistes – but there are more spines cracked, more pages turned and more people ready to fight you about their favourite genre now than ever before. But don’t take it from us. The numbers speak for themselves. In October 2025, 1.5 million people turned up to the Book Expo over just eleven days. 70 percent were reportedly Gen Z. Sales reached B474 million. Call Bangkok chaotic, humid, relentless – but a ‘city that does not read’ it is not. Then there is @bkk.bookdistrict. In early 2026, the collective of independent bookshops, publishers and book people began mapping Bangkok's first proper book district across the historic printing hubs of Phra Nakhon, from Phan Fa to Tha Tien. It is still taking shape, but the foundations are there. Understandably, The book cafe scene has moved with this trend. New spaces line the Charoen Krung-Phra Nakhon corridor. Old favourites now feel like institutions. Each place on this list is a personal argument – someone's taste, someone's fixation, someone's case for why these books deserve space. For some, coffee can be the star. For others, just a very good supporting act. Either way, these are the 14 book cafes we have taken time to sip, browse and review in a bid to keep the city’s pages turning.

Bangkok's chess scene is a thriving mix of sharp strategy and easy camaraderie. On the same evening you might find a Grandmaster deep in a rated blitz game while, a table away, someone is learning their very first opening over a cold drink. Casual yet serious, often all in one place – which is to say, very Bangkok. Believe it or not, the city's relationship with the game runs deep. Thailand's own Suchart Chaivichit brought home individual gold from the 1988 Chess Olympiad and today Prin Laohawirapap – the country's first and only International Master – carries the flag for new generations.  Meanwhile, Bangkok’s very own open – aptly named ‘The Bangkok Open’ – has drawn the likes of Nigel Short and Jan Gustafsson, with the latter calling it ‘by far the best tournament in the world.’ So beyond the bars (and in them too), the city’s chess scene is officially thriving, with the infrastructure growing as much as  the ambition. Here are eight venues to know if you’re looking to get back into the world’s most timeless board game.

It's hard to argue with a really good doughnut. Sweet finish, sugar fix, midday reward – call it what you like. Doughnuts rarely need an excuse.. What’s easier to argue about is where to find the best ones. In Bangkok, the city's sweet tooth is being well served by a growing wave of doughnut shops, each with their own personality – from reassuring classics to genuinely inventive takes on the form. But which ones are actually worth the detour? Time Out has done the legwork. Here are 12 that hit the spot for our (slightly) sugar-addicted editorial team.

Finding a proper bagel in Bangkok used to be a real mission according to my dad and uncle, self proclaimed ‘bagel scholars’. Now they reckon ‘we're spoilt for choice’, which is great news! New York’s thick chewy bad boys and Montreal’s sweeter rings are everywhere now plus some wildcard geniuses doing Thai fusion.  The bagel situation escalated quickly. You’ve got the OGs who gambled on bagels when nobody even knew if Bangkok cared, the pandemic bakers who got a bit too into their lockdown hobby and never looked back and the Singaporean vets with battle-tested recipes. Here are all the bagel joints you knead to know.

The tuna melt has a more storied past than its modest reputation suggests. Born in American lunch counters and greasy-spoon diners sometime in the mid-twentieth century – the exact origin is contested, though a 1965 diner in South Carolina is often cited – it was always a practical sandwich: canned tuna, mayonnaise, cheese, heat.  Bangkok's relationship with the tuna melt has followed the city's broader love affair with Western cafe culture. Through the 1990s and early 2000s, tuna melts were largely the preserve of hotel coffee shops and expat haunts, serviceable but rarely memorable. The shift came with the sourdough revolution – when a new generation of Bangkok bakers started obsessing over fermentation schedules, imported grain varieties and slow-proofed loaves, suddenly the bread underneath the tuna started to matter as much as what was on top of it. Today, the city's best tuna melts are genuinely worth seeking out: inventive, technically precise and occasionally spectacular. If you're eating your way through Bangkok's sandwich scene more broadly, our guide to Bangkok's best sandwiches covers the city's most compelling offerings across every style and bread type. And for a spin on the classics with a chewier canvas, our best bagels in Bangkok guide is worth bookmarking before your next lunch run. Now, back to the matter at hand. Many lunches went into this. We ordered widely, asked the people with strong sandwich opinions and returned when something pulled us back. These eight always did.

Bangkok’s bread scene has come a long way. Once content with soft white slices and convenience-store toasties, the city now kneads, ferments and bakes like never before. A new generation of bakers is obsessing over hydration ratios, natural starters and long fermentations, while chefs are curing their own meats, whipping house-made butters and layering locally sourced pickles, jams and sauces. The result? Sandwiches with substance – where every bite tells a story of craft, patience and a little culinary ego. From the smokey pastrami on rye at Larder to Bartel’s cult sourdough melts, from Sarnies’ heritage-style sandwiches to the butter-dripping creations at Beyond Bread, Bangkok has quietly become a city of sandwich artists. These aren’t afterthoughts on a brunch menu anymore – they’re the main event. Whether you like them simple, stacked, or smothered, these are the spots raising the bar, one perfectly stacked sandwich at a time.

The tale of the lobster roll is one of the food world’s great Cinderella stories. Originating as humble fare on the North Atlantic seaboard of New England, this delectable decapod was once so abundant and wholly disregarded, it was considered fit for consumption only by dogs and prisoners. As of today, it has been globally lionised as the quintessential opulent seafood lunch indulgence. For those, like me, who grew up enjoying post clambake or lobster boil leftovers – the tail, knuckle and claw meat repurposed into a homemade summertime treat – this sandwich carries serious nostalgic weight. Now, thanks to modern logistics, one third of all harvested American lobster travels straight to Asia, with live lobsters landing daily in Bangkok. By tide and good fortune, talented local and expat chefs have risen to the opportunity, mastering the art of this deceivingly simple sandwich. Our judging criteria demanded cool-handed restraint: a grilled buttered bun, gently cooked meat that yields sweetly and a dressing that elevates, rather than overpowers the subtle lobster flavour. We evaluated the classic Connecticut (warm butter) and Maine (chilled mayo) styles, alongside the new wave of modern creative interpretations. Here is the definitive list of seven spots proving that the Big Mango is now happy hunting grounds for the mighty lobster roll.

New year, new cafe spots to visit. Although Thailand’s winter is fleeting, the cool weather lingers for a while yet, adding extra pleasure to sipping hot drinks out in the open. Bangkok might be known for busy roads and tall buildings, but it is also a green city with many garden cafes hidden in its sprawl. If you enjoy a good brew in verdant surroundings (and who doesn’t?) check out our picks of these fair-weather favourites.   

Whether you’re wandering through bustling markets or braving the daily commute, these juice bars are here to keep you hydrated and energised. From vibrant smoothies to nutrient-packed cold-pressed juices, here’s where to grab a healthy boost around town.

Luckily, Bangkok’s booming book cafe scene lets you do just that. These spots combine the joy of finding your next literary obsession with the simple pleasure of a well-made drink.