Ba hao 八號

An unrenovated shophouse on Chinatown’s Soi Nana, open frontage spilling onto Yaowarat’s streets. Sexy in a melancholic way, it carries a Wong Kar-wai film feel, all neon red Chinese letters.

Inside, there are vintage tea boxes, waving lucky cats and moody lighting that makes you want to lean against the bar with a cigarette, though you cannot smoke inside, sadly. Try the Opium, a Negroni spiked with ginseng and herbal liquor, or the Five Rivers, which infuses Chinese five spice into rum, Drambuie and Fernet Branca. The owner trained as a chef at the Oriental, so the duck wontons are genuinely excellent.

Location: Nana (Chinatown), Maitrichit Rd, Pom Prap Sattru Phai, Bangkok