Ba(r)nana

End your evening at one of the most original bars in northern Thailand. Marked only by a spray-painted sign outside and a glowing neon banana, Ba(r)nana is a ten-seat cocktail bar built around fermentation experiments. Glass jars line the walls, filled with pickled fruits and unexpected ingredients that will eventually find their way into cocktails.

There’s no menu and every drink is B180. Owner-bartender Kiattikoon ‘Toon’ Auengkum asks what flavour profiles you like and builds something on the spot, sometimes guided by your answers, sometimes inspired by whatever he feels like making in the moment.

A handwritten scribble alongside the bar makes it clear that everything is homemade, ingredients are locally sourced and open-mindedness is expected. It’s equal parts philosophy and warning. The drinks lean playful and surprising such as the larb-inspired cocktail which somehow lands as savoury and refreshing at the same time. Another features fermented crab. Not everything sounds immediately appealing, but often it is and that’s part of the experience.

Ba(r)nana. Rop Wiang, Chiang Rai. Reservation only. 7pm-12am