From the team that brought you Thong Lor restaurant Eastbound, Ari artspace Future Factory, and late-night spot Blaq Lyte comes Coastal in Phrom Phong, an outdoor, tropical-themed oasis that the owners say is the most relaxed and laid-back of their hip holdings. “This is more us than the other stuff we’re doing,” said partner Nick Supreda.
“The idea is that, me and Mark [Baker, his business partner and best friend] are from Southern California by the beach, nice weather. Being here in a city it’s hard for us to be by the coast, so we decided to do something tropical,” said Supreda.
“Something outside, green with fresh air instead of the typical speakeasy-type bar,” jumped in Baker. The third partner, Englishman Guy Espley-Wilkes, wholeheartedly agreed.
They are offering four special drinks for Saturday’s opening party, Coastal Luau, which will happen from noon-10pm. These drinks will be priced at THB250 with THB50 from each donated to Thai Harvest-SOS, a charity that collects excess food that would have been thrown away and distributes it to those in need in Bangkok. Incidentally, the charity has donated many kilos of pears to the event so the launch’s signature drinks all feature pear in one way or another.
The special drinks at the opening will be pear & grapefruit white sangria, moonshine sour, a pear and caramel mocktail, and a coffee-pear concoction that is still undergoing testing.
Coffee for the cocktail and Saturday’s event will be provided by artisanal roaster A Stimulant by Sarnies, which shares courtyard space with Coastal near the back end of Sukhumvit Soi 39. Food for the event will be available at Kram, a Thai restaurant that also shares the courtyard.
The permanent menu includes clever local takes on classic cocktails given a tropical twist. Most feature clever names such as You’re Thai?, to stand in for Mai Tai, and Old Man at the Strip Club, which most people living in Bangkok can relate to.
Coastal Smash is based on a recipe for Basil Smash, a European cocktail. The Coastal version uses Thai basil instead of Italian and subs lime juice for lemon while Tanqueray Gin is swapped for Hendricks.
Sweet Jesus is a flavorful mix of standard Thai ingredients including Chili-infused tequila, fresh pineapple juice, lime, and cilantro.
A Long Island is based, of course, on the Long Island Iced Tea. The classic boozer is reimagined at the new bar with the introduction of citrus liquor and tangerine juice to the potent vodka, white rum, and gin.
Forever Young is a modern cooler featuring young coconut water, gin, pandan, salt, and lime. “Coconut water is quite delicate,” said bartender Konstanyn about treating the local ingredient carefully.
He said of the cocktail menu he designed, “The drinks are fresh, pleasant, easy, and the ingredients are made daily. We’re not going for a huge cocktail vibe. But you can trust that the drink you have is gonna be good,” he said.
After Saturday’s opening, Coastal will be open daily from 6pm-midnight with opening hours starting earlier on weekends. Keep up with what’s happening at Coastal on their Facebook page.
Coastal
July 15, noon-10pm
113, Soi Phop Mit Sukhumvit 39
Phrom Pong
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