A Guide to Bangkok's Best Cafes

Thailand’s capital city of Bangkok is electric, with streets that never seem to sleep or empty out even as night falls. Thankfully though, a respite from the city’s hustle and bustle comes in the form of Bangkok’s many cosy cafes serving up great coffee and food, and offers up a world away from the chaos of the streets outside.

It should come as no surprise that Bangkok has become an incredibly popular place to cafe hop, especially with the myriad of budget carriers plying the routes between Bangkok and other cities around the region and the world.

Read: What to See & Do in Bangkok— A Complete Itinerary

Read: The Ultimate Guide to Bangkok's Public Transport System— How to Get Around

There will never be an exhaustive list in a city as huge as Bangkok, but here are some of my favourites.

Casa Lapin

Casa Lapin is a popular chain of cafes with outlets in several places in the city.

I visited Casa Lapin x26 near Sukhumvit, which specialises in serving drinks, and therefore you’ll find an extensive beverage menu.

If you’d like to order food, Casa Lapin’s food actually comes from Marigold restaurant next door and you can enjoy the food in Casa Lapin’s beautiful interiors.

The barista did tell me that other Casa Lapin outlets do serve food, this one in particular just wasn’t one of them.

Drinks (coffee) are at an average price of THB140.

Luka Bangkok

Located in a renovated old school shophouse from the 50s, Luka focuses on comfort food and serves up Western favourites.

Luka prides itself on using local and sustainable ingredients in it’s menu, with everything from salads to avocado on toast to baked dishes to burritos.

I had the avocado on toast, a scrumptious brunch classic.

After you’ve enjoyed a cuppa after brunch, head to the retail space in the cafe and check out the home living goods. Upstairs, you’ll find a photography studio too.

Overall, it’s a really nice place to spend some time, no doubt set by Luka and the creatives housed in this stunning space.

Blue Whale Cafe

You’ll want to head to Blue Whale after a busy (and hot) afternoon at the Grand Palace.

Located about a 15 minute walk away from The Grand Palace, along the nearby sois just a step away from the river bank, you’ll find Blue Whale Cafe— a cafe currently buzzed-about amongst locals themselves.

And you’ll know once you enter as you realise how packed this cafe is.

Housed in a very narrow shophouse, the kitchen and coffee on the ground floor right at the entrance is where you’ll place your order, before heading up to one of the tables.

Blue Whale Cafe focuses on drinks that are literally blue, like the Butterfly Pea Latte, which is just as Instagram-worthy as the cafe’s interior.

There’s a selection of food here too but the clear focus is on the intricately prepared drinks.

Blue Dye Cafe

Blue Dye Cafe is a complete world away from Blue Whale Cafe, located in the leafy sois of Thong Lor which is a hotspot of a neighbourhood for coffeehouses and cafes.

Situated behind the busy main road, I had to walk in through unassuming construction sites and a row of houses to get to the cafe.

I had the Earl Grey Waffle here for THB180 and I have to say it was delicious, and you can tell they don’t scrimp when it comes to ingredients as the waffle was properly good.

The food menu may not be the most extensive but you can also find pastas, brunch favourites and sandwiches.

Wonderfully, the cafe wasn’t crowded at all which meant a quiet morning over great comfort food.

Cafe Onion

Ekkamai is another popular neighbourhood filled with beautiful cafes, and cafe onion is just one of them.

Half a clothing boutique / retail space and half a cafe, the place is very stylishly decorated, with a friendly service crew that is equally as stylish.

I stopped for a coffee and had the iced matcha latte here, but there are quite a lot of hearty food options on the menu too which I would’ve gladly tried if it weren’t 3 in the afternoon.

The matcha latte is a little more milky than most other places I’ve tried so that might be to your liking depending on how you take your lattes.

Roast

Located on the top floor of theCOMMONS, a ground for quality producers and providers of a wholesome lifestyle, Roast is already incredibly popular and therefore attracts many travellers from all over the world. I’m fairly certain I heard Cantonese and Korean more than Thai from where I was sitting.

And while the description of theCOMMONS (can) sound a little pretentious, fret not because it is genuinely a really nice place to spend some time, and reminds me a little of PasarBella in Singapore.

You certainly won’t go hungry here, with the number of food joints featuring various international cuisines here, but if you want to head straight to Roast, as mentioned, the top floor is where you want to be.

Roast is probably the most full-service cafe I visited in Bangkok, and felt more like a restaurant than a coffeehouse.

The good of this is that there is ample seating both indoors and outdoors, including space for bigger groups.

And of course, the extensive menu sees a lot of options, and there is surely bound to be something for everyone.

I had the Corned Beef Hash here for THB330, and that was one of the least expensive options on the menu so expect prices to be a little closer to what you’d pay in other cities round the world.

Lhong Tou

It feels odd including Lhong Tou in a cafe list, but for one all about food, I couldn’t let this go.

Lhong Tou is situated in Chinatown, and is a packed restaurant with a really interesting interior, and offers up some Chinese favourites. With that being said, I felt it was more of a Thai-Chinese fusion than an outright, say, Cantonese restaurant, but that’s what made it interesting.

The food here is honestly just as Instagram-worthy in it’s own right (see the Chinese porridge set), and this place is so popular you’ll most definitely have to take a queue number and get in line. People have said to have waited from anything between 10 minutes to an hour.

Portions here I should add, are a little on the smaller side, so order more to fill up.

Some locals from Bangkok also deem the milk tea here to be legit.