Restaurants Potong, Nusara and Chop Chop Cook Shop lead multi-storey dining trend in Bangkok

Rich history and innovative cooking are served up in heritage shophouse premises

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Jaime Ee

Published Thu, Aug 31, 2023 · 09:44 PM

The beautifully refurbished Potong. PHOTO: @GASTROFILM
The original Potong shophouse before refurbishment. PHOTO: @GASTROFILM
Potong's meticulously crafted dishes, PHOTO: @GASTROFILM
Nusara used to be a hostel which closed down during the pandemic. PHOTO: JAIME EE
Nusara's interiors. PHOTO: NUSARA
Nusara's food is inspired by chef-restaurateur Tassanakajohn's grandma. PHOTO: JAIME EE
Chop Chop Cook Shop sits in Chinatown. PHOTO: CHOP CHOP COOK SHOP
Chop Chop's pop-art decor. PHOTO: CHOP CHOP COOK SHOP

BANGKOK restaurants are looking up. Literally.

Conventional dining goes something like this: a restaurant feeds you on one level, and if they have the space, maybe you’ll get dessert or cocktails upstairs. Innovative restaurateurs in the Thai capital are going one, no, several floors up, taking over entire buildings – usually heritage buildings with a backstory – and crafting entire narratives that might start with a drink on the ground floor, canapes on the rooftop, and everything else in between.

Multi-storey dining concepts are not new in other parts of the world. Singapore has Zen, for example. But in Bangkok, rich history and innovative cooking are a powerful combination.

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