Song Wat Road is currently regarded as Bangkok’s No. 1 place for good coffee. It also happens to be one of Bangkok’s historic thoroughfares, hugging the Chao Phraya River at the edge of Chinatown. “Song Wat” translates as “Drawn by the King”, as King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) had personally hand-drawn how he wanted the road to be built after a devastating fire in 1906 destroyed over half of Samphaeng, Bangkok’s Chinatown district.
The old, atmospheric Song Wat Road, lined with century-old Sino-Portuguese shophouses (similar to those in Singapore and Penang’s Chinatowns) received a shot of rejuvenation around 2016 when street mural artists converged on the area, transforming dilapidated walls of the derelict shophouses into giant, colourful mural art pieces. Post-COVID, a spurt of new lifestyle cafes, art galleries, and retail outlets took over the place, gentrifying Song Wat Road into Bangkok’s trendiest café precinct today.
Coffee came to Thailand (then Siam) back during the reign of Rama III (1824-1851), introduced by Dutch traders from Batavia (modern-day Jakarta), Java. Subsequently, the earliest coffee houses are located in the Chinatown area: the ever-popular Eiah-Sae, which is 96-years-old this year, and its older sibling, 104-years-old Ek Teng Phu Ki, previously spartan but very much revamped post-COVID.
We stopped by Song Wat Coffee Roasters, supposedly the one which led this new wave of serious coffee roasters & brewers since it opened back on May 5 2023.
Very spartan decor.
We tried both hot and cold versions of their house brew, plus some pastries - a pain au chocolat, and a green tea matcha canele.
Seriously good, strong coffee here.
Address
Song Wat Coffee Roasters
578 Song Wat Road, Khwaeng Chakkrawat, Khet Samphanthawong, Bangkok 10100, Thailand
Opening hours: 9:00am - 5:00pm Mon to Fri, 9:00am - 6:00pm Sat & Sun.
