One of the trendy cafes in Bangkok, Thailand is Bangkok Baking Company at the JW Marriot Hotel. Popular for its location near Bangkok’s sky train and on the ground floor of a western hotel, people also enjoy Bangkok Baking Company for its beautiful outdoor patio, where you can sit and watch the world walk by. It first caught my eye a few years ago, when I had a business meeting at the Marriott and I’ve eaten there a few times since. While Bangkok Baking Company is a lovely cafe and restaurant, it’s not a place I’d eat at often simply because of the price.
Where is Bangkok Baking Company? – Easy to find, just take the BTS sky train to Nana station, and head to the JW Marriott Hotel, which you can see from the sky train. It’s on Sukhumvit Road, between sois 2 and 4 and you’ll find Bangkok Baking Company on the ground floor – look for the large glass doors and the burgundy-red umbrellas in a pretty patio area.
Design of Bangkok Baking Company – One reason why Bangkok Baking Company is popular is its trendy atmosphere and design. Inside, there’s a large modern restaurant area with comfy chairs and modern glass top tables and, with its bold splashes of color, it’s cheerful. Outside, you’ve got the lovely patio area surrounded by exotic foliage and burgundy-red umbrellas to keep the sun off. The patio looks out over Sukhumvit Road, so it’s a wonderful place to watch all the craziness of Bangkok, while you enjoy a good latte and a nice meal.
The Menu at Bangkok Baking Company – While, from the name, you’d expected a lot o baked goods, sure they have those. But the main attraction of the cafe is the ‘real food’ they serve. Everything from soups and salads to sandwiches, pizzas, fish and chips, bangers and mash and various styles of pasta. Portions are large but, as prices are quite high (for Bangkok), they really should be.
Everything I’ve eaten at Bangkok Baking Company has been excellent. Try the smoked chicken rigatoni (lovely with the shitake mushrooms), the seared tuna salad is nice and I’ve eaten the Reuben sandwich three times, as it’s that good.
Don’t miss their smoothies, they’re freshly made and delicious and, of course, their muffins, brownies and cookies are amazing.
My main grumble with the restaurant though are the prices. Sure, they’re located in the JW Marriott, but when lattes are 75 cents more expensive than Starbucks (and Starbucks is already double normal Bangkok price), when a sandwich is almost $10 and a four cheese pizza is the same, it’s crazy when I can get Thai food for $1.20 a plate, and western food at a thousand other places for $5 or less.
So, yes, while I do enjoy the food at Bangkok Baking Company, I only really go anymore when I’m either with my boyfriend and he’s paying (he’s Thai, he always does!) or if I’m on an expense account. Call me ‘cheap’, but with literally tens of thousands of other Bangkok restaurants, where I can get an amazing meal for $1-2, why would I spend five times that for a pizza?