I have returned from a quick three day trip to Bangkok to bear witness to Xiaomi’s huge Q1 launch with their Redmi Note 13 series. I happened to have their top of the line model, the Note 13 Pro+ 5G. I wanted to test the device’s superb night mode, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone and tour a speakeasy bar that was recommended by a local friend.
Enter Rabbit Hole, a consistent dean’s lister in Asia’s 50 Best Bars, placing 34th in 2019 and 31 in 2020. Upon arriving via Grab, it took me about 3 minutes to find my bearings as I completely forgot I was looking for a speakeasy, which meant that it was hard to find. After making a wrong turn into a dark alleyway, I circled back and asked some of the locals where Rabbit Hole was by showing them a photo of their Instagram account. Lo and behold, the bar was right in front of me just a few minutes ago when I got out of my Grab ride.
This was the door. I thought it was an extension of the ramen bar right beside it. RH. Rabbit Hole. It was hiding in plain sight.
I pushed the door open and voila! Cocktail paradise on a Sunday night. Whiffs of Cedar. Jasmine. Peat. Two bartenders catering to a crowd of about 10 people in a three storey establishment. Barely the speakeasy and yet, quaint and hidden. My kind of place.
For my first drink, I was craving for peat. This is GRILL. Rabbit Hole keeps their ingredients conspicuous so I am not sure if the menu was talking about flavor notes or actual ingredients prepared as a reduction or whatever. They had me at artichoke amaro.
Drink number two is Rock and Roll. This took a while to make as I had told the bartender to give me an old fashioned with a twist. Served with a tiny record replica on top of the drink, it doubles as a coaster. For this they used Jack Daniels as the alcohol base and it seems like their bitters are made of sweet soy sauce with … onions. Topped with smoke. I must say I was a little disappointed that the bartenders didn’t show off the smoke gun (the record keeps the smoke in). Other bars like Raging Bull in Shangri-La BGC or Alibi Bar in Crimson Filinvest put on a wonderful show with smoke. Nonetheless, really good.
Last but not the least, I wanted to end the night with something really different. I ended up with what seemed like a Vietnamese Coffee cocktail. With condensed milk and all. I am not sure if they used clarified milk, but boy did it hit the spot. They have an espresso shot on the side which you can pour in at your level of bitterness.
Of course, I had an unli-serving of BBQ flavored banana chips.
I must say, I think I was lucky to have dropped by on a not-so-busy Sunday night as the photos on Instagram can paint a different picture of the place as being quite full. The drinks themselves are not the most attractive looking cocktails in my years of reviewing bars, but it seems like RH’s beverage program is all about sensory experiences being drink-focused. I could be wrong, but all three drinks had similar presentation characteristics. No cherries or garnishes (save for the pandan leaf on drink number one but that barely counts).
3/3 would go again. Redmi Note 13 Pro+ 5G was my bar companion that night, and it didn’t fail in anything. Consider this for the night shots.
Rabbit Hole: 125 Thong Lo, Khwaeng Khlong Tan Nuea, Watthana, Krung Thep Maha Nakhon 10110, Thailand
P.S. I wondered a lot about the tech behind this device’s camera so I did some digging and found this video from MWC 2023 explaining the tech.