Smalls Jazz Bar Bangkok occupies a three-level converted shophouse on Soi Suan Phlu, run by David Jacobson of Q Bar fame. The interiors lean Parisian, with exposed brickwork, heavy curtains, and a contemporary art collection Jacobson curates himself. Live jazz runs from Wednesday through the weekend, rotating with DJ sets later in the night. It is a live music bar in Suan Phlu, Bangkok, and one of the few venues in the city where an absinthe program sits at the centre of the cocktail list rather than the edges.
The bar landed at No. 42 on Asia's 50 Best Bars 2019, which cemented its reputation beyond the neighbourhood regulars. Smalls keeps late hours, opening at 6pm and running through to 2am six nights a week (closed Tuesdays), and the French bistro kitchen stays active well past midnight.
You enter at street level into a dim, lived-in room where the jazz sets usually happen. Take the stairs up and the mood shifts: a second floor with more seating and art, and a rooftop terrace with its own bar and a view over the low-rise Sathorn skyline. The rooftop fills fast on weekends, so call ahead if that is where you want to land. Service is unhurried and conversational, the crowd skews international with a steady base of Bangkok regulars, and nobody rushes you out when the music stops.
The absinthe service is the house signature, poured from a deep selection with bottles running from around 350 to 700 baht and often built into the cocktail list. Signature cocktails sit around the 12 dollar mark, many constructed around that same absinthe stock rather than the usual gin or rum templates. From the French bistro kitchen, expect late-night burgers and pizza alongside bistro plates designed to pair with a second or third round. Live jazz four nights a week and rotating DJ sets round out what Smalls actually sells, which is a full evening rather than a single drink.
Smalls sits on Soi Suan Phlu 1 in the Suan Phlu pocket of Sathorn, a quieter residential stretch that borders Silom. The nearest station is MRT Lumphini, roughly a ten to fifteen minute taxi or tuk-tuk ride depending on traffic, and the soi itself is easiest to reach by car since it runs off the main Suan Phlu road.
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