My friends live in the Chong Nonsi neighborhood of Silom and introduced me to their neighborhood haunt Le Cafe des Stagiaires. The multiple story building is home to the main bar on the ground floor as well as a restaurant and living quarters for the interns (les stagiaires). Mostly from France, the bar offers young French people the opportunity to work here in exchange for the lodging. It seems like a great work exchange program, but I’ve heard some things about it being more similar to indentured servitude? That of course gives me great pause, but all of the staff that I’ve spoken with have been beyond cool and seem to be incredibly happy, so I continue to count it amongst my favorite bars in Bangkok.

They make a really mean Espresso Martini and it is here that I discovered The Godmother – a variant of The Godfather Cocktail that uses vodka instead of whisky in equal parts with Amaretto. Oh and they also serve really good food, because well, they are French!