December 16, 2011

No Idea Bar - Sukhumvit Soi 22.

No Idea Bar - Sukhumvit Road, Soi 22.
Website
Yes that is the name and it causes confusion. I said to a friend I will meet you at, he said what is the name of the bar, I replied yeah you get it- it went on for a bit until he understood I did have an idea and it was no idea.
In fact the whole idea is by David - formerly of Soi 8 pub which he sold two years ago. It seems that he got bored sitting at home and thought he needed something to do - so he volunteered for another stint of 7 day weeks and 18 hour days - must have been very bored! There is some unhappiness by the buyers of Soi 8 who thought that they had a contract saying David could not run a similar business for 3 years - unfortunately for them they neglected to put his name in the contract of sale. It was I am told a very long contract covering very eventuality known to man but failed in one vital area: lawyers - what more can you say!
No Idea bills itself as a gastro pub and I am amazed that idea has taken so long to get here. In the UK now the only pubs still open in most rural areas are Gastro Pubs. The concept is basically a food driven pub - in other words targeting the eating trade as opposed to the boozing trade that was the attraction of the traditional pub.
Located in the site once operated by Larry's Dive, No Idea had only been open a couple of weeks when I dropped in and David was impressed with the response so far. There are some pleasant outside balconies as well as bars up and downstairs. The downstairs is minimalist with plenty of open space and some sensible furniture. The upstairs has proved to be the more popular area with more furniture and an internal terrace that looks down to the downstairs, as well as a very popular outside one that overlooks the building site that is to become a Holiday Inn. The menu is comprehensive enough with a decent snack/Tapas section which we hit to start with. Knowing Soi 8 I was confident the food would be good and it was; and as expected there was a decent wine list. In addition a live band was providing entertainment.
All in all I wish David luck - for an ex heavy metal jock he has adapted to the 'trade' well and he puts in the effort and attention to detail that should ensure another cracking success. And to show his commitment he has even banned smoking inside - from a man with David's habit dedication indeed!

Posted by Sam at 2:11 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack