Ari, Bangkok: a Saturday in 14 stops, from breakfast to the bar

Ari is where a lot of Bangkok spends its Saturday: a leafy grid of lanes off BTS Ari, five stops north of Siam, full of cafes, old Thai kitchens and small shops. If you only do three things, have khao soi at Ongtong for lunch, a matcha at Matcha People or a pour-over at NANA, and dinner at Lay Lao. Everything below is within about 12 minutes' walk of the station.

We checked every place in October 2026: still open, hours, closed days and prices. Hours in Ari move around, so tap the map link before you go.

The quick list

How do you get to Ari and walk it?

Take the BTS Sukhumvit Line to Ari, five stops north of Siam and about 15 minutes away. Leave by exit 3. It puts you at the mouth of Soi Ari, which is also signed Phahonyothin Soi 7. Most of this list is on Soi Ari itself or in the smaller lanes around it, numbered Soi Ari 1 to 5. Exit 4 is for La Villa, the community mall with the supermarket.

Ari is flat and you can walk all of it. The heat is what slows you down. Every walk time here is from exit 3, and most are our estimates from the map, so allow a few minutes more. On a hot afternoon, take a motorbike taxi or a Grab for the longer hops out to Soi Ari 5.

Chatuchak Weekend Market is two stops further north at Mo Chit. If you want both, do the market first thing and come back down to Ari for lunch.

Where to have breakfast in Ari

Start south of the station, on and around Soi Ratchakhru (Phahonyothin Soi 5). One Thai breakfast, one European, and a bag of Thai sweets for later.

Thanee Khao Moo Daeng

Go for red pork and crispy pork on rice. A shophouse on Phahonyothin Road at the corner of Soi Ratchakhru, a four-minute walk south of the station, that's been feeding Ari's office workers for years. Order khao moo daeng moo krob: slices of red roast pork and crackling pork belly over rice, under a thick, sweet-savoury red gravy that regulars rave about. A plate is 85 baht, add a boiled egg for 20. It's open every day from 8am to 4pm and has air conditioning now. The lunch crowd is the problem, so come for breakfast or after 2pm, and bring cash. Map

Landhaus Bakery

Go for the bread and a slow breakfast in the garden. A European-style bakery a few minutes down Phahonyothin Soi 5, about 400 metres from the station, with tables inside and in a shady garden that a cat has claimed. You pick from the counter and pay. Get the apple strudel (179 baht) or a cinnamon Danish (75), and take a loaf of the Florianer rye (200) home if you have a kitchen. A butter croissant is 115. Open Tuesday to Sunday, 7am to 7pm, closed Mondays. Map

Khanom Wan Maliwan

Go for Thai sweets, before they sell out. A small dessert shop at the start of Soi Ari 1, two minutes from the station. It started as a street cart and has been in Ari for more than 40 years. Everything is made that morning, and it's less sweet than most Thai desserts. Pick up khanom chan, the layered cake in pandan or butterfly pea, and black sticky rice under coconut cream, at roughly 20 to 60 baht a piece. Go by 10am, because the popular ones are gone by late morning. It's open on Saturdays, but listings disagree on the other days, so check before a weekday trip. Map

Which Ari cafes are worth it?

Ari has dozens of cafes, and Thai cafe-hoppers come from across the city to work through them. These two are the ones we'd pick for a Saturday morning. For more, our Bangkok cafes list has Ari's other good coffee and the rest of the city.

NANA Coffee Roasters

Go for the coffee. Ari's best-known roaster, in a glass room by a garden on Soi Ari 4, about six minutes from the station. Order a pour-over of a Thai single origin and ask the staff what's good that week. Coffee starts at about 150 baht. Open 8am to 6pm at weekends (7am on weekdays). On a Saturday, late morning brings a queue, so go before ten or after two. Map

Matcha People

Go for the matcha. Time Out calls it Ari's current matcha darling, and the weekend wait says the same: on a Saturday afternoon, expect up to 20 minutes. It's on Soi Ari next door to the Le Labo shop, about five minutes from the station. Have the Matcha People latte, or the Matcha Floral Granita if it's hot, with a piece of the matcha shortbread. We couldn't find a current price list, so check the board. Open every day from 8am to 5pm. Map

Where to eat lunch in Ari

Soi Ari is lined with Thai kitchens, and these three cover the north, the old Bangkok home cooking and the south. All are within seven minutes of the station.

Ongtong Khaosoi

Go for khao soi. Northern Thailand's curry noodle soup, from a Chiang Mai noodle shop that opened its first Bangkok branch here in 2017, two minutes into Soi Ari from exit 3. Order the chicken khao soi, or the dry version, stir-fried with the curry, if you've had the soup before. Add a side of sai ua, the herby northern sausage, or nam phrik num, the green chilli dip with pork crackling. The broth is rich with coconut milk and only mildly hot. Expect 100 to 200 baht a dish, a bit more than a normal noodle bowl and worth it. Open daily from 9am to 8:30pm, busiest around noon. Map

Baan Puengchom

Go for old-style Thai dishes you won't see elsewhere. A Thai restaurant on Soi Ari, about 400 metres from the station, that long-time Ari residents have brought their families to for years. The dish to order is woon sen pad sam men, glass noodles stir-fried with three strong-smelling vegetables, and it's better than it sounds. Add neua tod khun mee, the house fried beef, and banana blossom fritters. Most dishes cost 130 to 235 baht. Saturday lunch runs 11am to 2pm and dinner from 4pm to 9pm; it's closed on Sundays. It gets loud and full, so call ahead to book. Map

Paknang

Go for southern Thai curries. Family recipes from Pak Phanang in Nakhon Si Thammarat, served on Soi Ari near the corner of Soi Ari 5, about seven minutes' walk in. Get a kaeng som (sour curry), the kaeng tai pla if you like it fierce and funky, and fish or squid fried with turmeric. Finish with bua loi, rice balls in coconut milk, here served with coconut ice cream. Expect 250 to 500 baht a head. Open daily from 11am to 9pm, and there's a working vintage jukebox upstairs. Map

What to do in Ari in the afternoon

After lunch, Ari slows down. Do what Bangkok does here: a dessert, a wander through the small malls and shops on Soi Ari 4 North and Soi Ari 5, and somewhere cool to sit in the hottest hours.

Thongyoy Cafe

Go for Thai desserts in a room full of flowers. A Thai dessert brand's cafe on Soi Ari 4 North, about ten minutes from the station, decorated floor to ceiling with flowers. The cakes are Thai sweets turned into slices: try the bua loy cake, or the coconut and toddy palm cake, with a rose cocoa macchiato. Cakes run 60 to 150 baht, drinks from about 80. Good for an hour off your feet, less good for a laptop. Open daily, about 10am to 7pm. Map

GUMP'S Ari

Go for a half-hour wander. A two-storey community mall on the same lane as Thongyoy, built around a small pool, with cafes, a donut shop, a pizza place, photo booths and a few pop-ups. It's free to walk in, and it's made for photos. Donut Disturb is the pick inside (70 to 100 baht a donut). The building is open 10am to 10pm, and each shop keeps its own hours. Map

MADBACON

Go for small things to take home. A neighbourhood general store and coffee bar on Soi Ari 5, about eight minutes' walk: stationery, postcards, vintage stickers, candles, snacks and a corner of second-hand clothes. It's the easiest place in Ari to find a gift that isn't from a mall. Tuesday to Saturday 11am to 7pm, Sunday from noon, closed Mondays. They post changes on their Instagram. Map

HIDE.Selected

Go for clothes by Thai designers. A small select shop further along Soi Ari 5, about ten to twelve minutes from the station, run like a Japanese boutique and stocked with Thai labels, from clothes to leather shoes and bags. The staff are helpful, and it's a good place to find a Thai brand you can't buy at home. Open Tuesday to Sunday, noon to 7pm, closed Mondays. Map

Where to eat dinner in Ari

Paknang is open until 9pm if you liked lunch there. Otherwise, go back toward the station for the best-known dinner in Ari.

Lay Lao

Go for Isan food by the sea. A family from Hua Hin opened Lay Lao in 2014, cooking northeastern Thai food with fresh seafood, three minutes into Soi Ari. The restaurant says it has been on Michelin's Bib Gourmand list every year since 2018. Order the fried squid with Lay Lao sauce, the Luang Prabang papaya salad, the grilled pork neck and the pomelo salad, and share them. Expect 300 to 500 baht a head. It's open daily from 10:30am to 10pm and full at meal times, so book through Google Maps or get there before 6pm. Map

This is the meal where two beats one. Lay Lao's som tam list is long, the best dishes are made for sharing, and a Bangkok friend can order in Thai and split four plates with you instead of one.

Where to go for a drink in Ari

Ari's bars are small and mostly in the lanes. One stands out for a Saturday.

Bar Lookkrung Ari

Go for the band. A cocktail bar on the western edge of Ari, ten to twelve minutes' walk from the station or a short Grab, where a live band plays luk krung, Bangkok's old-fashioned ballads. The cocktails are made with Thai village spirits and flavours like kaffir lime, coconut and pomelo. Time Out says Friday and Saturday are the liveliest nights. It's open Tuesday to Sunday from 5pm to midnight, closed Mondays, and the music usually starts around 8pm; check their Instagram for the night's band. Map

A Saturday in Ari, hour by hour

Here's how we'd string it together. Swap any stop for another on the list.

1. 8:30am, exit 3. Walk south to Thanee for red pork rice, or down Soi 5 to Landhaus for pastries in the garden.
2. 9:45am, Soi Ari 1. Khanom Wan Maliwan for Thai sweets to carry.
3. 10:30am, coffee. NANA on Soi Ari 4, or matcha at Matcha People.
4. Noon, lunch. Ongtong for khao soi, or Baan Puengchom if you booked.
5. 1:30pm, Soi Ari 4 North. Dessert at Thongyoy, then a look around GUMP'S.
6. 3pm, Soi Ari 5. MADBACON, then HIDE.Selected. Both close at 7pm.
7. 5:30pm, dinner. Lay Lao, early, or Paknang.
8. 8pm, the band. Bar Lookkrung, then the BTS home from Ari.

The plan works Tuesday to Saturday. On a Sunday, Baan Puengchom and Maliwan are closed. On a Monday, Landhaus, MADBACON, HIDE.Selected and Bar Lookkrung are.

Should you stay in Ari?

Stay in Ari if you've been to Bangkok before, you're staying a week or more, or you'd rather come home to quiet lanes than to Sukhumvit. It's a residential area with cafes, cheap food and plenty of condos, and the BTS gets you to Siam in about 15 minutes and Chatuchak in two stops.

For a first, short trip, stay more central. Ari is a long way from the old town: the Grand Palace, Wat Pho and Chinatown are a 40-minute trip or more by train and road. Come to Ari for a day instead, and a Saturday is the day to do it. Our Bangkok itinerary shows where a day like this fits into a first trip.

Spend the Saturday with a Thai friend

Take this plan, pick a friend in Bangkok, send them the Saturday and the time, and meet at BTS Ari exit 3. They come along to your plan: order in Thai at Thanee, read Baan Puengchom's menu with you, share the plates at Lay Lao and take the photo at GUMP'S. You book them by the hour, and it's always platonic. Their time is the booking; food, coffee and drinks you pay on the day. If the day ends at the bar, book a friend who's 20 or over, and it stays friends only: no sex, no kissing, no harassment. Here's how booking works.

Questions people ask

What is Ari in Bangkok known for?

Cafes and food. Ari is a residential neighbourhood in Phaya Thai district, around BTS Ari, where the lanes off Soi Ari (Phahonyothin Soi 7) are packed with independent cafes, old Thai kitchens, Japanese restaurants and small bars. It's where many Bangkok people go for a slow weekend day.

What are the best things to do in Ari?

Eat and drink your way along Soi Ari. Have khao soi at Ongtong, coffee at NANA or matcha at Matcha People, Thai desserts at Thongyoy, a wander through GUMP'S Ari and the shops on Soi Ari 5, dinner at Lay Lao, and live luk krung music at Bar Lookkrung.

What are the best restaurants in Ari?

For Thai food: Lay Lao for Isan dishes with seafood, Ongtong for northern khao soi, Baan Puengchom for old-style home cooking, Paknang for southern curries, and Thanee for red pork rice. All five are within about seven minutes' walk of BTS Ari.

Is Ari a good area for a first trip to Bangkok?

To visit, yes. To stay, only if you don't mind a 40-minute trip or more to the Grand Palace and Chinatown. First-timers on a short trip do better staying near Siam, Sukhumvit or the river, and spending a day in Ari.

Is Ari worth visiting on a Sunday or Monday?

Sunday works: most of this list is open, but Baan Puengchom and Khanom Wan Maliwan are closed. Monday is the weak day, with Landhaus, MADBACON, HIDE.Selected and Bar Lookkrung all closed. The cafes and the other restaurants open every day.

How do I get to Ari?

Take the BTS Sukhumvit Line to Ari station: five stops and about 15 minutes north of Siam, two stops south of Mo Chit for Chatuchak. Use exit 3 for Soi Ari.