The buzz: One of the founding members of the Beer Lovers in Thailand community and the guy behind Niche Café at The Ninth community mall, Prasert “Geng” Sritaborvornpaiboon, furthers his passion by opening the standalone Niche Beer Ville. The huge venue, sat right across from The Crystal Park, promises a wide selection of craft beers from all over the world, including some rare drops.      

The décor: With its European village theme, the place reminds us of Chocolate Ville, and Geng says it’s intended to resemble a small town in Belgium. There’s a beer garden with plenty of seats, as well as an old container-come-stage to one side for daily live entertainment and huge projector screens for the weekend football matches. Inside is all about bare cement, light brown wooden furnishings and white couches. Adding a little excitement are all the beer-related decorations, which come from the owner’s personal collection. Geng explains that he would like to turn the indoor space into a beer museum in the future.            

The music: Bands doing Thai and international covers every day from 7:30pm-midnight.

The crowd: Neighboring office workers dropping by for dinner and drinks, plus beer lovers who would drive across the city for a good variety of brews.      

The price: Bavaria, Weienstephan, La Trappe, Hoegaarden, Hoegaarden Rose, Stella Artois and Boddingtons are all available on tap (B230/pint, B120-190/half pint), with over 140 choices by the bottle, including craft beers like Hitachino, Brewdog, St. Bernadus and Chapeau (B200-590). As an alternative to all the beer, there are the standard whiskey options from Johnnie Walker but no cocktails—not to worry, we suggest you try some fruit beer instead. Food is a very wide range of Thai-international fusion, as Geng explains that he grew up in a wong lao [a drinking circle] and often had to use whatever was left in the fridge to whip up some drinking food. Offerings include rolled chicken stuffed with mushroom and bacon (B295), 12-hour slow-cooked lamb shank (B490), black-ink pasta with river prawns (B345) and spicy smoked salmon salad and fruit (B185). There will also serve sheesha in mixes like apple, grape and mint with cola and apple, orange and mint with jasmine water soon (price TBA).     

Why you’ll come back: For the wonderful variety of imported beers served up in a chill atmosphere and the unusual pop-up promotions (like free beers for Arsenal fans when the team wins). All through April, the bar is running a Summer Beer Festival, starting with Bavaria Week, which offers a buy-two-get-one-free deal on Bavaria through Apr 6. They plan to run a home brew school soon, too, so keep a keen eye on BK+. Vasachol Quadri