The buzz: Another wine bar, you moan. But wait, this one isn’t doing the usual Italian fusion thing. Instead, it’s all about pairing wines with Isaan cuisine, a notoriously difficult entreprise.

The décor: Located on the second floor of a blue house in community mall Nawamin Festival Walk, Noreste is decorated with bird cages, old-school tiles and French windows, which combine to create a European country house atmosphere. There’s also a deck where you can smoke shisha with flavors like apple, grape and mint (B400).

The food: Here too, the owner promises to bring full-on Isaan flavors. You can start by trying the chicken wings stuffed with laab (B150), or opt for some popular dishes like somtam kai kem pla duk foo (papaya salad with salted egg and deep-fried catfish, B160), laab salmon (salmon in herbal sauce, B320) and grilled lamb (B450). They even have jim joom (Isaan hotpot, B480), just like on the street, but with Ko Khun beef (a renowned beef from Isaan).

The drinks: Over 40 labels of red, white and sparkling (mostly Italian wines) starting from B650 while classic cocktails are B180.

The crowd: Shoppers, couples on dates and trendy families.