Saan Songwat

A short walk brought me to Saan Songwat, less a café than a small world packed into one shophouse. One corner holds handicrafts by village artisans, another stocks balms and soaps made with Thai ingredients, while local designers rework traditional motifs into genuinely covetable pieces elsewhere. Almost as an afterthought, a craft-soda counter serves homemade ice cream made with local fruit. Its mixed berry sorbet ranks among the best I’ve tried in more than 20 years of enthusiastically overdoing ice cream. Saan also opens daily – genuinely useful on a street where many favourites disappear on seemingly random weekdays.

837 Song Wat Rd., Samphanthawong, Bangkok 10100. Daily, 10am-7pm.