Telephone Pub & Restaurant - (FERMÉ)

The new French manager is involved in increasing the quality of this old and popular gay institution in Bangkok. A new atmospher (with a new website...) and many event to come... I'm very confident with Philippe...

Upstairs for karaoke, there ,as well as in the restaurant below, I have noticed a sort of vagueness and something like diffidence/lack of confidence in the staff, maybe due to their English skills not being so good? They may take a table's order by jotting a few notes on what looks like a very small piece of paper, and you have to make sure you get in with your own individual order, or they might just take off with the order of your friends who are quicker. This all came to a head tonight, when in karaoke, as we were finishing the first course and my friends are still singing and the staff start to take a few dishes away, I jumped in with an order for a banana split, having no idea whether my friends wanted dessert. The waiter, with a long schoolboy-style fringe over his brow and solidly built, SEEMED to understand my shouted out order, giving me a sight nod as he walked away with dishes, although smile-free! If he had not understood, I thought he would come back to check on what it was that I wanted, but I thought " a banana split" is a fairly distinctive phrase. About 15 minutes later, with no sign of it and being concerned my friends might not want to wait too long as none had placed an order for dessert, I got a Thai speaking friend from Laos to check on the order. A slightly built young man said no order for a banana split had been taken, confirming this from the "fringe waiter" as he kind of bustled by with a bucket or something, and then this second waiter "officially" took the order, my Laos companion, an assertive person, being sure he had settled the matter. Another 15 minutes later, the bill having been brought and paid, and another of my companions, ready to move on, staring at me as if I was a kind of moron, I press my Laos friend if he thought the order was taken. He assured me the staff understood, and they had ordered me the banana split. As I was starting to get a bit obstreperous, my Laos friend pressed the second waiter as to whether they had taken an order for a banana split, and the answer was a very clear "No"! Something needs to be done about those waiters skills. More positively, their baked potato with broccoli and cheese sauce, keeps me going back there!

One thing you can rely on when you go to Silom Soi 4 is that Telephone Pub will be open no matter what. I went back for the first time after two years and nothing has changed. I even ordered my drinks with the same staff. The drink was nice and strong. A good place to watch people strutting down the run-way.

Been here many times over the years but returning this time - June 2015 - it is sadly going downhill. The air conditioning is very good and keeps inside nice and cool but the staff are not as friendly as they used to be - they stand around drinking behind the bar and by the end of the evening some were quite drunk. The food was always good here but the portion sizes have been reduced considerably - but the price stays the same. It is what happens when a bar rests on its laurels - time for a new BKK gay bar to remind them how it is done

My first trip to BKK and friends bring me over for some karaoke session. When we arrived there, only few people inside that's fine due is weekday. After we order a big tower beer, and some side dish (seems only our table order most a lot) With some song, the staff only keep playing the song that we ordered and let other people sing the song. We keep waiting and waiting yet when come to our turn, only play 2 song for 4 of us. Yet other few people average everyone have 2 song. After we ask where are our song? The staff acknowledge they do not know which song is from our table! Wtf! We pay so much for beer and food and the staff not even take good care of the guest. Feel disappointed.

My first time at Telephone Pub was in August 2012, and I must say I had a good time! Great and friendly crowd, and you get the chance to "people-watch" across nearby bars. Cocktails are not so great but worth the price.

Nothing much changes with Telephone Bar. It is still Soi4's center of gravity. The outside terrace is still the place to sit. Management have done a slight refresh with new signs and installed even more ultra-violet lights. This makes everyone looked more tanned, but be warned - don't wear black. Every single flake or bit of fluff will radiate more than a peach from a Fukushima fruit farm.