[Bangkok] Talad Noi must have become the ‘new’-found area to visit in Bangkok – located at the edge of Chinatown and filled with alleyways of street art and hipster cafes.
At one of Bangkok’s oldest neighbourhoods, this is where you can get lost and stumble upon a hidden gem in the form of an instagrammable indie café.
Mother Roaster can be one of them. I was here with a purpose.
Though without Google Maps and a friend leading me here, I may have gotten lost or taken a longer than usual route.
Expect a rustic charm when you get to Mother Roaster, a café helmed by 70-year-old Pim, better known as the grandmother who is also a barista. People call her ”Pa Pim” meaning “Auntie Pim”.
With three decades of coffee brewing experience, you know you will be in for a great afternoon.
Even as you enter the ‘café’, you may be in for a surprise as it looked like an unused workshop. Converted from a car engine parts shop, the ground level is left almost as it is.
The café is on the second floor of an old shophouse, which you have to carefully climb up a flight of narrow stairs. My friend kept telling me to ”be careful”, as after all I was busy absorbing the sights and filming some IGS.
Up on the higher level, the space is decked out completely with hanging pots of plants and light bulbs in upside down fishbowls.
Seating at Mother Roaster is a puzzle, with plastic stools littered around and mixed with cheap IKEA-like chairs.
It almost feels like I have stepped into the home of an eccentric grandma, and I say this with the utmost endearment.
Getting down to business, the hand drip filter coffee is not a drink that you should, or can, miss out on.
Coffee both iced and hot are the same price; a cup of hand drip coffee with local beans is 100 THB while imported beans are 120 THB.
If you are lucky, you will watch Pim (or one of the baristas) carefully tilt a metal kettle to pour hot water over the coffee grounds. The result is robust and pleasing, all at a great price.
The famous Single Snow White (140 THB) is concocted by pulling a single espresso shot and shaking it with cold milk. This creates a glass of milk with a caramel tint to it.
Adventurous ones might want to order the cryptic Good Sometimes Bad (160 THB), which I will not explain to keep it a mystery.
Just kidding. It is similar to a cup of dirty coffee, where each sip is supposed to bring you the aroma of the milk first, before punching you with the intensity of the coffee.
The flip side of this would naturally be the Bad Sometimes Good (160 THB). It is a panna cotta topped with coffee and milk: you get the harsh flavour of the coffee before smoothing it out with the sweetness of the panna cotta.
Oh, and Mother Roaster does not use any single-use plastic – remember to return the cups.
These coffees are pretty much the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the items at Mother Roaster.
There is a variety of savoury bites and sweet desserts to accompany your coffee, but that will be for you to find out for yourself.
Mother Roaster
1172 Soi Chareonkrung 22, Talat Noi, Samphanthawong, Bangkok 10100
Opening Hours: 10am – 6pm (Mon – Sun)
Google Maps – Mother Roaster
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