"OOOBkk is a lesson learned from our previous openings,” confesses Fah Veratumpoonsawat, one of the founders of One Ounce for Onion, the hip coffee shop that helped pioneer Bangkok’s café culture a few years ago. It was known for serving exceptional brews that catered to more experienced taste buds, as well as food that carried eclectic and, at times confusing, multicultural concepts. “Many people felt we didn’t compromise when it came to coffee,” Fah continues. “We used to refuse customers who would order an iced espresso or an iced cappuccino, and only offered light roasted brews with an acidic acquired taste.”
This strict coffee code has changed, however, at OOOBkk, the newly christened, newly relocated One Ounce for Onion.
OOOBkk is actually a playful acronym for One Ounce for Onion. “The name would ring a bell for our old customers, but at the same time invoke curiosity in those who haven’t heard of us,” Fah explains. The resurrected establishment is now located in the suburban area of Town and Town, in a warehousestyle bungalow defined by gray concrete and and industrialminimalist aesthetics. Slanted ceilings and sun roofs bring in natural light and add warmth to the somewhat austere interiors.
Apart from basic espresso variations, OOOBkk now has those iced drinks that they were so averse to serving in their previous shop. “We have taken these kinds of coffee, reexamined them to find out what kind of flavors or experience the customers look for, and redid them in our way,” Fah says. The result is a very strong and thick iced espresso (B90) enhanced by condensed texture and complex flavor from palm sugar, and iced cappuccino (B95) topped with coffee foam made from a mix of milk, coffee and cream.
As for their regular coffee, the shop has collaborated with beans supplier Espressoman to proffer three different kinds of blends. There’s a mildly-roasted blend of Ethiopian and Colombian beans with fruity and acidic notes, a nutty medium-roasted blend that uses Thai or Brazilian beans, and a dark roasted brew made from Thai beans.
Also worth mentioning is Coffee Granita (B135), a refreshing treat made with coffee, lemon and honey, and the extra-creamy Coffee Cream Shake (B130).
Multicultural fare still makes it to the food menu but presented in a more straightforward way. We recommend the open toast sandwich with smoked aubergine paste and beetroot tartare (B180), the fried chicken with pesto made from Chinese herbs (B240), and the Koreanstyle “pizza” (B260) topped with tteokbokki (Korean rice cake) and bolognese sauce made from tomatoes, kojujang (Korean chili paste) and fish sauce.