The Cocktail Bar at Bisou: Where to Drink in Cherngtalay

Some nights begin at the table. The better ones begin at the bar.

Bisou is a modern French restaurant in Cherngtalay, but the way to understand the room is to start with the drink in your hand. The concept is cocktail-bar forward: the bar is a lead element, not an afterthought tucked behind the wine. If you have been hunting for a proper cocktail bar in Cherngtalay, somewhere to drink before or after dinner without driving across the island, this is the short answer.

A cocktail bar in Cherngtalay, made for the aperitif

The French have a word for the stretch of evening before dinner, and they treat it as sacred. The aperitif is not a warm-up. It is the part where the night decides what kind of night it wants to be. At Bisou, that ritual sits at the center of the experience, "simple & sexy" rather than fussy, low light and a low hum and a glass that means something.

The drinks program is run with intent. Founders Antoine Darquin, the chef, and Theo Lavergne, the sommelier, built a list that pairs a cocktail bar with a French-leaning wine list, so you can move from a cocktail into a glass of something from the south of France without ever feeling like you changed venues. Order at the bar. Order at the table. The line between the two is deliberately soft.

We will not pretend to print the menu here, because the pleasure of a good bar is partly the discovery. What we will say: this is a place that takes the craft seriously and the mood lightly.

Where to drink in Bang Tao, before or after dinner

Bang Tao and Cherngtalay have become the part of Phuket where people actually live the evening, not just pass through it. The beach, the Laguna Phuket enclave, the slow grid of restaurants off Bandon-Cherngtalay Road: it is a neighborhood that rewards staying out.

Bisou fits two moments in that night.

Before dinner, an opening act

Arrive early, take a seat at the bar, and let the aperitif do its work while the room fills. It is the civilized way to start, whether you are dining with us or heading somewhere else along Bang Tao afterward. See what is coming out of the kitchen on the menu if you want to make a night of it.

After dinner, a nightcap that lingers

The other use is the one Cherngtalay is quietly short on: a grown-up place for the last drink. Bisou runs late, nightly until 1:00 AM, which makes it a natural close to an evening that started elsewhere near Bang Tao Beach. Come for the nightcap. Stay because you did not want the night to end.

The best of both: cocktails with a French kitchen behind them

Here is what separates a cocktail bar attached to a restaurant from a cocktail bar that happens to serve food. At Bisou, the kitchen is the reason the bar is good. A French restaurant thinks in pairings by instinct, so what arrives in the glass is built to sit next to what arrives on the plate. That is the case for calling this one of the more considered places to drink in Cherngtalay, not just one of the easiest to reach.

Planning something larger, a celebration or a group taking over a corner of the evening? The room handles that too. See private events, or start at the home page to get the full shape of the place.

Bisou. Simple, sexy, and open when you want the night to keep going.

Read next: Where to eat in Bang Tao and the best beach clubs in Phuket.

FAQ

Does Bisou have a cocktail bar?

Yes. Bisou is a cocktail-bar-forward modern French restaurant in Cherngtalay. The bar is a lead element of the room, with a cocktail program sitting alongside a French-leaning wine list, built by chef Antoine Darquin and sommelier Theo Lavergne.

Where is the cocktail bar in Cherngtalay?

Bisou is at No.4 Bandon-Cherngtalay Rd, Choeng Thale, Thalang, Phuket 83110, near Bang Tao Beach and Laguna Phuket. It is an easy stop before or after dinner anywhere in the Bang Tao and Cherngtalay area.

What time does the bar open?

Bisou is open for dinner nightly from 6:00 PM until 1:00 AM, so the bar is your spot for both an early aperitif and a late nightcap.

Do I need a reservation to drink at the bar?

A reservation is always the safe move, especially in season. You can book at book.bistrochat.com/bisou-phuket, or follow along on Instagram at instagram.com/bisouphuket.