By BK staff
published Jan 27, 2011
Selecting the winners for Reader’s Choice Awards is really, really simple. Readers vote online, we count the votes, we publish the results. And yet, we’re constantly approached by skeptics who ask if we fudged things this way or that. What can we say? This year, we did our drinking mainly at WTF and Soul Food—neither of which won a mention here. And that’s the point. This isn’t about BK’s writers, it’s about our readers. And here’s what they (you) thought were the best places to chill out, party on, feel great or just escape from it all.
Chill Out
Favorite Wine Store: Wine Connection
New category, new face, stunning win. With nearly three times as many votes as its closest rival (Central Wine Cellar), Wine Connection clinches the title.
Favorite Mall: CentralWorld
Maybe it’s post-protest sympathy, or B80 movies on Wednesdays, or the new ice-skating rink, but CentralWorld managed to stay fresh enough to keep its crown for another year.
Favorite Coffee Shop/Dessert place: Starbucks
Will you be terribly surprised if we tell you Starbucks won—again! (And by a long way.)
Favorite Phone: iPhone
Favorite Automobile: BMW
Favorite Credit Card: Citibank
Party On
Favorite Bar: Bed Supperclub
Bed wins comfortably. What’s interesting is how close Iron Fairies and Hyde & Seek came to runner-up Q Bar.
Favorite New Bar: Hyde & Seek
As you might have guessed from the above, Hyde & Seek wins by a narrow margin. Runners-up: Iron Fairies, Funky Villa, Fat Gutz. That’s two bars (Iron Fairies and Fat Gutz) in the top four from the same owner: Kudos to Ash Sutton.
Favorite Venue for Live music: Saxophone
Favorite Jazz bar: Saxophone
Why Saxophone suddenly plummeted in the charts last year, we’ll never understand. This year, they’re back at the top, pushing Brown Sugar to second place. In the Jazz Bar category, near identical results.
Favorite Venue for DJs: Bed Supperclub
It’s Bed again, with a comfortable lead over Q Bar.
Favorite Beer: Heineken
Heineken beats Singha. Then comes Hoegaarden and Asahi. My, how posh you guys are. Ever heard of Chang, Cheers and Leo?
Favorite Spirit: Absolut
Sweden’s Absolut gets more than twice as many votes as France’s Grey Goose. Sacre bleu!
Cutest Staff: Bed Supperclub
Most Overrated Bar: Bed Supperclub
Again, two sets of near-identical results with wins for Bed followed by Q Bar and Hyde & Seek. Which allows us to present you with this theory: can one equate having hot staff with being overrated? That would make BK Magazine very, very overrated.
Feel Great
Favorite Spa: Health Land
Clean and professional, the chain beats the five-star hotels thanks to its pocket-friendly prices.
Favorite Fitness Club: Fitness First
Fitness First barely beat True Fitness last year. What a difference a year makes. It’s a clear win for 2011, and California Wow is back from third place to runner-up. True is now a distant third.
Favorite Yoga/Pilates Studio: Absolute Yoga
Favorite Hospital: Bumrungrad
Favote Beauty Clinic: Romrawin Skin & Beauty Clinic
Get Away
Favorite Airline for Travel within Southeast Asia (domestic and regional): Air Asia
Air Asia wins yet again but there’s lot of change from year to year in the runner-ups. Bangkok Airways nearly clinched the title in 2010, but has toppled in the charts since. THAI, on the other-hand, makes a strong comeback, and was within five votes of a win!
Favorite Airline for Travel Outside Southeast Asia: THAI Airways
Favorite hotel (outside Bangkok): Let’s Sea
A lot of you voted for chains (in that sense, Sheraton is the combined winner), but when it comes to picking one individual property, Hua Hin’s Let’s Sea is still your top choice.
EATING OUT
Favorite New Restaurant: Hyde & Seek
Favorite Steak Place: New York Steak House
Favorite Buffet: JW Marriott (Marriott Cafe)
Favorite Sunday Brunch: Four Seasons
Most Overrated Restaurant: Sirocco
Favorite Western Restaurant: Sizzler
Favorite Restaurant: Fuji
Favorite Asian Restaurant: Fuji
From BK Magazine Website
BK Magazine Readers' Choice Awards 2011 (ENV.)
