You can usually find some Aussies hanging outside Lotus most nights of the week but Wednesday was especially busy, as the modern Thai restaurant/bar celebrated its third anniversary with an all-out bash.
'We're lucky because we have a loyal following,' Lawrence Matthews, boss of the Pottinger Street venue, said. 'Our cocktails are known around Central and even though this is not exactly the easiest location to get to, people make the effort.'
For the night, Matthews - who operates Lotus through his Genesis Group - even brought over two of Bangkok's top mixologists, the Sweden-born Bennie Sorum (right) and Thomas Anostam (left), to serve their unique Thai food-inspired drinks. Using Svedka vodka infused with such flavours as tom yum goong and mango sticky rice dessert, it's no wonder the two mixers' concoctions complemented nicely the Australian-inspired Thai cuisine. Yes, these unique cocktails will be added to Lotus' long drinks list. 'We fuse elements together but we're not fusion. The term mixologist is widely used now but when we started we were the first to have one design our cocktails. A real mixologist has to know how to put flavours together. It's not just about mixing drinks.'
Maybe that's why Lotus is still around while other SoHo bars flip over faster than breakfast pancakes. 'The restaurant side was really down for a while, more than the bar. I think even in a downturn people still like to drink.'