Famous Belgian in Bangkok at BarSu

The long-standing joke about the difficulty of naming famous Belgians is about to become less relevant to Bangkok residents, because the brains behind the city's latest ritzy club all hail from the land of Magritte.

Manager Fabrice de Barsy will familiar to Singapore aficionados from his time running the Saxophone jazz bar. His first venture in the City of Angles is BarSu, a venue aimed at more mature night-time revelers.

The music, mainly rooted in the 70s and 80s, is an eclectic meld of soul, funk, pop and rock - anything non-electronics, apparently, to differentiate it from the typical house and hip hop roster at other clubs.

The square room is softened with seating in concentric circles around a central island bar. Overhead is a low ceiling construction with tiny lights that resembles a spaceship landing in the movie 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind.'

Low spotlights, masses of colored candles and the muted reflection of glass and metal tabletops provide mellow pools for eyes to rest on. The furniture offers a choice of low and high stools, armchairs and sofas in a mix of silk, leather, rattan and fake snake-skin.

Filippo Baldan, an Italian schooled in Belgium, and the 1999 runner-up in the world mixology championships, has prepared an impressive cocktail list, while Yves Mattagne, of the Michelin-starred Sea Grill Restaurant in Brussels, has designed the food menu. Each table has a pad of tear-off tapas menus on which you mark orders through the night, the idea being that you graze whenever you're peckish rather than order a meal in one go.

The presentation is gimmicky and fun, the seared duck liver on tuna maki comes with a pipette of soy sauce and a cube of apple jelly to chase it down; herb marinated raw fish arrives in tall shot glasses, but the tastes are serious, with enough spiciness to suit the Thai palate. It's a well-crafted venue, one that suits the late-night crowd, but equally good for after-work cocktails or a dinner date.