EmQuartier Bangkok Shopping Mall

The EmQuartier Bangkok

EmQuartier is an enormous and trendy shopping mall in a strategic part of the busy Sukhumvit Road. EmQuartier is a massive extension of the existing Emporium shopping mall built in 1997 and run by the same company responsible for the famous Siam Paragon Bangkok. The management had 15 years to study the market in this part of Sukhumvit and knew there was enough potential demand for such an extensive addition.

Like most department stores in Bangkok, Emquartier focuses on the usual 3 things locals and travellers want the most: Food, Shopping and Entertainment, in that order of importance. Since online shopping has changed the game, food has become the main attraction.

The entire complex is divided into 4 distinct buildings. While food and shopping are everywhere, each building has a primary focus. Helix is for dining, The Waterfall is for shopping, The Glass House is for the food courts and entertainment, and Emporium is more of a department store.

The Helix

The Helix is a 7 or 8-floor building whose upper floor is entirely dedicated to food, with many restaurants next to each other. It was named ‘Helix because it is built as a helicoidal walkway that takes you to the upper floor. This way, from the 5th to the 8th floor, you can walk and browse all the venues without climbing any stairs.

This fancy feature must have cost a fortune and was probably a massive challenge to build, but it fulfilled its original purpose: to create space, give an equal chance to each restaurant, make it easy to walk around and mostly make people talk about it. The novelty disappeared, but it is still a beautiful piece of work that is easy to browse. Here is a list of the restaurants you can find there (Keep in mind that restaurants tend to open and close over the years).

The Waterfall

The Waterfall is the smallest building in the back of the complex, and there is an artificial waterfall cascading from the upper floor. The Waterfall is mostly home to a sizeable upmarket supermarket known for excellent products and many imported goods.

Here too you can eat as there are a few counters with seats in the middle of the supermarket for shoppers to enjoy fresh products. Drop your shopping basket for a moment and try some imported oysters (Gillardeau and Kumamoto), lobsters and seafood, and expensive Iberico hams from Spain. It reminds us a lot of the supermarket section of the Gallerie Lafayette in Paris. Here too, you will find some shops around and above.

The Glass Quartier

The Glass Quartier is divided into 3 vast sections: The cinemas and IMAX on the 4th floor, the Virgin Active Fitness Club in the midsection, and, guess what: more food!

The Food Hall on the lowest level is shared between an enormous food court and more local restaurants! Many restaurants you will find here are small annexes of well-known local places, a welcome change from the huge and usually not very creative franchises.

The Glass Quartier also has a nice rooftop bar with good music and cocktails. The view is not striking, but a rooftop is always a better place to be than indoors. The fun part is the small walking bridge that connects the Helix building to the rooftop building. A transparent section in the middle of the bridge forces people to walk on glass, at least 5 floors above the ground! Try it! it is quite impressive. But lately, part of the glass was covered with a carpet to make it easier to cross. The bar was probably losing too many customers who were not brave enough to walk above the void!

Emporium

Emporium is where it all started. As it was the only mall in the area between 1997 and 2015, it covers a bit of everything in a classic layout: shops, food and entertainment. Of course, Emporium was renovated simultaneously as Emquartier, but you can quickly feel it’s more conventional.

The department store is the main feature, but the original cinema is still up there. Food is, of course, available on each floor, with many restaurants at Emporium Foodhall on the upper level. Kids and parents will enjoy Imaginia, an interactive digital kids’ playground, and a roller dome where kids can play inline skate.

Verdict

The Emquartier complex is a fun and incredibly versatile shopping mall with something for everyone. The layout is a bit confusing for newcomers, but most shopping malls in Bangkok are!

It was a massive success in the first years. Still, Bangkok people love novelty, and many have already moved to the new SiamIcon mall on the other side of the river. The BTS access and the fact that EmQuartier is very good at special events to ensure that people keep coming back.

EmQuartier Photos

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