Esco Beach Bar

Đà Nẵng, VietnamVisited September 2026

“The herbaceousness helps balance the sweetness.”

What I drank / 01

Thyme Bee’s Knees

Ingredients

Gin · Honey · Lemon · Thyme

The profile

Nice dried fruit garnish, and I enjoyed the glass selection. Strong honey on the nose.

My thoughts

I believe the thyme component to be an extract, and it did not overpower the drink. In fact, I think for me it was probably an improvement on a classic Bee’s Knees. The herbaceousness helps balance the sweetness. Unfortunately, the honey did not come through on the palate, and the drink was surprisingly watery for not having any ice in it. The main taste was just citrus, which makes me think it probably was not fresh lemon juice.

The Space

A beachside bar/restaurant with DJ-like music playing. The restaurant portion looked nice and spacious. We sat facing the ocean in some comfy chairs. Clearly not known for or advertising memorable cocktails… the Extras for this bar is quite comical.

Extras

So the drink I ended up having was not what I originally wanted. Knowing this wasn’t a cocktail bar, I wanted to keep it simple, but in somewhat classic Thomas fashion, I made it complicated. I saw they had mezcal on their spirits list, so I asked if they could make a Mezcal Margarita. The server said yes, but that it would be a slight upcharge. To which I saw a Margarita was 180,000 dong, and the mezcal shot was 210,000. I said yes, no problem.

Well, silly me to assume the upcharge was 30,000 (that’s how I would typically bill for a similar request when I worked behind a bar). She came back wanting to charge me 440,000. A 144% price increase, taking what was originally a $7 cocktail to $17. I have ordered plenty of cocktails north of that mark, but tonight, and in Vietnam, I felt that to be outrageous.

And this story is how I ended up with my lemon water with thyme drink.

My Verdict

4 / 10Taste

6 / 10Atmosphere

Taste reflects what I drank. Atmosphere reflects the bar experience.

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