Time gets frittered in the sizzle of a hot afternoon; the heat of the angry pavement moves through your feet. This incurs the need to extract oneself from one friction-filled traffic stop to the next. We are in the days when being in Phnom Penh feels like living in a jacket potato: the air is starchy, it is hot but not a scalding hot, just hot enough though to hover between uncomfortable and utterly miserable. Humans in this kind of heat can’t help but fail to be productive. Unless you’re the guy with the chop-saw, it’s your moral imperative to never stop making noise, heat or no. Even though your stomach feels like haggis ten minutes from being served, one must eat – and if one must eat, then one should do so for comfort and coolness.
This weather calls for capacious salads, crisp breads, beautifully prepared vegetables and thinly sliced meats. Copious amounts of time spent under fans, contemplating the lackadaisical ice-cubes that waltz drunkenly around and around in their bitter alcohol bath. Or cooling the prickly heart and one’s heels with a chilled white wine. This, it seems, is the only natural way to take the edge off.
The French open-faced sandwich called ‘the tartine’ and served at Bar Felix is by nature light enough to knock the grit out of your mouth. Attractively grilled and buttered bread topped with exquisite velvety sautéed vegetables, touched with herbes de provences and finished with a nice anchovy fillet and a salty shave of parmesan, ‘tis a cooling and significant nibble. A generous bramble of a salad made with firm and peppery arugula, thin tomatoes and simple vinaigrette was a comfortable and rich fellow traveller and added good texture. The meal was finished with half a fresh, firm and tart mango and the impeccable golf-ball-size portion of vanilla ice-cream. I had asked for the bill but was brought a beer instead. The plat du jour also comes with a choice of beer or soft drink. Though I’d opted earlier for a Campari on the rocks, when you have a beer coming to you it is wise to simply take and enjoy. Sitting under the fan, in good lighting, watching the street and nibbling on peanuts for another 20 minutes seemed only fair.
Bar Felix is on Street 172, just off Norodom, and sits on a neutral and pleasant section of the road. Quiet during the day, it’s arranged for comfort, with a cosy back for the evening crowd and a cheery front welcoming the quiet lunch crowd. The cool blue and natural lighting complements the egg shell walls nicely: clean, simple, but with a funky streak. The owners are charming and the chef has one of the best caps in the entire city. The bar has comfortable and bold animal-print stools and if you’re not in the mood for light fare, it’s a happy perch from which to enjoy vodka and bitters while reading a book and watching the streets. Bar Felix also has one of the best Friday deals in town: a bottle of wine and all-you-can-enjoy Tartines for $25, making it a great spot to start your night.
Bar Felix, #8 Street 172; 095 589612