Category: Zeitgeist

Oskar Bistro is the new Rahu. The swanky Bangkok-based original recently took over Metro Rahu on the riverfront and completely revamped the space – but the vibe is still quite similar: noticeably upscale with just a hint of downtown cool. The menu is diverse and likely falls under the Asian-fusion umbrella. Starters and salads start at around $6. A 250-gram Rib Eye tops the list at $25.90. The wine menu is good and cocktails are just $4.20. Oskar Bistro, #159 Sisowath Quay.

Impact Hub, the new co-working space on the top level of Joma on Norodom, is kind of a group hang-out spot where computer- and business-savvy movers and shakers percolate ideas. The slogan is “Where change goes to work,” and the place offers daily and monthly plans for desk space, conference rooms and Wifi in a typical co-working, shared-space environment. Joma is just downstairs with a pipeline of caffeine on tap. Located in the top floor of Joma, Norodom at St. 294.

Ganh, the new Vietnamese eatery on Street 294, is an import from Ho Chi Minh City, where the restaurant has three locations and a reputation for good nem nuong, or grilled pork sausage. The Phnom Penh menu includes noodles, salads, rolls and Nha Trang-style seafood, but the specialty is the nem nuong. Number 3 on the menu – special grilled ball pork/grilled minced pork cane – comes served on bamboo leaves and includes two kinds of nem nuong, mint, basil, two kinds of lettuce, lots of veggies and rice paper. It’s a roll-your-own affair and easily enough for two people, so bring a friend. Ganh, #49 Street 294.

Forest is a place for friends – and lots of them. The tables are big, the plates are sharable and the cocktails are sold in bulk. Forest serves Khmer cuisine with a penchant for seafood, and prices are reasonable considering the swanky ambience. The menu opens with fish dishes at $5 and tops out with crab at $15. But that’s just a culinary side dish to the book full of cocktails for which Forest seems all but certain to build a big, boozy reputation. Frozen, colourful, flaming and fun. Bring friends (and a designated driver). The more the better.
Forest, Lot 1 National Assembly Street.

Restore One Cafe in Toul Tom Pong is easy to miss. Housed in a large Khmer villa, it doesn’t look much like a restaurant. The only give away is the sign out front that says “more than just burgers.” And the menu delivers just that, with a short but diverse list of Khmer, Western and vegetarian dishes in addition to the meat stacks, for which the place is well-known among neighbourhood families. The massive patio downstairs is dog and kid friendly, and the veranda upstairs is a perfect semi-private escape. There’s an air-conditioned dining room, too. But be warned: no booze. Go for brownies and ice cream instead, even if it’s just this once. Restore One Cafe, #23 Street 123

Barbecued chicken wings, grilled pork ribs and bacon – it’s all about meat at Tinfy Chicken Rice, one of the capital’s burgeoning “street meat” joints turned up-styled eatery. A long, narrow strip of a place, Tinfy’s looks like a roadside pit stop on a West Texas highway. The smell of grilled flesh permeates the air and wooden floors and paneling give the restaurant a distinct backyard ambiance. A plate of chicken wings is a mere 9,000r, a basketful of barbecued bacon just 5,000r. Tinfy Chicken Rice, #75 Street 310.

Phnom Penh’s need for ever-swankier places to eat just landed a new destination. Les Cocktails in BKK1 (where else) serves sirloin steak and cocktails by the tower in low-slung beanbag chairs in the garden of its massive new-deco villa. The menu is mostly Khmer. Honey chicken wings with plum sauce, an appetiser, are $4.90; the Hot Pat Pet, baby clams with dry red curry, is $5.50. Steaks start around $18 and go to $40, but most of the mains cost half that or less. There’s indoor seating and a small stage for live music, but outside in the garden, where the burble of a massive water feature multiplies the tranquility, offers the best digs in the house.
Les Cocktails, #44 Street 352.

Sokafe, the new eatery on Street 294, is far less a coffee shop and much more a humble monument to modern-day culinary globalisation. From the outside, the place looks like a gleaming first-world food shop, one that would sit comfortably in Aeon Mall or any other similar shopping district. The menu is diverse, with breakfast, coffees, smoothies, burgers, pastas and local dishes. The English breakfast, with sausage and bacon, coffee and juice, sells for a mere $4.50; the local-style noodle soup with beef just $2.95. The Wi-Fi is quick, the service sharpish, and the air-con gloriously indulgent. Sokafe, #2 Street 294.

To the Italian pizza slices and voguish swill rooms of Street 308, Bistrot Bassac brings a kitchenful of French culinary simplicity. A man from Toulouse runs the restaurant, and his menu mirrors the influences of an upbringing in Southern France. The specialty is steak tartar, and heavy Moroccan spices and North African flavours permeate the menu. The sundeck upstairs offers a quiet escape from the bustling street. The wine is French. The desserts are chalkboard fresh. And the cosy dinner room provides a dependable antechamber to retreat from the boozy street crowds. Bistrot Bassac, #8 Street 308.

A trattoria in the back blocks of Russian Market seems about as likely as a liquor booth in the church bazaar. But over on Street 460, Trattoria Bello takes up residence as the new neighbourhood pizza shop and wine purveyor, joining a surprisingly diverse list of ethnic eateries in the area. Built by Japanese interests, Trattoria’s master pizza man is an import from Osaka. His menu includes 10 pizzas and a few pastas and salads. A marinara (with anchovies) is just $3; a salami is just $5.50. Crusts are thin, soft and chewy, and the sauce and cheese embellish the pie, not suffocate it. While perhaps a bit fancy for its trattoria roots, Bello is every bit the friendly, laid-back local, and the pizzas are damn fine for the price. Trattoria Bello, 17c Street 460