Mojo, presumably in addition to African black magic, dabbles in live music, happy hour cocktails and a short menu of Asian and Western dishes. Located between Nova and Brown on Street 214, the cafe takes a little from both neighbours, adds a bunch of character of its own and arrives somewhere between uptown coffee shop (without the pretense) and downtown local pub. Mojo, #19a Street 214.
The attention to detail at Duplex is manifest in the bamboo work. Downstairs in the restaurant, whole trunks are used as lattice to separate spaces and sliced in half to make wall panelling. Upstairs in the club, short pieces have been interwoven, face up and face down, to create artworks and architectural highlights. The menu thus far leans toward healthy, with an evolving list of vegetarian and lean meat dishes (steak included). The club remains under the watchful eye of hometown vinyl killer DJ Illest. Young and full of promise, Duplex could very well breathe new life into a Golden Street that has lost some of its lustre. Duplex, #3 Street 278.
There’s very little that needs saying about Oggy’s Combi Bar, except this: it’s a mobile pop-up bar built from a 1970 VW hippie van. That’s it. That’s all you need to know. If you care, cocktails are $3, beer $1.25. But you don’t care. You don’t care because Oggy’s is a mobile hot-water delivery system custom made from a vintage 1970 VW Samba. The roof pops up, the windows pop down, and just like that you’ve got a damn cool bar. Oggy’s Combi Bar, open 6 to midnight. Currently serving at Streets 57 & 278 (but it’s mobile, y’all; it might move).
The Khmer Rouge would have a conniption: Aeon Mall is everything the battle-hardened snake-eaters wanted to obliterate from the homeland. It’s a $200-million temple to cold, hard commercialism. The Aeon Food Court, on the first floor just inside the main entrance, serves as a culinary showroom where street food goes upscale. There’s fried noodles and fried rice, candies, popcorn and ice cream, sandwiches, pig snouts and even sushi, all for just a tad more than what it would cost at a sticky-tabled roadside pop-up. Surely you’ve been?
Aeon Mall Food Court, Aeon Mall, Sothearos Boulevard (next to Sofitel).
The once anonymous alley that houses Seibur and Meat & Drink is bracing for a downpour of style and booze. Cicada – pronounced ‘see-ka-da’, according to Merriam-Webster – is the latest mini-bar revitalisation project to hit what is now known as Bassac Lane. Twice the size as Seibu, Cicada is a minimalist amalgamation of its boozy brethren (Seibur, M&D, Public House, Bar Sito). There are copper mugs behind the bar, no doubt keepsakes from the polished copper bar at M&D. The bowl of fruit at centre bar is reminiscent of Seibur and Bar Sito. The house speciality is infused gin: chilli, pepper, and lavender, with other concoctions in the works. More alley bars are on the way, too. The place next door should open in the next few weeks, and others (yes, ‘others’, plural) will follow in the near future. Cicada, Bassac Lane, off Street 308.
The new Brown Coffee (number eight, for those keeping score at home) is more than just a yuppie brew house; it’s a master-crafted brand experience custom-made for the moneyed class, a place where cyclos and woven coffee-bean sacks are hip accoutrements of a cuppa, along with cold-brew stands, hazelnut lattes and soy vanilla strawberry frappes. New to Brown #8 is cold-drip brew and a full-on embrace of coffee-house trappings: a shiny, chrome bean-roaster sits in a glass display room; regional beans are displayed in small wicker baskets and cold-filtered gourmet joe is the house specialty. And it’s massive, with an uber-flash clothes boutique (hello, Paper Dolls) and a florist attached. Brown Coffee, Streets 51 & 294.
The Vault began life as a private club with an exclusive member list of high rollers. Located above The Exchange, entrance came via secured elevator, thus cementing the club’s air of exclusivity. Now, two years on, The Vault has quietly been opened to Joe Q. There are private lockers to secure high-priced bottles of single malt (or whatever high rollers need to secure in private lockers at private clubs). The chairs are buttoned-down leather affairs. Prices, however, are now aimed at everyday people. And the menu, the same as on offer downstairs at The Exchange, is still every bit as excellent as it’s always been. The Vault Club, #28 Street 47.
Aperitivo marks the latest entry into the capital’s burgeoning echelons of upper mid-market eateries. The small, downstairs bar is drenched in swathes of ochre and serves as a drinking spot and reception area for a larger dining room upstairs. The menu is long and diverse, with entries named in Italian and described in English. There are appetisers, soups, salads, pastas, pizzas, cold cuts, cheeses, mains and desserts. Grappa, too. Everything, really, that a homesick Italian might sell the grandkids for. Appetisers range from $6.50 to $13 or so. The Capesante alla Venezian starter (scallops grating with garlic and fresh parsley) costs $8.50, the Bolognese $7.50, the imported Black Angus tenderloin around $25. Aperitivo Winery & Eatery, #96 Sothearos Blvd.
De Cyco is the definition of neighbourhood bar and restaurant: less than a dozen tables, siblings pouring drinks and serving food, and a stage, guitar and open mic available for anyone who walks through the door. The menu is a Khmer/Australian mash-up, with fried rice, lok lak and noodles on the home-grown side; pasta and chips on the other. A plate of crunchy, fried calamari served with sweet chilli sauce costs $2.50. Fried rice with seafood the same. Pastas are a dollar or two more. Draft beer is 99 cents. The crowds tend to grow boisterous as the night grows long, but as anyone who has ever been on stage will attest, the more you drink the better the music sounds. De Cyco, #93C Street 260.
The team at Dine In The Dark have commandeered the French colonial house below them (previously Botanic Cafe) and remade the leafy, al fresco eatery into a daytime counterpart for their lightless, night-time restaurant upstairs. As the name suggests, Tea Garden specialises in teas; there are nearly 40 varieties on the menu – white, black, green, oolong, milk, herbal. The place opens at 7am and serves brunch until noon, lunch until 4:30pm or so. The brunch menu starts with banana bread trifle at $3.50 and tops out with Eggs Benedict at $6.50. Lunch includes salads, pastas, small plates and mains. With entries such as coconut poached salmon and crispy skin snapper, the food appears every bit as discerning as the DITD association would indicate. But here you can actually see what you’re putting in your mouth. Tea Garden, #126 Street 19.
