Sky Bars, Gin and Bassac Lane: a Night Out in Phnom Penh

A night out in Phnom Penh, from the old Elephant Bar at Raffles and the rooftops of Vattanac Capital and the Courtyard to the cocktail bars of Bassac Lane and the Sofitel’s Champagne and cigars.

Phnom Penh comes alive at dusk. The heat lifts off the river, the palace roofs turn gold and then dark, and the evening begins, with a gin in an old colonial bar, a cocktail high above the city or a stool in a lane of small bars.

At Raffles

Start where the city’s cocktail history lives: the Elephant Bar at Raffles Hotel Le Royal. Its signature, the Femme Fatale, was created for Jacqueline Kennedy in 1967, and the bar keeps one of Asia’s largest gin selections, including its own Elephant Bar Gin. In the afternoon it serves Raffles’ afternoon tea; by evening, it is the place for a first drink.

Up in the sky

For height, go to Vattanac Capital. On Level 37, the Rosewood’s rooftop bar, Sora, opens from 5pm to midnight, with whiskies, inventive cocktails and a sky deck over the city, and live music on Tuesday to Saturday evenings. Next door, the Whisky Library pours single malts with fine cigars, among leather armchairs and dark wood, until midnight.

Nearer the riverside, the Courtyard by Marriott has its own rooftop, The Deck, for cocktails and finger food over the city centre.

Bassac Lane

For something smaller, head to Tonle Bassac. Bassac Lane is a short lane of small, independent bars off Street 308, a few minutes from the Independence Monument, and Le Boutier stands at its mouth, mixing Khmer ingredients into the classics: one cocktail uses a Kampot pepper tincture.

When the heat goes out of the day, Phnom Penh goes up on the roof.

On the Bassac

Down by the Bassac river, the Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra keeps Le Bar, open from 7am to 11pm, with a Cigar Chamber above it for Cuban cigars and a Champagne Boutique pouring Dom Pérignon, Veuve Clicquot and Louis Roederer, by the glass or the magnum. For films, talks and a beer, Meta House on Street 228 has its own bar.

Did you know? Vattanac Capital, home of Sora, rises to 187.3 metres, and the Rosewood describes it as Cambodia’s tallest skyscraper.

Our advice

Our advice: begin with a Femme Fatale at the Elephant Bar, go up to Sora for the last of the light, and finish on Bassac Lane. Dress smart casual for the hotel bars, and check each venue’s own page for the night’s hours.