Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - Back-street booze on ‘Kabko Lane’

Back-street booze on ‘Kabko Lane’

Thida opened the Back Street Bar despite her family’s opposition.
Thida opened the Back Street Bar despite her family’s opposition. Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon

Back-street booze on ‘Kabko Lane’

Driving down Sothearos Boulevard, if you catch a glimpse of a black painted basket wreathed in fairy lights with the words “Back Street Bar”, take a turn down the alleyway for a casual drink sheltered from the dust and noise of the street.

Kampong Cham native 29-year-old Keo Chenda, who goes by “Thida”, opened the bar last month for a simple reason: “My feeling was just like that,” she says.

She originally set up shop with a Khmer food café, selling coffee and Cambodian breakfast foods like somlor macheu kreung (a meat sour soup with celery) or lok lak (stir fried peppered beef over lettuce) as well as fresh fruit. But Thida decided to re-decorate and extend the opening hours into the evening, and so a bar was born on what she jokingly calls “Kabko Lane”, in reference to the nearby market.

For the furnishings, fixtures and artwork on the walls, Thida drew upon her years of experience at an art gallery, recruiting Siem Reap-based mixed-media artist Monisi Long Riem.

He spent the past few weeks turning salvaged tyres, wooden pallets and other recycled materials into bar-tables, chairs and wall fixings. His unconvential artwork also adorns the walls, made from materials like coconut bark, fish scales, leaves and egg shells, and his paintings and collages depict rural Cambodian scenes.

Look for the basket sign on Sothearos Boulevard.
Look for the basket sign on Sothearos Boulevard. Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon

“Six months ago I went to his exhibition near Wat Phnom . . . I was selling the frames for the paintings,” Thida says. Riem for his part sees this as an opportunity to display and sell his work, which is available for customers, beyond Siem Reap.

But while she’s turned a forgettable storefront into a cosy alleyway watering hole, attracting a small following of loyal customers, she faced fallout from her conservative family.

“They think that it’s not good for a woman to open a bar . . . I tried to explain to my mum, but she did not understand,” she says, adding that her mother refuses to even come see the bar for what it is.

“She wanted me to open a beauty salon,” she says. Even her older brother Sokha, 31, was sceptical at first but now he’s employed as her bartender.

“When he saw that I’m happy with my business he came to help.”

Back Street Bar is located at #43 Sothearos Boulevard, in the nameless alleyway by the VIP Bakery and is open every day from 5pm-12am. It no longer serves food during the day. Tel: 097 31 44 019

This article has been updated with new business hours and information.

MOST VIEWED

  • 12th Cambodia int’l film festival to see return of Hollywood star

    Phnom Penh is set to come alive with the magic of cinema as the highly anticipated 12th Cambodia International Film Festival (CIFF) takes centre stage. Boasting an impressive line-up of 188 films from 23 countries, including captivating shorts, feature films, documentaries and animation, the festival promises an

  • Brawl marrs football final as Indonesian take gold in seven goal thriller

    The Indonesian men's U22 men national football team were crowned champions of the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia, defeating Thailand 5-2 in extra time on May 16 at Olympic National Stadium in Phnom Penh. The match was marred by an ugly incident that occured in the 91

  • Bareknuckle champion wants Kun Khmer fighter

    Dave Leduc, who is the current openweight Lethwei boxing champion in Myanmar, has announced that he will travel to Cambodia this year to challenge SEA Games gold medallist Prum Samnang any time that is convenient, after their planned match later this month in Slovakia was

  • Candlelight Party disqualified from July general election

    The National Election Committee (NEC) has disqualified the Candlelight Party (CP) from contesting the upcoming general election, citing a lack of valid documentation. NEC spokesman Khorn Keomono said the CP failed to fulfil one of the three main requirements: including original documentation proving their registration

  • Thong Khon calls for orderly SEA Games closing ceremony

    Thong Khon, Minister of Tourism and permanent vice-president of the Cambodia SEA Games Organising Committee (CAMSOC), calls on all people who have received tickets to the May 17 closing ceremony of the biennial multi-sports extravaganza at the Morodok Techo National Stadium to ensure that the event

  • 1.4 billion dollar Phnom Penh-Bavet expressway due in four years

    The Government, through the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, has officially signed a public-private partnership agreement with a private company for the construction of a Phnom Penh-Bavet Expressway project that will connect the capital to Svay Rieng province. The budget for the project is