Friends the Restaurant

A group of us went to the "FRIENDS the Restaurant" for a hearty dinner on our only night in Phnom Penh. It's a pretty decent restaurant with cosy lively decor, awesome food and great service. The thing I loved most about this place was the ambience.

Also, what makes this establishment special is the fact that it's part of a non-profit effort to reduce the number of youth living on the streets of Phnom Penh. The effort aims at honing their skills at survival and working towards a brighter future. This restaurant is run by youths who were once living on the streets. Currently, I believe most of them are undergoing some form of entrepreneurial hands-on training.

Most of the young waiters and waitresses in the restaurants who served us were once living on the streets. So it was really heartwarming to see how much their lives have changed from this programme.

More on this effort can be found here: http://www.streetfriends.org/

More on the restaurant can be found here: http://www.streetfriends.org/CONTENT/BUSINESS/restaurant_final.swf

If you ever drop by Phnom Penh, do stop by "FRIENDS the Restaurant" and support their cause!

This is the most popular and I think the original of all the non-profit restaurants in Phnom Penh. We tried to go there for lunch, but it was already fully booked so we ended up going there for dinner. The inside of the restaurant is very colorful and artistic. The walls are bright and decorated with art that I think is made by kids who are part of the Friends program.

This is a tapas style place so they recommend that you order a couple of dishes. I had some sort of wontons and some sort of curry. I think most people would be fine with sharing an appetizer and ordering one main dish. I had coconut lime cake with passion fruit syrup for dessert.

After the great experience at Romdeng earlier in the day, I expected a lot from Friends. It was good but it didn't quite meet my expectations. I thought the food, atmosphere and service were better at Romdeng, but Friends is still a great place and I would recommend both restaurants.