Phnom Penh Nightlife

Well, when I reached Phnom Penh from Siem Reap, my hopes were pretty high about the nightlife that Phnom Penh would offer me. On a fine Friday afternoon, I did a thorough research about the best nightclubs in the city. It is to be noted that I wasn’t on the lookout for bars or restaurants but nightclubs with good EDM or techno music, good crowd and a dance floor. Based on the results on the web, the following names came up time and again in various blog posts about Phnom Penh nightlife. I dressed up well and nice in the evening and ventured out to explore.

Club Love

I was utterly disappointed when I reached here. This was the first place I checked out as it was the most hyped one on my research. I reached here by 10pm on a Friday night and much to my dismay, only 2 tables were occupied. Apart from that, the complete place was empty. I set off for Bassac Lane immediately. Reaching here from Onederz costed me 1$ on a Grab tuk tuk. Bassac is walkable from Love.

Bassac Lane

Bassac Lane is a very short version of walking street of any other  SEA tourist destination, even smaller than Siem Reap’s Pub street. The place was clustered with small yet cute bars and eateries. I did find two clubs HClub and Club Cage on Bassac Lane besides several eateries and restaurants.

HClub @ Bassac Lane

HClub has great reviews on google. However, the place was almost empty at 1030 pm on the same Friday night. Few folks were seated with laughing gas balloons everywhere. I moved on to check the next venue on the list.

The Cage @ Bassac Lane

Club Cage has an interesting cage like interiors however the place was totally deserted. Even the DJ was playing songs and moving away from the console. They claim to be a good underground music nightclub.

I moved onto Pontoon next.

Pontoon Club

Pontoon finally lived up to my expectations. It is by far the most upscale nightclub of the city. The crowd builds up late though. By 11pm, the club was just starting to get filled. Music was okay – commercial EDM – I wouldn’t say extraordinary but can make do with. Service was great and a free shot was on offer for everyone. Beers were priced at 5$ a pint and water, soda, cool drink etc at 3-4$.

The crowd was a mix of locals and tourists. At the same time, the place had a lot of working girls however they wont disturb you unless you want to 😁 I stayed there till 230am and it was a fun night overall.

It costed me 1$ each to reach here from Love and to get dropped late in the night to Onederz. Grab did help a good bit making my pub hopping experience very convenient.

Heart of Darkness

I had my best clubbing experience in Phnom Penh at Heart of Darkness. What beautiful interiors and lights! Even more beautiful – the positive vibes and energy. The club lights up by 1130pm-12am and the dance floor would be packed by then – you should definitely visit once to have a memorable time here.

I visited it on a couple of occasions each time on the weekend and wasn’t disappointed either time. There is a pool table as well. Although the place is LGBT friendly, I found it to be welcoming to everyone.

Best time to visit – 11pm onwards on the weekends. The party goes on till 3am or so. However the crowd starts to get thinner by 2am – which is when the drag shows end – yes, you read that right – they do have drag shows as well if that’s your thing.

Tiger 136

This is one of the oldest hostess bars on street 136 – hence reliable. You don’t have to worry about false billing or taken advantage of. The staff is very nice and you won’t feel uncomfortable at all. If you just want to sit and have your beer, you can do that as well without being hassled. The drinks (and lady drinks at ~5$ each) are priced very modestly.