Freebird Bar and Grill — Restaurant in Khan Daun Penh

The restaurant has been around for 15+ years and gets excellent reviews. Personally, I feel it has had its day and maybe it is time to fade away gracefully. Times, and tastes, change and this sort of old-fashioned expat place is well past its heyday. But maybe it is just me, or they had a bad day.

The 7 of us arrived quite early as some of us hadn’t had lunch. We got there around 18:30 and the place was deserted. The vibe was just strange from the get-go, as if the zombie apocalypse had been and gone. The staff were friendly enough but, like the restaurant, they seemed very sad. On a positive note: the beer was absolutely ice-cold.

We ordered 6 “Freebird” burgers at $8.75 and one chicken burger at $6.50. Fresh coconut was $2.50, smoothies $3.75, and Tiger draft $1.75. Prices are exclusive of 5% service charge.

The food came out pretty quickly, we were still the only guests at the time. On to the burgers: the buns were soggy, the meat completely overdone and tasteless, and the French fries were horrible. The latter were soggy and oily. Either they dumped to many fries into the deep fat frier at one time, or the oil was just not hot enough. Probably the worst fries I have had in a long time. The photo looks better than the real life deal.

The Missus took potato salad instead of the fries, and that was even worse. I am German and I pride myself in knowing what a good potato salad is. What it isn’t is a sour mess with lots of olives and bell peppers. I love both olives and bell peppers, but they should not be anywhere near a potato salad. The burgers also came with coleslaw, about 3 grams of it.

My Princes had ordered the chicken burger, and it was not great either. The chicken was bland and dry, with not a pinch of seasoning. Only liberal amounts of ketchup made it edible.

We did finish everything. As I said: we were starving. However, none of us thought that the food was any good. Again, maybe we picked a bad day, or we ordered the wrong food. I do not see how they get all this 5-star ratings and rave reviews. But honestly, it is unlikely that I will go back to find out. The total bill came to $75, not too much for seven diners, but too much for a...

I have been going to this place (almost exclusively for breakfast--all day) since 2009 and through three owners.

The food is great--especially the breakfasts--and it is not expensive. Also, they deliver to most areas of Phnom Penh.

The staff are all well-trained, extremely polite and cute young women with good English; however, this is NOT a lady bar, or anything like it.

The food is distinctively American, and it used to be a big hit among the American Embassy crew when it was one of the only places of its type.

It is cozy with nice lighting and it doesn't skimp of the air-conditioning--although the new owner doesn't keep it quite as cold as the former owner, who was a bit of a prick...the tradeoff is worth it. The new owner is a German who has spent many years in the States with extensive restaurant/bar experience, and it shows.

The new owner has put in a cigar/brandy/whiskey shop on the top floor, with high-end booze and cigars, but there is no smoking in the main restaurant and bar...the cigar lounge upstairs is far enough away with high quality air fliters so that you would never know it was there if you don't do smoking restaurants.

This is a great place to get western-American meals, especially the breakfast. The American breakfast at about $5 is hearty; the Freebird breakfast at about $7.5 always lasted me two meals with three eggs, sausage, bacon and ham, homefires or hashbrowns (both well done), fried Mushrooms, coffee and orange juice included.

One of my favorite parts about Freebird is the condiment tray with all four types of Tabasco and Kampot...

Steve’s Freebird has been around for a long time—the Google reviews alone go back 11 years. One person said it’s been open for 15 years and I wouldn’t doubt it. The front has a security guard to watch your motorbike, which is cool. The interior is clean and decorated with tons of kitschy American memorabilia. It’s diner-esque but also feels a bit Southern.

There was only one other person inside when I came in, and they were working on their computer. The staff was friendly, and everything looked really well-organized. I had a “big burger” with cheese, which comes with a side of coleslaw. They provided me with a condiment tray that had a bunch of stuff to choose from, including garlic and habanero Tabascos which was cool.

The burger itself was okay—nothing crazy, but not bad either. It was a bit small, the bottom bun was a bit soggy, but it still tasted pretty good. The coleslaw wasn’t bad. I liked being able to add mustard and habanero Tabasco, giving it a nice vinegary kick. The staff asked me how my food was, which was nice.

I feel like I’d need to order more stuff off the menu to give this place a proper rating, but from my single experience I’d give it 4/5 stars, with the highest rating being the service and the lowest the food itself. It’s a fun place for an American-themed meal—though you might want to venture away from the simple...