Friends the Restaurant — Restaurant in Khan Daun Penh

I came to this place without knowing it to be a sister restaurant of Romdeng. When I got to know about it, I was expecting Romdeng standard, but it wasn't there yet. From the ambience to the quality of food, I'd say Romdeng is better. The menu, however, is different from Romdeng. I had a mini falafel burger and when it wad served, I was taken aback by the portion, it's like a snack rather than a main course. The lotus root crisps were too soggy and the mayonnaise was a little too spicy. The veggies in the burger was the best thing about this dish. My friends had the Fish Amok and Seafood Laksa. All of them enjoyed their dishes. For dessert, we took something from the monthly menu, yummy carrot cake with vanilla icing. This time, the carrot cake was really big! Sprinkled with edible flowers, it was a strange combination, but together, it balances the sweetness of the carrot cake. For the service, as it is a training restaurant, the staff is helpful and amiable. I can't help though, but compare with Romdeng, in which their service was much better. Still, I enjoyed my experience overall. Do go and support this restaurant...

What happened to the original Friends formula?? This chain of restaurants used to be educational centres for Cambodian street kids to learn a job and prepare them for a future for themselves. This used to be a restaurant where you only could eat local and authentic meals which these children contributed how they learned to cook by their grandparents (btw, we bought some years ago a cookbook in one of the Friends restaurants with these authentic recipies.). None of these recipies (like tarantula) are still on the menu. On the contrary: the pay off of the restaurant is now "creative tapas" (tapas is so Spanish and so NOT Cambodian) and on the desert-menu are now "Belgian Chocolates" and "Gouda Cheese" (which is Dutch). What's left of the original formula is the flyer on the table to support the street children of Cambodia, something that Friends seems to have forgotten themselves. Still 3 stars, because the food and service (although served by men in their twenties and thirties) are still good, but so disappointed in the "world"menu and lack of the...

It’s brilliant that Friends the Restaurant has reopened in Phnom Penh! We went there for dinner every night during our recent 3 day stay in Phnom Penh because everything about the restaurant was so fantastic. The menu has absolutely delicious new dishes as well as really brilliant cocktails and smoothies. The vegetarian amok and fish amok were just amazing - so we had them every evening, accompanied by the heavenly passionfruit cocktails. Everything we tried was excellent. The staff are really delightful and attentive and the setting is really lovely and peaceful - great decor and conveniently very close to the National Museum. Friends is such a wonderful project, offering training to those in need and ensuring they achieve such great standards. One of our all time favourites. We really look forward to...