Friends the Restaurant
A Training Restaurant for Former Street Youth
Friends the Restaurant — Quick Facts
- What is it?
- experience — A Training Restaurant for Former Street Youth
- Where?
- Phnom Penh , Cambodia
- Entry Fee
- Mains roughly $5–10 USD; no entry fee
- Opening Hours
- Lunch and dinner daily, typically 11:00 AM – 10:00 PM
- Time Needed
- 1–1.5 hours
- Best Time
- Dinner, paired with an evening walk along the riverside
- Don't Miss
- A tapas-style menu built specifically to give trainee staff varied, manageable service experience
What to See at Friends the Restaurant
The Social Mission
Friends is one of the public-facing businesses of Mith Samlanh, an NGO that has worked with Phnom Penh’s street children and at-risk youth since 1994. Working here is a paid, supervised step in a longer vocational training pathway — not unpaid “voluntourism.”
The Menu
A tapas-style format of Khmer-French fusion small plates, designed deliberately to give trainee kitchen and floor staff varied, lower-pressure service practice across a shift, rather than a small number of complex full-course mains.
The Setting
A relaxed courtyard-style space near the National Museum, popular with both tourists and Phnom Penh expats — busy most evenings, so the atmosphere is lively rather than precious.
How to Get to Friends the Restaurant
Friends is at #215 Street 13, close to the National Museum in central Phnom Penh.
- On foot: Easily reached from the riverside, Royal Palace, or National Museum
- Tuk-tuk: A short ride from anywhere in central Phnom Penh
Practical Tips
- Reservations are recommended for dinner — it’s a genuinely popular spot, not just a novelty stop
- Mith Samlanh runs several related ventures in Phnom Penh, including Romdeng restaurant — worth pairing on a longer trip
- Proceeds and training hours go directly to Mith Samlanh’s youth programmes
Nearby Attractions
- National Museum of Cambodia — a few minutes’ walk away, with its own evening Cambodian Living Arts dance show
- Royal Palace & Silver Pagoda — also within easy walking distance
Nearby Attractions in Phnom Penh
museum Royal Palace
Cambodia's Golden Royal Residence
museum Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum
S-21 — Cambodia's Khmer Rouge History, Confronted Directly
memorial Choeung Ek Killing Fields
A Memorial to Cambodia's Khmer Rouge Victims
museum National Museum of Cambodia
The World's Finest Collection of Khmer Art
Useful Links
Practical Info
- Entry Fee
- Mains roughly $5–10 USD; no entry fee
- Opening Hours
- Lunch and dinner daily, typically 11:00 AM – 10:00 PM
- Time Needed
- 1–1.5 hours
- Best Time
- Dinner, paired with an evening walk along the riverside