In the middle, the comical and diminutive guy is Mr Bunnarith, the famous and friendly owner cum barista of The Best Iced Coffee In Phnom Penh. His signature coffee and stall is like a national institution; so be aware many rivals and wannabes are claiming the same name. Look for the funny man. There exists a Facebook fan page but it is also not by him. When you are at the Russian market, show other hawkers this pic and they will point you to him.
He was running the business for over 30 years and is known by tourists from all over the world, as seen by his collection of pinned magazine and newspaper cuttings from all over the world praising his coffee. Locals love his Khmer coffee too. The milk coffee is made with tins of Cambodian Best Cows brand condensed milk.
I had a long chat with him and he told me he aspired to open an international coffee chain. Ironically, many foreign franchised coffee chains are now in Cambodia. Although an overhanging sign proclaimed “We can speak English”, he spoke halting Hokkien or the Fujian Chinese dialect and we conversed using it. On the other side (camera left), was fellow Malaysian traveler Augustine Gan
I could not remember or find the exact year. I searched my Gmail and found an AirAsia booking dated 2008. Can’t be definite as I have been to Cambodia several times.
#travel #cambodia #phnompenh #khmer #russianmarket #coffee #me