If the expat bar Elsewhere was a phenomenological question rather than a bar, the answer from Phnom Penh’s francophone community would be Gasolina. The recently opened Latin-flavoured bar fills the niche for an expat beer garden not specifically targeted at Australian Embassy staff. Proprietor, Jean-Phillippe is Phnom Penh’s most attractive bar owner and he has managed to open a beer garden that rivals even his own capacious beauty.
Commitment to a cause rates highly in my books, especially when that cause is a late breakfast that involves bacon. Despite being a bar in the evenings, Gasolina is wholly committed to brunch; so much so that it only serves three choices of set breakfast on Saturday and Sunday from 10am. Of the three sets, I had the Alegria Loca ($5.00) which entailed three courses: bacon and eggs, a garden salad with olives, and a “tartine of chorizo” (pictured), with a fresh pineapple juice and choice of coffee, tea or chocolate. I can quite happily dwell over brunch for a good two hours, and this is a brunch over which to dwell. Rather than all arriving in a single hit, the courses are well paced.
If there was a prize for Indochina’s best edible emulsion, Gasolina’s garlicky vinaigrette would win hands down. It came on the side with the garden salad and had I been of coarser stock, I probably would have drank it straight, eaten the olives from the salad, and left the rest of the greenery behind. Calling thin slices of chorizo and cheap cheese on toast a “tartine” is a little far-fetched, but I’m a sucker for decent smallgoods, so the sausage slices made my morning a happier place.
I’m blindly assuming that the bar is named after the Daddy Yankee reggaeton hit rather than processed petroleum. Thankfully, the song was absent from the morning’s music which swerved from solid salsa to the Blue Note back catalogue.
Location: Street 57, just south of St.370; within smelling distance of BKK Market.