Railway Cafe Phnom Penh – Hipster Heaven, or all Hype?
The Railway Cafe Phnom Penh hid the headlines last week when AFP and then a bunch of other local and international news organizations ran a story about the “train to nowhere” – but how good is the Railway Cafe Phnom Penh? Is it hipster heaven, or just all hype? Cambodia Lifestyle went to explore.
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Where is the Railway Cafe Phnom Penh?
The cafe is located at the Phnom Penh Railway Station, which is currently going through a period of gentrification, with a museum, and various upscale franchises being built in the old waiting room and ticket office. Tickets can now either be purchased online, or through the new ticket office, which is located on the platform.
The Railway Cafe itself is located in the actual train station next to an old steam train and in an abandoned carriage that has been repurposed to serve as a cafe of sorts and be it through the power of media, or not the place is now the hip and happening place to be seen (or at least photographed).
What can you get at the Railway Cafe Phnom Penh?
You very much get a cafe that is situated in an old train carriage. They open from early morning and close at 6 pm. The menu consists of different coffees, as well as weird frozen green tea and chocolate concoctions that all the rage right now.
If you are expecting to come for a meal then you will be slightly disappointed. The food selection consists of Pringles, cheap imitation Pringles and Chinese bowls of cheap Ramen noodles. Ironically much less selection that you get on ACTUAL train in either Vietnam or China.
The Railway Cafe Phnom Penh – what’s all the hype?
At initial glance and with the surly service and limited menu why the Railway Cafe has received so much hype is a really good question. Essentially whilst cafe’s in old train carriages are not exactly something new globally, it is a new thing for Cambodia. Phnom Penh railway station is also pretty cool, particularly if you fall into the train geek variety. There are old locomotives, cargo trains pulling in and out, and that travel feeling that you can only get form places like train stations and airports – almost like bygone era.
It is also the perfect place for Generation X to take selfies and do all that Tik-Tok related stuff that young folks are into. At least on our visit the Railway Cafe was less dominated by patrons and more so by pretty 20 year old taking profile pictures.
Overall not a bad place and definitely worth a visit if you are taking a tourist train somewhere nice like Kampot, but is it worth heading to Phnom Penh Railway Station for a coffee and a pic? It all depends how hipster you are….
Will it make Cambodia Lifestyle top list? Maybe not…
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Author: Reece Ferguson
Reece is a South-East Asia based writer and journalist that originally hails from Northern Ireland. He has previously written for Philippines Lifestyle News, as well as for our previous publication Khmer Nights.
