Friday night at the Rising Sun is country music night. In fact, if the mood takes management, Thursday and Saturday nights might be heavy on the sounds of Johnny Cash et al as well. The pictures on the walls are from a past era in more ways than one - Minder, mods, scooters and The New Avengers.
But the Sun, as it is affectionately known, has stood the test of time for nearly a decade, and this English pub grub-style restaurant run by a long term expat Aussie never disappoints with its food.
Huge meat or chicken pies with lashings of mashed potato or chips the size of your finger, burgers too big to hold, toasties like mum makes, schnitzels, Surf and Turf, and Sunday Roasts of pork, beef or half a chook with roast potatoes, gravy and steamed veggies that have become almost legendary.
Chef Wong, as she became fondly known to expats when she kept the kitchen going at the now gone Aussie Ettamogah during UNTAC, has mastered the art of English cooking and can turn out a Yorkshire Pudding any Yorkshire woman would be proud of, or a darned good battered sausage for that matter.
Bangers and Mash is an old favorite, helped by the fact DanMeats classic sausages are a starting point, and basic dishes cost between $4-6 dollars. For healthy eaters, there are also hearty salads and sandwiches available and vegetarians have some options.
Add a full bar to the mix and the daily papers and local magazines to browse through, and this is a (usually) quiet place for a drink and a good meal which is very kid-friendly. The staff - mostly Wong's family, with a few familiar faces from those Halcyon Ettamogah days - speak flawless English and are well used to foreigner foibles, including those of their boss, who has been around a while and can spin a few great Cambodian yarns when he's in the mood.
The kitchen is spotless, and the ragged cushions that had been with the place since it opened recently disappeared (possibly to take pride of place in a museum), and replaced with clean off-white new creations.
In Phnom Penh, restaurants come and go with monotonous regularity. When an old favorite has been around this long, it's a safe bet it's got something going for it.