Though of course remembering which name belongs to which establishment is not always so easy, especially if you decide to take in two or three of them in a single night. On entry to a beer garden you may find yourself welcomed by several ladies who appear to be dressed for the Melbourne Cup, or possibly the Milan catwalk. They will find you a table that meets two requirements: first, and most important, that it’s empty and secondly that its seats match the number in your party.
Once you are seated a second group of girls will crowd around you. These are the beer girls, each of whom represents a different brand and is paid according to how much beer they sell. If, like me, you always drink the same brand, then you will be a great disappointment to all but one of these girls. And if, again like me, you are there to drink at local prices then stick to Anchor and Angkor, otherwise ask the price first to avoid any complications when it's time to pay the bill.
After you've placed your beer order, the third person you will see is the waiter who will take your food order should you wish to eat. Not all beer gardens are split into “serving zones”, but quite a few are, and while some beer gardens have menus, some do not. Some staff will speak almost no English (these are the best fun, but be patient!), while others are fully fluent. Staple dishes are fried rice, barbecued beef or pork, squid, prawns and mussels (I recommend the squid wholeheartedly, but once it’s cooked pull the “bone” out before you start eating).
On the subject of menus; it seems that no two beer gardens call the same dish by the same name. I have had French Fried Khmer Beef Steak and Potato Lok Lak at two different establishments and been served the same thing, a dish of fried beef served with chips and a salad. Beer gardens fall into two distinct categories. The first is a beer garden with karaoke, while the second is not, strictly speaking, a beer garden, but rather a Khmer barbecue restaurant. The barbecue is usually a little clay pot at the end of your table, and there's no karaoke at these places. Generally, but not always, the former will have fairy lights strung around the entrance and inside as well while the latter will not.
Beer gardens I have been to and can recommend include the Happy Night Garden (K) on the corner of Streets 63 and 214 and on the corner of Streets 51 and 282 is an excellent place with a Khmer-only name (non-K). At #51 Street 163, near the intersection with 310, is M’lop Daum Dong (The Shade of the Coconuts) (non-K). The end of Street 360 has a cluster (K and non-K), as does Street 310 between Monivong and 143. The Monivong end of Street 432 also has a major “strip”.
Across town is the Happy Night Restaurant on St 271 (the ring road) beyond the Chinese embassy, but if you can make it through the double parked Lexus out front the food is definitely worth it. Fried Rice with cracked pepper is $2 and you have the choice of dining under cover or under a canopy of stars. For a “genuine” experience, look for the poorly translated signs, or the Khmer-only signs, and keep an open mind.