My caffeine savior, right where I least expected it: Kampot, Cambodia

You might pass by near Kampot on your way to Sihanoukville from Phnom Penh or Siem Reap, but you’d have to take a detour to actually spend time in this dusty little town.

Kampot has made its way onto the well-worn Southeast Asia path now, and those first backpacker whispers are what may have led the Australian owners of Cafe Espresso to open what might be the region’s best cafe. Even if that’s not the case, their cafe is what might keep you there a few days longer than you had planned.

First, the coffee itself is not just good. It’s right. So right that you’d overpay a hipster with suspenders to serve it to you with a heaping side of snark for $7 plus tip. But there’s no snark here. You’re in sleepy, friendly Cambodia, the country who should have received the label it’s neighbor Thailand owns: the Land of a Thousand Smiles.

You’ll come for the friendly coffee, but come hungry, because these Aussie transplants make menu magic, too, effortlessly putting together dishes like a Persian-spiced feta omelette with avocados, plus home fries and ‘green stuff’ (salad) or this ricotta pancakes with strawberry balsamic coulis and vanilla bean Greek yogurt on top.

Spending the morning cycling across the river, along the beautiful red dirt roads of the Cambodian countryside is that much more exciting when you know that you can have a quick sticky rice snack in a village, but have a later afternoon brunch with free Wi-Fi, plenty of plugs and serious sophistication right inside this cafe.

Cafe Espresso is centrally located half a block from Kampot’s main intersection, the Durian roundabout — where six roads converge at a majestic clay tribute to the world’s oddest, stinkiest exotic fruit.

All mouth-watering photos are from Cafe Espresso’s Facebook page.

Cafe Espresso $
#17 down the side street from epic arts cafe; across from ‘333 bakery’

Jess Ainlay has also written about a little place at the end of the world and devouring tacos el vapor in Mexico.