They are fascinated by the sight of a 6′4″, big-nosed European on their turf. Despite the fact that Cambodia is a very easy country to enter (you buy your visa at the airport on entry, for $25), the sight of a tourist is still something of a novelty in Phnom Penh “Hello – what is your name?” they giggle as they pass. More than half of the 13 million Cambodians are under 19 years old. All rooms have a terrace and a dramatic view either over the river or the impressive National Museum.Despite suffering exhaustion after a 14-hour flight from London, the lure of the water festival was too strong to resist and I wanted to get down in among it, to taste it, to smell it, to touch it.On the street I was struck by how young the population is. On the walls are the stunning panoramic photos of the river by the English photographer Paul Stewart, another resident of Phnom Penh. In keeping with the colonial style of the bar, the rooms have dark wood floors, flagstone bathrooms and ceiling fans, and are stylishly but sparsely furnished. On Monday lunchtime Quinn filed his report to Washington saying, “The FCC is open; things must be returning to normal.”The FCC currently operates a small but comfortable hotel, with just seven rooms.

On 7 July that year, Hun Sen, the leader of the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), overthrew Prime Minister Norodom Ranariddh in a brutal, bloody coup Two days of fighting left at least 58 people dead The coup started on a Saturday. The prawns were sweet and meaty, and the noodles were the colour of mahogany. Graham Greene and Norman Lewis, both habitu?of the club in its former incarnation, would be astonished to find that these days the food alone makes the FCC worth a visit.The FCC is more than just a good bar and restaurant though – it is an institution, a meeting place and a bolt-hole of sanity, if not always of sobriety Keith Quinn was the US Ambassador during the coup of 1997. Sipping an iced watermelon juice, I was impressed by the scope of the menu.

I ordered a deliciously rich and piquant goong ob woonsen – baked prawns with glass noodles, cooked with herbs and dark soy The seafood in Phnom Penh is astonishingly good. “Our clients then were mainly journalists, who would drink 15 gin and tonics in the course of a day’s writing,” Alderson explains. It is now the premier stop-off for any visitor to Phnom Penh wishing to relax, have a drink or enjoy a good lunch or dinner.It was lunchtime and I decided to put his cooking to the test. The pizzeria was an instant hit and gave Alderson a taste for the hospitality business.In 1995 he took over the management of the FCC, and turned what had been a poorly run gin-den, dishing up filthy food, into a funky bistro serving everyone from backpackers to ambassadors.