Zanzi Bar is a mainstay of the hostess bar scene in Phnom Penh. With a name like a country the place is appropriately a sort of monument among a tiny subset of punters who visit these sorts of places religiously. Zanzi Bar has been around for a while and established itself as a reliable bar with good service and better women.
In an earlier review I described Golden Vine as one of the oldest surviving hostess bars in Phnom Penh. Zanzi Bar could be described in a similar fashion. It was one of the first bars on Street 104. It may only have been proceeded by Rose Bar which is the original lady bar on that short strip.
A decade ago Zanzi Bar was already in full swing. Back then it had a few stand out performers including one who ended up going to Thailand where she become quite popular on her own. If memory serves this place has also served as the launching pad for a couple of marriages. It has probably also gone through a couple hundred thousand barfines.
Zanzi Bar on Street 104
Zanzi Bar or Zanzibar as the place is more often called is located on the north side of Street 104. It is about half way down the street. There are lots of neon signs beaming in a small area and even more women. So things can start to blur together. But Zanzi is still a pretty easy place to find. How could it be otherwise on a street that can be walked from one end to the other in couple of minutes?
While Zanzi Bar takes up roughly the same amount of space as most other bars on the strip it seems to be a little more open inside. This must be due to the layout. There is a big bar on the left side and tables and chairs throughout the rest of the spot. There is quite a bit of raw looking wood used too which used to be a very big thing in Cambodia.
More important to the guys who read this website would be that the flat wooden table tops are able to support the weight of dancing girls. It’s pretty regular to see ladies dancing up in the air at Zanzi Bar. Now that’s more common. But for years it was generally verbotten. Zanzi Bar was always a leader in that regard.
Staff, service and summary
Since Zanzi Bar is not a Thai go go bar or a strip club in New York you won’t see any topless pole dances here. But the women are more friendly and it is quite easy to get on with them. Lady drinks come at a reasonable price for the area. And the women tend to actually sit down and drink them with the guys who shell out the dough. That may sound normal at a bar with babes but these days it is not always a guarantee.
There isn’t exactly a huge number of women working at Zanzi Bar most nights. But they always seem to have an appropriate number of gals around. There can be too much of a good thing as any guy who has been begged for drinks and tips by dozens of women can tell you. So the fact that Zanzi Bar staffs the right amount of ladies for the bar is a plus.
The ladies who work Zanzi Bar are mainly in their twenties. They range from average in looks to attractive. Of course beauty is in the eye of the beholder and these kinds of things can change from one day to the next. But most of the women working at this bar would have no problems getting jobs or guys in most other parts of the world. Still they don’t expect the world. Most are happy with a couple of lady drinks. If they go out with a guy they typically ask very reasonable rates too. Or they simply say “up to you” as is common in this part of the world.
At some hostess bars in the city the bulk of the ladies can seem reticent to leave the bar with customers. That has never really been the case at Zanzi Bar. That is another thing this place has in common with the aforementioned Golden Vine. On top of that most seem willing to get up close and person right inside as a precursor to more later. When guys talk about the good old days this tends to be the sort of thing they mean. I know what they are talking about. So I give the place three-and-a-half stars. 
Zanzi Bar. Street 104, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Click here for a map. Open every day from 3:00 PM to 5:00 AM.
Thanks! Can you perhaps comment on what the reasonable rate is to pay? As I understand there is no barfine, the bar earns its money with lady drinks?
There is a $10 barfine at Zanzi Bar which is more or less standard for a Phnom Penh hostess bar. There is no set fee for any services rendered by individual providers outside of this bar or any other like it however. Women might expect to be paid anywhere between 20 and 100 USD for full service. But some do it with customers for free and others have been given hundreds or even thousands of dollars for less. For example I was once at the nearby Mao’s when a customer gave a lady 3000 in cash just for sitting with him. The ladies weren’t even particularly impressed by that! Cheers.
3000 Usd for just sitting seems like a total waste!! I heard some westerner literally threw such amount of money in the air in a bar and everybody went crazy one time I was there a day after it happened!!!
The barfine used to be as low as 7 USD before. Now, it seems 10 bucks is the norm. You can always avoid paying it by waiting till the bar closes at 1 a.m or later. Then, she might be tired or taken by other John. The lady drinks also used to be much lower many years ago before covid 19. Most of the bar women there in my experience rarely talked about the service fee and were happy to get whatever I have given them. I have done free once or twice but it was because I bought them many drinks and even dinners over few days and was out of cash at that time. Many were inexperienced( few even extremely so) in bed. Last time I was there, a little aggressive woman with good English skills approached me and asked for 100 right away for a whole night, which wasn’t too bad at all but I politely declined it as I was looking for more innocent types. Personally, Cambodia is fun with playing with inexperienced girls who are willing to learn some new tricks and take things much slower than in Thailand. However, my French buddy hates the pay-for-play scenes in Cambodia and he prefers Thailand because he complains that he spends more money there than in Thailand at the end with not so great services(?) like in Thailand. For me, it is like apples and oranges and I appreciate each one’s styles and characteristics!!I It has been always great to visit there once a year for the past 17 years!!!Cheers!!
Thanks for the comment. I can relate with much of what you have written. Cambodia and Thailand are simply different places. And no matter what anyone says there is no set fee for service from women in the Phnom Penh hostess bars. Also, I wouldn’t leave a 3000 dollar tip anywhere. But then again I don’t have 3000 dollars to simply splash around on a whim. Cheers!