March 25th, 2006 | The lowdown by Gordon Candelin

Veiyo Tonle Restaurant.

The Phnom Penh riverfront is packed with restaurants serving pizza and other 'Italian' food - some fairly good, most pretty bad. The Veiyo Tonle restaurant stands out for two reasons:

1) The pizza is pretty decent. Not great, but good and cheap and so far they've always managed to get the order right, which in some places is a feat in itself.

2) The Dancing.

Veiyo Tonle moonlights as an orphanage and day center for disadvantaged children, and one of the ways they support it is by putting on an amazing dance show featuring live musicians and what seems like dozens of kids who appear from nowhere to put on dancing and singing extravaganza that rivals anything else showing in the city.

This isn't some half-assed attempt to pull the heart-strings by forcing some kids to shuffle around to music either. These kids are good - really good - and the half hour show has them dressed as fishermen and women, monkeys, warriors, royalty and coconut-wielding rogues. All of the dances are traditional Cambodian ones, and skill of the children becomes more apparent as the dances become more complex.

The show finishes off with them leaping out into the restaurant to grab diners to dance, sing along with, play or just chat. The energy was great and no one seemed too fussed about not finishing their food - quite a coup d'etat. Donations are requested at the end of the show and you give as much or as little as you like.

Shows can be arranged in advanced simply by calling the restaurant and letting them know you are bringing a large party (10 or more). If you don't have enough in your group, you can always pass by to see if someone else has already arranged one. If not, I'd seriously suggest approaching total strangers and ask them to go with you - it really is worth it.