I have been 'on the road' for about three months now. And I am such a sorry addict for my football that I do actually plan my itineraries very largely around trying to be somewhere there's a decent sports bar when there's a particularly tasty tranche of games coming up. Unfortunately, in East Asia this is not at all easy....
But these were some of the main stopping points I'd lined up on this latest odyssey:
1) Rusty Keyhole 2, Kampot, Cambodia
This is about as basic and 'divey' as you can get (basically, a bar in a shed) - but I like that. The name's a bit unfortunate, since it was originally an offshoot of a weirdly popular but not-at-all-good riverfront bar/restaurant - the original Rusty Keyhole. There has been no connection to that other venue for many years now; but, unfortunately, the original Rusty's - though long defunct at its first location - has haphazardly opened up a number of other venues in recent years, all with some slight variation of the name,... which seem to get frequently confused with dear old Rusty 2: all the bad reviews for this pub on TripAdvisor have pretty obviously been posted there in error, carelessly mistaking it for one of these similarly-named Cambodian-run places. These days, there's a Brit owner at Rusty 2, I believe; and consequently, they make very decent 'Western' bar food (surprisingly good pizzas, and one of the best Sunday roast lunches to be found in the region, never mind just Cambodia). They have a few big-screen TVs, and can usually hook up almost any game you're interested in, with English commentary. And the beer's very cheap. What more do you want from a sports bar?
[An honorable mention (frequent alternative haunt of mine) in Kampot is the splendidly named Couch Potatoes. It's a bit small, and the beer is a tad more expensive than at Rusty's, and you have to order out if you want food (a once-upon-a-time plan to offer baked potatoes foundered on not being able to find large enough spuds locally....). And the place is so accommodating of niche interests that you might often find a Championship game rather than Premier League on the main screen. Also, the affable owner, Jem, runs it as a one-man-band hobby project, and he has another gig which often takes him away for days or weeks at a time - so, opening is extremely hit-and-miss. But if Rusty's is looking a bit too boisterous for you, this is often a great fall-back.]
2) Cheers, Nha Trang, Vietnam
One near-unique achievement at this joint is that not just the Brit owner but also his local staff know how to navigate the hundreds of viewing options swifly and accurately - so, you're never left missing the opening minutes of a game while someone hopefully clicks through multiple menus failing to find the right channel. Also, it's a dangerously convenient 5-minute stagger from the hotel I usually like to stay in when visiting Nha Trang! And, as with Rusty's above, most of the bar food is very good; in fact, their Sunday roasts are probably a bit better (dauntingly huge!); and their Full English breakfast is, I reckon, the best to be found in the region - decent sausages and proper back-bacon (rather than that awful crispy-strip stuff the Americans seem to favour). It is very small, though; and usually only draws quite modest crowds. I like that quieter vibe, though if you crave 'atmosphere', you might prefer the nearby Red Buffalo, a multi-level, open-sided local bar that gets a lot more raucous (but I'm not sure if they ever shut off their screechy cover band to play any commentary, even in Vietnamese...).
3) Arin's, Siem Reap, Cambodia
Arin's is - was - like a larger, less grungy version of Kampot's Rusty 2: an open courtyard under a large tin roof. Again, foreign ownership (never met him myself; Aussie, I think I heard?), so good bar food (occasional Sunday roasts, though that got a bit haphazard in recent years). Its challenging location, somewhat remote (down towards the far end of the Soksan Road, a mile or so out of the centre of town) and hidden (tiny, inconspicuous entrance, almost completely obscured by nearby shop signs and trees...), meant that it attracted almost entirely an expat crowd, rather than any tourists (which isn't a great thing, for me; Siem Reap's expat community has got much bigger and more sleazy over the past six or seven years, and I don't find the majority of them very congenial company), but cheap beer, good food, and big TV screens showing the games with English commentary - that's tough to find in these parts; you have to be grateful for any place that's offering this.
Alas, I discovered on arrival that Arin's had foundered sometime around the end of last year (shortly after my last visit: I often worry that I'm a bit of a jinx - so many of my favourite hangouts fail to survive for long). My main fall-back in SR would be Harry's Bar (somehow rather more airy and cheerful than its parent establishment in Phnom Penh): quite small, and seems to attract an overwhelmingly Aussie crowd (which may make it hard to get EPL games shown, if there's any cricket or rugby league on at the same time....), but they too have some very good bar food (the beef stew is very rich, and a generous serving). I don't hate Goaaal! either (not sure if I got the right number of vowels in that...), a new-ish place (maybe three or four years old now?) right in the centre of town: they usually manage to show every available game on their multiple screens, the staff are pretty good, and it's fairly cheap for a city-centre bar. The only problem with it is that it's open-sided.... and slap-bang in the middle of the godawful 'Pub Street', so, eardrum-lacerating noise pollution from neighbouring bars may compromise your experience of a game.
4) 3 Dragons Sports Bar (No. 2), Hoi An, Vietnam
Not completely sure why, but I much prefer this venue to its riverside sibling. I think it's probably that the larger space, and the outside seating for people to enjoy the river view, at the 'main' location seems to position it as more of a 'restaurant'; not sure how many TVs they have, either - it's just never felt like a place I'd like to go to try to catch a game. The second venue, though, a little bit more centrally located, towards the eastern edge of the quaint 'old town', is a 'sports bar', pure and simple. Pretty good bar food again. Alas, a little bit on the expensive side (not outrageous; but much the most expensive of my recommendations on this list). The branding is apt to confuse, though: I don't think the signage outside makes any distinction between the two locations (no 'No. 2' to be seen; on my first few visits to the town, I thought it must be the only one; then, when I found a same-named place by the river, I assumed it must just have moved a few blocks during Covid); and this 'second' one doesn't seem to have any online presence at all (although, the search function on TripAdvisor has got so bad, maybe it has a listing that's just impossible to find...).
5) The Parrot, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
I rather preferred the memorable silliness of the original monicker, 'The Pickled Parrot', but 'Pickled' somehow got dropped in the bar's latest move a year or so ago (it hopped around the city centre three or four times from its original spot in the post-Covid chaos). Quite a big venue (by Phnom Penh standards, that is), with a little bit of pavement seating at the front too. It also boasts nice staff, decent pub grub, a good pool table - and a long wooden bar. It is pretty close to my personal vision of pub perfection; but it never seems to have many customers when I visit, and I fear for its survival. Fingers crossed that you're still hanging in there when I next make it back, dear Parrot!
Footnote: The bar pictured at the top is another near-perfect paradigm of my ideal sports pub, a place called Tully's Irish Bar (in Vientiane, Lao P.D.R.). Tragically, it lost its lovely original location - right in the heart of town, only a stone's-throw from the riverside Night Market - to a rent hike a few years ago, and has relocated to a bigger but rather charmless venue, miles out of the centre. Even worse, from my point of view, they felt they had to pivot during Covid towards attracting the young Lao crowd - who crave 'beer towers' and barbecue skewers, and nothing else. That model proved so successful for them that that's now ALL they do! Well, I think their 'Western' menu still nominally exists (it did last time I visited), but cranking out 'beer towers' is very labour-intensive; when they're busy, it keeps every single member of staff continuously occupied, just rinsing and refilling these plastic monstrosities - so, good luck even trying to order anything else! I'm happy for the owner that he managed to find a way to stay profitable and keep his staff employed during difficult times, but... fans of the old Tully's can't help but shed a few tears for a great bar that died.
