I love drinks, and I love manga and anime. So when the Rosewood Phnom Penh hotel invited me there to check out the new anime-inspired menu at its acclaimed Sora Skybar, I was happier than Naruto at a ramen stall.

Sora (which means “sky” in Japanese) is the highest sky bar in the Cambodian capital, perched on a cantilevered terrace on the 37th floor of Rosewood Phnom Penh.

The bar has three sections – the first is a cigar and whisky lounge called the Whisky Library; and the second, an indoor lounge-style bar area.

Still, it’s not called a “skybar” for nothing. As you walk outside to the main bar area, you are greeted first by a garden space that serves as Sora’s in-house herb farm, growing mint, basil, kaffir lime and more.

It then opens up to a beautiful open bar where you can sit and sip cocktails while enjoying an awe-inspiring view of Phnom Penh’s skyline with the Mekong River on the horizon, and an unobstructed view of spectacular sunsets.

Sora is located on the 37th floor of Rosewood Phnom Penh.

Sora is spearheaded by bar manager KT Lam, and according to a press release, the new menu, called “Alchemy of Anime”, was crafted to “reflect the spirit of manga characters while infusing the rich essence of Japanese heritage with the dynamic future of Cambodia”.

“We wanted something that guests, especially locals, could understand easily, while still staying true to Sora’s Japanese DNA,” Lam said during an interview at the bar last month.

“That’s why we choose to highlight the menu in a Japanese manga style, because our target age group (between 20 and 40 years old), will understand it well, and immediately know what to expect,” he explained.

“We wanted something that guests, especially locals, could understand easily, while still staying true to Sora’s Japanese DNA,” Lam says

According to him, the drinks on the menu are not very spirit-forward, in order to cater to the drinking culture in Phnom Penh.

“We are still trying to educate people about cocktails here. In Cambodia, the culture is not ready for very spirit-forward drinks yet, so if we make the drinks too powerful, they’ll just get up and never try cocktails again,” he mused.

The curation of the menu itself was a collaborative effort, with every member of the Sora Bar team contributing their own individual expertise and creativity.

The process was simple – the team would decide on an iconic character from a certain manga, and do more research on what he or she likes to eat or drink, while drawing inspiration from their traits, adventures, and symbolism.

Lam and his team broke down the ingredients for ramen and used them in the Gumiho cocktail.

For instance, Naruto (from the manga of the same name) loves to eat ramen, so the team broke down the ingredients of ramen to create a cocktail called Gumiho.

“We also try to use a combination of Japanese and local ingredients in the cocktails,” he said.

“So, from our name to our menu design, to the cocktails ... we stay true to the DNA of the bar.

“Even the cocktail name is linked to the character in the comic.”

Inspired by the manga Naruto, this drink takes the titular character’s love for ramen and transforms it into a savoury gin highball-style drink that really does recall the flavours of a tonkatsu ramen broth.

The name means “nine-tailed fox” in Japanese, and refers to the tailed-beast demon that was sealed inside Naruto.

The ingredient in focus here is edamame, inspired by the “senzu” beans that Dragonball characters eat to restore their health.

While edamame doesn’t have a very strong flavour, it still manages to stand out among the other ingredients in this drink.

The flavours between the edamame and the other ingredients are actually nicely balanced here.

Z BAll is inspired by the “senzu” beans that Dragonball characters eat to restore their health.

Inspired by Giyu of Demon Slayer (who likes to drink green tea), Lam says that Breathing –which is what the Slayers call their fighting techniques – is a saketini-style drink that is paired with a green tea and earl grey waffle cracker.

The gin-based drink is a good example of how Sora has tailored their cocktails to not only incorporate the theme and ingredients, but also to cater to local tastes.

Breathing is a saketini-style drink that is paired with a green tea and earl grey waffle cracker.

“We made this a saketini-style drink so that guests can enjoy a Martini without it being too spirit-forward,” he said, adding that the green tea element is included in the waffle crackers that come with the drink.

“With each cocktail, we also try to have something on the side for guests to eat, because we are also trying to reduce the wastage for the drinks. If you put a lemon slice, it is just going to be thrown away.”

Inspired by the mind-reading child Anya from Spy X Family, who loves eating peanuts, this is one of my favourite cocktails on the menu.

Incorporating both bourbon and Irish whiskey gives it a fruity yet caramelly base, while the peanut butter and banana elements combine to give a fun take on the Manhattan, balanced by a tinge of saltiness from the miso salted caramel.

Mind Reading is inspired by Anya from Spy X Family, who loves eating peanuts,

This savoury sip is inspired by Jujutsu Kaisen’s Nobara Kugisaki, who fights the manga’s “Curses” with her signature hammer and nails weapon.

“She likes to eat pizza, so we broke down the pizza ingredients to make the drink,” Lam explained. The result is a great twist on a Bloody Mary, with tomato, eggplant and basil pairing quite nicely with the herbaceous notes of the tequila.

Mmm, pizza. Nails & Hammer is a great take on the Bloody Mary.

In Initial D, main character Takumi is a delivery driver for his father’s tofu shop, and drives an old-school black and white Toyota AE86, which he also uses to develop his signature drifting skills.

Hence, the drink is not only tofu-based, but also named after the car, and comes in black and white.

“This is like a Ramos gin fizz style, creamy and refreshing at the same time,” Lam said.

The highlight of this was a side dish of pudding made with soy milk and almond, which went really well with the creamy and smooth nature of the drink itself.

86 is a drink that uses the tofu-delivering AE86 car in Initial D as an inspiration.

Now this is a drink that should not be taken lightly, just like Zoro, the pirate-hunting swordsman from long-running manga One Piece, who is a heavy drinker and loves sake, beer and more.

The combination of vodka, sake, cointreau and beer make this almost like a Long Island Iced Tea, but with fruity, citrusy notes combining with the rice and malty beer for a fuller bodied drink.

Inspired by Zoro from the One Piece manga, Pirate Hunter is not a drink to be taken lightly.

Here’s another cocktail that uses beer and banana to great effect. It is based on Cana of the manga Fairy Tail, a witch who uses “Holder Magic” (a technique that relies on external objects).

“In the manga, Cana loves to drink red wine, but we used banana-infused port wine instead for this drink,” said Lam, adding that the drink is based on the Chicago fizz, with a beer foam on top.

The Holder is based on the Chicago fizz, with a beer foam on top.

Inspired by Rangiku Matsumoto of Bleach, the vice captain of Squad 10, whose favourite food is dried persimmon.

Another inspiration for this milk punch-style, cognac-based drink is the orange juice and espresso drink that went viral on Tik Tok recently.

Another inspiration for Squad 10 is the orange juice and espresso drink that went viral on Tik Tok recently.

“It can be hard to get persimmon here, so we have substituted it with apricot instead,” said Lam.

“This one has a lot of flavour - there is apricot, miso, coffee, altogether. The acidity of coffee and orange juice is also quite matching, with the miso giving a salty flavour inside.”

The red-coloured Ichigo Punch is like a strawberry chocolate cake in liquid form.

Inspired by Gintoki Sakata of Gintama, whose favorite food is chocolate parfait and strawberry milk (“ichigo” means strawberry in Japanese).

This red-coloured tipple is like a strawberry chocolate cake in liquid form. It is clarified with yogurt for an extra layer of flavour, and they also use a local ingredient, chestnuts, for a nutty flavour.

“You can never go wrong with strawberry and chocolate!” declared Lam, and I couldn’t agree more.

Michael Cheang wonders what a cocktail based on Chainsaw Man would be like. Follow him on Instagram (@mytipsyturvy) and Facebook (fb.com/mytipsyturvy).