NOTE: we always share our meals. That makes a big difference in the cost of our meals and the expansion of our waistlines. We don’t have the kitchen split the meals because Audre doesn’t eat as much as Dimitri. We just ask for an extra plate and Audre takes what she thinks she should eat.
ALE and DM discussed adding ratings to our restaurant reviews and compromised on the following ratings:
HR: Highly recommended
R++: Recommended almost as much as HR
R: Recommended
NR: Not recommended
A: Awful
1. Lunch
1.1 R: Cafe Indochine, 44 Sivantha St., Seam Reap, www.cafe-indochine.com, 855-77-806. We had a couple of lovely lunches on the upstairs terrace. It was beautifully designed and the tables and chairs were comfortable. Our server was very good (and beautiful). She understood English. One time we had one pumpkin soup (KHR 30,100៛) and one Massaman vegetable curry (KHR 30,100៛). The soup was tasty and good. The curry had many different flavors and vegetables and was excellent. We spent KHR 66,100៛/US$16.05 and we were happy.
1.2 R: Nan Sor Lucky Restaurant near Ta Nei Temple. It was good and it was included in our tour.
1.3 R: Bayon Restaurant at Bayon Temple Located in Ankor Thom, nearby Terrace of the Leper King, 855-081-968-455, www.bayonrestaurant.blogspot.com. It was included in our tour and we sampled many very good dishes.
1.4 NR: Curry King, Siem Reap, #563, Krosar Thmey, mondol 1 village Near Pub street Krong Siem Reap, 17252, 098 209 030. We did not like the place or the food. Wanted pani puri but were out. So we had one disappointing Dahi puri KHR21,000៛ and one Masala papad KHR13,400៛. We spent KHR 30,900៛/US$7.50 and left unhappy.
2. Dinner
2.1 HR: Lumorng Farm to Table, Thlok Ondong Village, Group 23, Slorkram Commune, Siem Reap, Cambodia, 85510926562, https://www.lumorngrestaurant.com. This was one of our best meals. We took a Grab car to the restaurant and should have had the driver wait. The restaurant is certainly out of town on a road where there is no traffic. The building is picturesque and the dining room was pleasantly decorated. The tables were widely spaced. When we arrived there were only 2 other tables there but it did fill up. We had 2 tasting menus (KHR 184,500៛ x 2) of seven courses. The food was visually interesting and very tasty. Dimitri thought it was the best meal we’ve had in Cambodia. Locally sourced we had river fish, rice paddy frog, local river clams, snakehead fish fillet and one dish with pork meat. The dishes used lemongrass, tamarind, lotus seeds and roots, palm sugar, young mango and local bell pepper. The combination of flavors was very well done. The chef called the dessert a waffle with coconut ice cream but it was much more interesting than that sounds. The meal cost (KHR 369,000៛/U$S90). After we had paid, we tried to get a Grab car back to our hotel; no luck. We were the last to leave and Sevin, the manager/sous chef, said that he would drive us. He picked up his wife, who was at her pharmacy shop Chook Sov, and off we went to our hotel. When his wife came out of her pharmacy, she bought each of us a bottle of perfume. What a generous savior!
2.2 HR: Cuisine Wat Damnak, Wat Damnak Siem Reap (Between Psa Dey Hoy market and Angkor High School), Wat Damnak village, Sala Kamreuk Commune, Siem Reap 17525 Cambodia +855 92 762 539, https://www.cuisinewatdamnak.com/siem-reap. We had a wonderful dinner in a comfortable and pleasing room of three tables. No special festivities for new year’s eve were planned—just the way we like it. We each had the 8-course menu with meat (KHR 185,445៛ x 2) and it was refined and superb both in taste and visually. With our meal we had a pot of Chinese red tea (KHR 10,300៛) as well as filtered water. Our servers were relaxed and professional. They were able to answer all of our questions. They kept our water glasses and tea pot filled. There were 5 starter dishes—languostine, pork bell, beef tongue, a prawn/scallop/calamari pancake and roasted quail of which the quail was outstanding. The sauces with each of the dish were superb. The tastes of the individual items in each dish jumped out at us. The main course was the Tonle Sap croaker fish with pumpkin puree and a coconut and curry sauce that was really tasty. We even tasted the sourness of the tamarind shoots! The hyacinth flowers added a gentle taste too. The cucumber sorbet that followed was unbelievably good—we were expecting something like cucumber juice which we don’t like. No it was like eating a cucumber in creamy form. And it had crunchy cucumber bits in it too, along with tiny dragon fruit taste. The dessert was a Cambodian wild cinnamon and sweet potato seamed biscuit, with a mandarin and chocolate light granache and sweet potato marzipan disc on the top. Wow! Our après dessert, was a dish of four fruits that we had never had accompanied by a salt/chile mixture to dip them in. Great. Our après, après dessert was a tiny morsel of mango and sticky rice—evidently a Cambodian new year’s tradition. We enjoyed our meal very much and spent KHR 381,192៛/$92.50.
2.3 R: Pou Restaurant, 557 Wat Bo Rd, Krong Siem Reap 93136, http://pourestaurant.com. We had a lovely meal on comfortable chairs in the garden at the new location of Pou on Wat Bo Road. Tey was a personable server who spoke good English. Pou (whose real name is Mork Mengly) came to talk to us and tell us about his career. We really enjoyed that. We ordered ginger, pineapple and cucumber juices that were good (KHR12,000៛ x2). We had 2 starters. The corn dumplings in a beetroot sauce with avocado and corn, called num kruk (KHR 19,200៛), was really good. The bee hive in sweet sauce was very, very unusual (KHR 28,700៛). We couldn’t identify what it was--very soft tiny bag-like things stuck together that were filled with something that had texture. It wasn’t bad but it wasn’t great either. It turned out to larvae of bees in a sauce. For our main, we had the grilled mackerel that came with a cabbage salad in a mayo/wasabi dressing (KHR 28,300៛). The mackerel was juicy and good. Then we ordered 2 desserts: a black fermented sticky rice sorbet (KHR16,500៛) and a tapioca with sauces (KHR 20,500៛). Both were good. We also had one bottle of water (KHR 6100៛) before we realized that they had filtered water. We were glad we ate dinner there. We spent KHR142,598៛/US$34.78.
2.4 R: Embassy Restaurant, Street 27, King’s Road village, Krong Siem Reap, Cambodia, +855 (0) 89 282 911, www.embassy-restaurant.com. This restaurant was not as good as its sister Sombok in Phnom Penh. We did have a lovely and delicious dinner in very nice surroundings (that got full and tables that got turned). The service was very good but a little stiff and a bit too proper. Rather than list the courses we will just say that the 7-course prix fixe menu (US$45 x 2) was very tasty, varied and inventive. It started with a course called Khmer Street Finger Food and the natang on this course was new to us. The Amuse bouche was a little dumpling of very tasty morsels. The appetizer salad with next and the topping of crispy krill was a first for us. The green kako soup was very good. The Roselle (a variety of hibiscus) sorbet was excellent. The main courses (2) were a river fish fillet, nicely cooked and good, and a yummy duck breast in sugar cane juice with baked pineapple & passion fruit sauce. The dessert called Bai Trab Palm Sugar Caramel with sticky rice and coconut ice cream was a very good end to a very good meal. We paired our meal with the Herbal Pairing (US$ 15 x2) and we were impressed with the varied tastes of the herbs. Of the 4, Dimitri didn’t like the passion fruit and lime but no offer was made to substitute another one for it. At the end of the meal Chef Kimsan came to offer us a gift of macarons and we appreciated that very much. We spent KHR 544,000៛/US$132 and were happy.
2.5 R: Chanrey Tree, Pokombo Ave, along Siem Reap river side, 50m before Preah Prum Rath pagoda, what's app: +855 95 480 300, https://www.chanreytree.com/home-page. We had a lovely meal in the back of the restaurant, outside in a very pleasant space. Mr. Kun, F&B Manager, sat us and brought Audre a bunch of beautiful lotus flowers to take home. The service was very nice and the food was very good. We started with the crispy rice cracker and Natang sauce (KHR 37,000៛). The sauce was good although the taste of meat overpowered the spice paste too much. For our main, we had the Chhar Khroeung with frogs legs (KHR 36,200៛). The sauce was good but the frogs legs had not been de-boned and were difficult to eat. With that we had the stir fried eggplant with oyster sauce, hoisen sauce, garlic and sesame oil (KHR 23,000៛) and rice (KHR 1,230៛). It was a good dish. For dessert we had the Nhom Po Pea (KHR 23,900៛). It was unusual with shreds of young coconut and crispy sugar in a kind of crepe roll. The coconut sorbet was good. With our meal we had jasmine tea that only sort of tasted of jasmine (KHR 12,300៛). We spent KHR 147,300៛/ US$35.75 and were happy.
2.6 R: Changkran Khmer Restaurant, Mondol 3 Village, Province 17251, 089 456 241, https://changkrankhmer.com/?utm_source=googlemaps&utm_medium=googlemaps&utm_campaign=Googlemapsseo. This restaurant is good. We had a nice meal with good service in a lovely atmosphere (with the repetitive beat of the music). The chef and his wife have created a place for disadvantaged Cambodians to learn and they are doing very well. We were brought cushions to put on the chairs and then it was comfortable. The food started roughly with soggy (but complimentary) egg roll with a terrible sweet chili sauce. It got better when we were brought our drinks of lemongrass, passion fruit, ginger, mint and lime with a straw made of lemongrass (KHR 12,363៛). They were delicious and innovative with lots of pieces of everything floating in it. The appetizer of creamy bro her fish soup (KHR 20,605៛) was very good. The green vegetable was pureed and the fish was floating in it. The deep fried crispy taro (KHR 18,544៛) were huge pieces (should have been smaller) of taro flour balls that were indeed crispy and good but served with the same terrible sweet chili sauce. Our main was deep fried king prawn with Khmer red curry sauce (KHR 37,089៛) was very good. It was made with coconut milk, peanut and Khmer red curry and served with rice. The prawn were indeed large and juicy. The sauce was really delicious and we asked for more to dip our taro balls into. The red rice that was served with the dish was a bit dry but the dish did not need it. We had 2 desserts. One was not a good concept: the crispy banana with coconut (KHR 16,484៛) and the other one was banana with sago in coconut syrup (KHR 14,424៛) which was okay. All in all it was an uneven but good meal. We spent KHR 119,509៛/US $29. Chef’s wife arranged for a remorque to take us back to our hotel (the Grab car that brought us could not drive on the narrow road to the restaurant and Dimitri had trouble getting a Grab remorque to the address of the restaurant.)
2.7 R (with a caveat): Malis, Pokambor Avenue, Siem Reap Riverside, Siem Reap, Cambodia, +855(0)15 824 888, reservation.malissr@thaliashospitality.com, https://malis-restaurant.com/malis-siem-reap. The courtyard was beautiful with a pool, koi and an impressive Ganesha statue. The meal was not as good as the one at Malis Phnom Penh, partly due to the food and partly due the personality of our server. He was proper but not friendly. We had one passion fruit juice (KHR 16,484៛) that was good and got better as the ice melted and the sugar syrup kicked in. Dimitri really liked his mixed fruit shake (KHR 16,484៛). For our appetizer, we had with the scallops with green pepper (KHR 53,573៛) and they were good. Then we had the moringa soup (KHR 41,210៛) that was good. It came with a plate of vegetables to dip into the soup, one of which was the flower called sesbania that we have seen often as a garnish. For our main we had the Tek Kroeung with vegetables (KHR 45,331៛). This was not our first Kroeung sauce and it was good, not great. We liked our young coconut dessert (described as palm fruit in coconut), KHR 28,847៛. With rice (KHR 4121៛), we spent KHR 291,025៛/US $70.62.
2.8 R (with a caveat): Travancore Indian Restaurant, 733 Street No. 7, Krong Siem Reap, 093 869 288, https://travancoreindianrestaurants.com. We had a nice meal with attention from the owner, Trilot, and from the server, Brian. The food was good and with Ravi Shankar music, it was delightful. We had a salty lassi (KHR 8342៛), butter naan (KHR 8035៛), cucumber raita (KHR 12,156៛), lamb chukka Varuval (KHR 38,100), vegetable butter masala (KHR 24,500៛), rice (KHR 6181៛). All good but not great and not as good as we had hoped. For dessert we had the gulab jamun (KHR 10,300៛) and Masala Chai (KHR 6181៛). We left happy enough.
2.9 R (with a caveat): Mahob Khmer, #137, Traing village, Group 3, Siem Reap, (+855) 63 966 986, https://www.mahobkhmer.com. We had a very good meal with okay service. But we had expected more because it was the sister restaurant of Lumorng Farm to Table (see above). The room is lovely and the Khmer music (changed when we asked), was nice. We thought Lumorng was one of our best Cambodian meals and were looking forward to trying the sister restaurant. The food at Mahob Khmer did not disappoint. We started with the pounded fish fondue (Pro Hok?), with vegetables to dip in the sauce (KHR 26,000៛). The sauce was very tasty and the vegetables, including the crunchy cucumber and the winged bean were very fresh and good. Our main course was braised young pork rib in palm sugar with duck egg the (KHR 40,000៛), served with white rice. We really liked the tender (enough) pork and the palm sugar sauce was really good. We drank jasmine tea (KHR 10,250៛) with our meal and it was good, with the pot refilled upon request. For dessert we had one pumpkin pudding (KHR 12,300៛) and one scoop of coconut ice cream (KHR 10,250៛). We were happy with both. We spent KHR 98,000៛/US$24.50 and were glad we went to this restaurant.
2.10 NR: The Palm Sugar, Street 27, Siem Reap, Cambodia, (opposite Pannasastra University), 855 (0) 12 818143, https://www.thesugarpalm.com. It was a disappointment. The room is lovely with a high ceiling and nice artwork. The meal was disappointing and the service was just okay. The deep-fried spring roll (KHR 20,605៛) did not look like the photo in the menu and was only okay, although Dimitri liked it. We ordered to basil stir fried wok dish with tofu (KHR 30,907៛) because of the ingredients: basil, garlic, dried red pepper, chile fingers and oyster sauce. It did not taste of the ingredients and the tofu was dry and tough. The other dish we ordered was the coconut soup with fish (KHR 32,968៛), pea eggplant, green beans, sweet potato and basil. It was good with very few pea eggplants. We used the soup sauce on the tofu. We ordered jasmine tea (KHR 6,181៛) and when asked, they refilled the pot with hot water. The pot was awful. It was shaped like an elephant with its trunk curving upward. Absolutely impossible to pour without spilling. Ridiculous. There was no dessert we wanted. We spent KHR 90,662៛/US$22 and left unhappy.
2.11 A: JOMNO, Wat Damnak Siem Reap wat damnak Village, Sala Kamruek Commune, Siem Reap 17525 Cambodia+855 92 762 539, https://jomnostreetfood.business.site. This was supposed to be modern Khmer cuisine and it turned out to be vegan burgers and other awful items. The room was nice and the chairs were comfortable. We didn’t “take to” our server. The ceviche with Tonle Sap fish was highly touted on TripAdvisor so we ordered it (KHR 20,600)៛. The fish was chewy and the lime wasn’t tasty enough. We also ordered the cucumber and mint juice (KHR 10,300៛) and didn’t like it. For our main we had the grilled chicken and Kokor stew (KHR 33,000៛). This dish was good; the chicken was tender and juicy and the Kokor sauce was tasty and full of vegetables. So we ate that. For dessert we had the mango cannelloni (KHR 16,500៛) it was good but the cannelloni was not filled properly. This dinner was a disappointment. We spent KHR 92,434៛/US $22.43 and left shaking our heads. The place was full.
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