Eating in Siem Reap
This is the last post of our Siem Reap trip. Our lunches were mainly simple fare arranged by Beyond Unique Escape at a eating place near the sites, or tingkat which Lin has brought along for us. After the tiring days exploring the temples, DH and I decided that we wanted to treat ourselves to nice relaxing dinners. So besides the first night when we ate at Grill Steak Cake at our hotel Memoire d’Angkor, the rest of our 3 nights we went to 3 other different restaurants in Siem Reap.
Cafe Indochine
After our very long tiring day at Angkor Wat and Ta Prohm, we decided to eat somewhere nearby. Cafe Indochine was just a short walk from our hotel and the exterior of the restaurant looks nice. So we decided to check it out.
We order the set menu for 2 which included a Pomelo Salad, a lobster soup, stir fried chicken with Kampot Black Pepper, Traditional Amok Fish, and all these served with white rice. Dessert was mango ice cream with an apple liqueur.
The set meal was at USD17 per person and together with our drinks of a coke and a local draft beer, our total bill came to USD42. I did not really like the food. The dishes were too salty too.
Pou Restaurant
After our dismay experience at Cafe Indochine, we asked Alan if he had any place to recommend for a good dinner and he recommend a small restaurant called Pou Restaurant. Alan says that the chef and owner at Pou has won cooking competitions and had gone around several cities within South East Asia to experience the food and has incorporated these flavourful into his dishes. So we decided to check it out. It was a little further from our hotel so we took a Tuk Tuk.
Pou is a small restaurant. There is no air conditioning what they had fan to cool the place. We started our meal with some drinks. As usual, DH had a beer while I decided on an Ice Lime Soda. The soda was very refreshing and was just what I needed to this hot evening. 👍
We had the garlic and chili beef for our appetizer. It was grilled beef marinated with crushed garlic and chili and served with green mango salad. We loved it!
For my main course, I decided on the special for the day, the Grilled Chicken served with curry and sweet potato. This was so good too. The curry was served at the side for dipping. So not your usual curry chicken.
DH went for the Pork Belly Noodle. It was a similar to our noodles that we have in Singapore. He said it was nice but nothing special. Unlike my chicken 😘
I couldn’t decide what to have for dessert, and Chef Mengly recommenced that I try the Ginger pudding. It was ginger with sago (tapioca pearl balls) in milk, cream & palm sugar. It was very nice. I loved it. First time I have eaten such dessert with ginger. It is usual with in South East Asia to have sago dessert in cream and palm sugar, but never have I had it with ginger tooZ
It was definitely a wonderful meal. So much enjoyed after our dismay experience at Cafe Indochine the night before. Our bill came up to only USD24.25. And that is after DH added a glass of red wine. This was really value for money and such an enjoyable meal with interesting flavors. High recommended. A must try when in Siew Reap!
Chef Mengly was so kind as to pose for a photo for me too!
Damnak Lounge
On our last night in Siew Reap, we decided to treat ourselves to fine dining. We had our hotel help us make a reservation at Damnak Lounge, at the Lotus Blanc Resort. The restaurant actually provides complimentary pick up for us at our hotel. Well, it is all in the price we are going to pay for dinner, I suppose 😆😆😆.
We decided to go for the degustation menu. DH took the one with wine pairing (USD45), while I went within wine (USD35).
As with all fine dining, we were served with a small complimentary starter, Amuse Bouche.
First course was Beef Carpaccio, served with a light salad, lemon oil, shaved Parmesan and capers.
Next came the soup. It was an asparagus soup with crab meat ravioli, vegetables and herbs.
For our main course, we had a choice of sea bass or beef. DH and I both went for the beef medallions served with a zucchini lasagna, garlic roasted potatoes and topped with a pot wine sauce. The beef was done nicely medium rare and very tender.
And finally dessert. It was tiramisu served with a fruit salad. So sinful but so good! 😘
Service throughout the evening was excellent. The waiter was fun and attentive. At the end of our meal, Damnak Longe arranged for us a complimentary Tuk Tuk ride back to our hotel too.
It was definitely the most expensive meal we had in Siem Reap, but we would not have been able to have such a dinner at this price back home. It was the last night of our vacation and so worth the splurge.
That’s the end of my sharing of our Siew Reap trip. Sorry again for the long lapse between the first post and the rest. Stay tuned for our next trip report tomorrow on our autumn trip to Hokkaido and Tokyo! Yes, we are back to Japan again!