Fine restaurant and bar, Phnom Penh, Cambodia,

I hate to admit it but last night I’d just about had enough of the taste of lemongrass! It is in pretty much everything over here whether it I underlying or the main flavour and I needed a break! So while I was craving western, James was still after Khmer! Anyway we happened to hit upon te perfect place not far from our hotel – I will add the full address later!

Name: fine

Staff: very nice and friendly – one of the girls was absolutely stunning! A model agency would have a field day out here if they could get over the height issue!

Food: I had pasta pesto! It was just what I needed and really good! They had added mint to it which was lovely and I will that at home!
James had fish amok, a curry dish which despite being a little on the spices side was also very good!

Drink: the white wine is good! (House) and they have humongous glasses!

Menu: they have lots of dishes on it both western and Cambodian so I’m pretty sure that anyone would find something they wanted.

Verdict: good for a nice cheap meal! Yummy food and yummy wine! 8/10

Triangle BBQ bar, Siem Reap

Had dinner here tonight!
Basically slightly upmarket street food! They cook it on the side of the street while you squeeze in on metal tables!

Food: I had noodle soup and a portion of pork chops. The soup was nice but a little bland compared to others I had. The pork was delicious but came as three ribs together which made for very messy eating!
James had stir fried frog! Very fiddly as lots of little bones – literally a smaller version of chicken! He enjoyed it tho! E also had a chefs special chicken kebab and a king tiger prawn! All looks good!
Other options included fried rice, beef an squid as well as catch of the day!

Drinks: yummy mojito and beer!

Verdict: 7/10 but good for a street food experience if you don’t fancy the rougher looking places!
Wear plenty of mosquito repellent! I got bitten a lot there for some reason!

QRR AHA, Siem Reap

AHA was recommended to us by our hotel! It was a very goo recommendation!

Location: two streets up from Pub street, I will find out the exact address and post later!

Staff: very attentive! You get worse service in most 4 star restaurants on London! They weren’t over bearig but kept our glasses topped up and showed us what todo with certain dishes where necessary!

Food: a brilliant mixture of Khmer and posh western food! Te menu starts with taster dishes where you get 3 tiny dishes. The categories include Khmer, cheese and fish!
Now, any one who knows me knows in a cheese addict and funnily enough over the past ten days I haven’t had much of the delicious dairy stuff so yes I went for cheese! I have Camembert and onion spring rolls, goats cheese and truffle on toast dizzled with honey and tiny puff party discs with Gorgonzola and tomato! Delish!!!!
James opted for the Khmer option which included beef kebabs, spring rolls, and noodles with dried snake! Now before you pull a face don’t know it Til you’ve tried it! The snake was really good! Very beef jerky esq! It was James’ favourite out of the 3.

For mains we both had chicken with curry paste and pineapple with sticky rice cakes……YUM! Enough said!

The wine we blindly chose (as neither of us has much of a clue!) was a Norton Sauvignon blanc, we were lucky as this was also a very good choice!! Not to fruity as some Sauvignon can be! My mummy would have loved it!

By this point we were too full for desert but a couple next to us had the cheesecake with honey comb and steamed chocolate pudding with raspberry sorbet (that would have been my choice!!!). They both left 19,20 plates! (That’s empty for those of you that don’t know the nursery rhyme!)

Price: for two courses, a bottle of water and a bottle of wine we paid $60 and we both thought it was well worth it!
Obviously you can eat on Cambodia for much less, but if you’re going to splash out then do it here!

QRR: Tam tam cafe, Hoi An

This was our hangover cure cafe of choice!
I had the most delicious Croque Madame! Two layers of toasted bread with cheese ham an mustardy bechemal sauce topped with a fried egg! It’s was sooooooo good! I washed it down with a mango cooler! Not as great as a lassi (but I’m slightly addicted to those!) but still refreshing made with mango, soda and lime!

The girls also reported that the omelette and the burgers were very good!

Definitely worth a visit If you fancy a western fix!

http://tamtamcafe-hoian.com/index.aspx

Pho

Pho soup I the most popular dish in Vietnam!
Traditionally it is a beef or chicken broth with noodles and beef however there are many variations including the pho ga below which is made with chicken!! I had this in Ben thanh market in Ho Chi Minh!
We crouched on tiny tiny stools (I didn’t know how I’d get down there let alone get up again!!

Usually though it is associated with beef, although during the war wen beef was scarce pork took its place!

The following website has loads of info!! I love the title!

http://www.lovingpho.com/pho-opinion-editorial/history-and-evolution-of-vietnamese-pho/

Incoming! Amazing food alert!

If you ever get stranded in district 1 in Ho Chi Minh because you stupidly didn’t check if buses were running to Cambodia during Tet, then head to your nearest Com Tam Cali and order the lemongrass pork! It is a taste sensation!!!!