flavour Restaurant Phnom Penh

flavour Restaurant

Street 51, Corner Street 282

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Telephone: +855-23-224 752

I need to lose a few kilos and therefore wanted to head for a restaurant that offers some healthy choices. I do not know Phnom Penh all that well but, checking in with a few friends, the flavour Restaurant came up a couple of time.

From the outside.

The location certainly worked for me as it is near the Independence Monument and I had work to do near there. The restaurant is quite open and located on a reasonably quiet corner. It was unusually hot when we went for lunch, but there is no air-conditioned room; only fans. Like many restaurants in Phnom Penh these days they do have free WiFi.

The interior is functional. I guess.

Staff were very attentive, even if the English did leave a little to be desired. No problem, with a smile, hands and feet, and some imagination we did manage to order what we wanted. The menu is very extensive; my Canadian colleague was very happy to find "Poutine" on the menu. There is a wide selection of sandwiches, salads, pasta, Pizzas, BBQ items and Asian dishes. There are two pages of "Healthy Menu", ten dishes with fat, calorie, and protein content labeled. I do hope that more restaurants catch on to this in Cambodia.

A rare find in Cambodia: Poutine.

I ordered the "Salmon Couscous with Green Lime". The food arrived pretty rapidly and the Salmon looked good (most of my colleagues had ordered the same thing). There was also one Salad Nicoise ordered, I thought both the size and the presentation of the salad could have been improved somewhat. The Salmon was excellent, if a tad overcooked, and the Caper-lemon sauce that came with it was great, too. More sauce would have been good, I am a big fan of Couscous but, as far as I am concerned, Couscous needs to swim in plenty of liquid.

I'd go back for the Healthy Menu alone (and heck,

I wouldn't mind having guns like the woman on the menu).

Prices were reasonable, the four of us paid USD 33.00. Healthy options are around the USD 6.00 mark, Pizzas go for anywhere between USD 5.50 and 14.00, depending on size and topping, and juices are USD 2.50. I would not recommend the flavour for a romantic dinner or as an outstanding gastronomic experience. Their goal is obviously to serve fairly simple but well-prepared food and here they succeed. A very good choice for a light lunch in an informal setting.

The Salmon with Couscous was excellent, if a little dry.

The Nicoise Salad was a little on the smallish side.

Service: ****

Food: ****

Ambiance: ***

Value for money: ****

Recommended: Yes