Master Suki

Master Suki, Green Suki, Angkor Suki, Hawaii(!) Suki, SK Suki. Many different restaurants all over Siem Reap serving basically the same thing: hot-pot. Electric plate in the middle, pot with broth on top, and then you order whatever you would like to chuck in there. A simple enough concept and one that is very popular with locals as well as with Asian visitors. It is fast, cooking your food is fun, and prizes are pretty reasonable.

We went to Master Suki, the only reason being that it is close to where we live; as far as I am concerned the food tastes all the same in the different Suki restaurants. The only diffence is that in some restaurants the food comes on a conveyer belt, much like in a Sushi restaurant, and in others it comes on small plates.




Like in all the Suki restaurants, the decor is pretty basic; I guess it is the Asian-influenced answer to Mickey Dee's or KFC. The punters are supposed to come in, eat, and bugger off to make room for the next guests. Service is also spotty. They were all very friendly, but I am guessing the girls are hired from the booneys as they are cheap; this shows in both the feet-dragging and the absence of English. No worries though; the menu comes with lots of pretty pictures.

The individual dishes are all around USD 1.50 each, but portions are small and you would have to order quite a few if you are hungry. As with all hot-pots, this is best enjoyed with a few people as that makes it possible to order a wide variety of dishes. Add some veggies and mushrooms and you are laughing. If you do not like hot-pot very much, then there is always the option of meat, fish, or fried rice dishes. Prizes vary according to the meat and size of the dish, but range from about USD 3.00 to USD 6.00. Juices are around the USD 2.00 mark, as are the beers.

This particular restaurant also has a Chippie connected to it; good if you cannot face anymore Asian food. The fish is really not bad and decent value for USD 5.00. I couldn't tempt my daughter with it, so she went ahead and ordered "Bowels Beef (sic)", Pig's Intestine and Jellyfish. Just kidding, she may be half Vietnamese, but she prefers to stick to more conservative food.


As usual in Suki restaurants the food arrived about 2 seconds after we ordered. The hot plates are very efficient, bringing everything to a boil in no time at all. Is the food tasty? It really depends on you and what you dump into the broth, you can make it as yucky or as yummy as you wish.



Now if only they could do something about the uniforms:





Rating (out of 5):

Service: **** staff appear little motivated, but are very friendly and willing to help
Food: From * to ***** depending on what one chooses
Ambiance: *
Value for money: ****

Recommended: If you want a quick meal, do not like KFC, and think it is normal to eat hot-pot when it is 37 degrees outside: yes. Seriously, it is actually quite good and at least the food is fresh.