Sushi Bar Koh Kong, Siem Reap, Cambodia

Pub Street

Siem Reap, Cambodia

(+855) 63 963 400

This is a fairly recent addition to the food scene in Siem Reap, but has already managed to garner a solid reputation among the expatriate crowd. Most of the Sushi comes from Koh Kong on the Cambodian coast and is darn good. So good in fact that I flaunt my personal rule of never setting a foot on the back-packer circus that is Pub Street. That is the only down-side of this Sushi Bar: seeing some of the unwashed freaks wandering along below is not good for one's appetite.

The Sushi Bar is located in the heart of Pub Street.

The Sushi Bar has outside seating downstairs as well as indoor seating on the ground and first floors. Our place of choice is the minuscule balcony though. It hardly seats 5 people, like birds on a wire, but is a great spot to hurl snide comments, derisive laughter, and the odd empty beer can at the banana pancake-eating crowd below.

Instructions on how to eat Sushi????

The menu is fairly small, but then this restaurant is all about Sushi. There are about twenty different Sushi Nagiri on offer, ranging in price from USD 2.00 - 5.00 for two pieces (though many were sold out on our last visit) and about 10 Sushi Rolls, the latter costing between USD 2.50 -4.50 for 6-8 pieces. There are a couple of Tempura selections at USD 7.00 - 15.00 and a couple of other non-Sushi items. Personally, I think the best choice is the Sushi and Tempura Deluxe at USD 14.00. A decent-sized meal and very good; with the Sushi fresh and the Tampura not an oily mass of batter but fluffy and light.

As usual I did not pay attention to the drinks prizes. There wasn't much choice but I seem to recall that, while a little more expensive than the 50 Cent draft beers available on Pub Street, the beers were reasonable enough.

Service is friendly enough, but a couple of the girls speak little/no English. However, with a little effort we have never failed to get what we ordered.

The Sushi and Tempura Deluxe.

There are only two things I like a little less about the Sushi Bar Koh Kong:

1. The place mat that endeavors to explain to the punters how to eat Sushi. I am a paying guest and will eat my Sushi any bloody way I like.
2. The staircase back down to the ground floor. Both very steep and extremely narrow this probably explains the meager choice of alcoholic beverages on offer; no way I could make it down with more than a beer in me.

Pitiful gripes really; the place is great for a quick Sushi fix and I do hope that they keep up the quality and do not end up with too many items "sold out".

The Sashimi is also very good and fresh.

Food: ****

Ambiance: *** + * for the balcony and the views it gives one of the circus below.

Value for money: ****

Recommended: Yes, great place for a quick bite before heading out for a beer.

Viva Mexican Restaurant, Siem Reap, Cambodia

• #697, Group 10, Mondol 1 Svay, (opposite Pub Street)
• (855)-63 96 31 51

Since the only other Mexican Restaurant in Siem Reap closed a year or so ago, Viva is the only place for that Tortilla fix. I have been there on a few occasions, not because I think the food is particularly good but as I do get these cravings for Mexican food every so often, including last week when I once again headed for the Viva.

The restaurant is opposite Pub Street and impossible to miss as it is pretty big and painted in a sickly orange.

The good news is that the food is pretty cheap with most mains around the USD 5.00 mark. The bad news is that prizes like that mean the place gets its fair share of obnoxious back-packers. Drinks are also cheap, with Margaritas USD 2.00 and draft beer USD 1.00 (USD 1.50 and 0.50 respectively during the low season).

It is admittedly cheap to eat here.

Service tends to be a mixed bag: some of the girls are really good whereas some of the guys tend to be preoccupied chatting to each other. Either way, the food comes fast, too fast: I specifically asked for the starters to come first but, once again, starters and mains came together. This is a pet peeve of mine as I would like to a) take my time eating and b) prefer my food hot and not have the main course go ice-cold whilst I am demolishing the starter. I also do assume that everything has been prepared in advance as otherwise they could not possible serve the mains in five minutes flat.

The Nachos were good but everything could have been a tad spicier.

Portions are big, with plenty of meat in my Burrito. However, the beef was overcooked and of poor quality (admittedly, I did not expect imported beef for the prize). The "salad" that is supposed to come with the Burritos was basically two salad leaves with a dollop of sour cream on it. What is definitely lacking is a good kick; I like my Mexican food spicy whereas at the Viva it is a really weak-assed affair.

Can't say much about the drinks as I do not like Margaritas, but the Coconut juice was good and cold.

The meat was overcooked and the "salad" is a bit of a joke.

A mixed bag really. Yes, the food is cheap, but also not extremely good. They do get a lot of rave reviews on TripAdvisor but either the posters never had good Mexican food or they had a few Margaritas too many. Having said that, I will be back as Phnom Penh is a little too far to go for some Mexican food.

Food: **

Ambience: **

Value for money: ****

Recommended: If there was a choice, I'd say "no". But there isn't any; if you want Mexican in Siem Reap, than this is the place you will have to go to.

Ombrelle & Kimono

The low season has started in Siem Reap, and with it the same bad old habits. Figure this: Here I am as a restaurant owner and I have few guests. So what do I do? Try and attract the few remaining visitors and expatriates by making an extra effort? Nah, that would be to easy. How about reducing the quality of food and services instead? That's right; that is exactly what happens in this town every day.

Which leads me to the Ombrelle & Kimono on Wat Bo Street. After a couple of unsuccessful tries when the restaurant was closed either due to flooding (not their fault, of course) or being closed on Mondays (French owned and 35-hour working week I guess), we finally managed to have a meal there.

First impressions were rather favorable: a very welcoming waiter and an unusual design. The latter might not be everyone's cup of tea, but it does make a difference from all the other generic tourist eateries in this town.

Regrettably, things went downhill from there. I asked for a bottle, any bottle, of beer, but all they had was Angkor beer in cans. I don't know about you, but as far as I am concerned canned beer should only be drunk in emergencies. I guess it is better than no beer at all, but any decent restaurant should have bottled beer. On top of it, they charge USD 3.00 for a can of Angkor, even the Raffle's doesn't charge that.

Funky design

The menu sports some very imaginatively named salads such as "Zebra", "Giraffe" or "Panther". However, when I tried to order one of those, the reply was "no have", which brings me back to my opening statement. To all the restaurant owners in Siem Reap: stop not stocking things because it is the low season. You still charge the same prices as during high season, so I expect to have anything on the menu. Apart from everything, you might consider making an effort to attract people who stay here year round instead of going only after the tourists.

Spot the Steak.

Back to the food. The missus ordered grilled pork with lemon grass at USD 5.00 and I went for the grilled beef with "tapenade" (suggestion: get an English-speaking back-packer, buy him/her a couple of beers, and let them check your menu) at USD 6.00. It was with the food that things really headed South. I do not expect imported beef for that sort of money, but the cow that my meat came from had obviously died of old age; neither my knife nor my teeth got very far with what was essentially a piece of leather. This was not helped by the fact that the meat was raw, when I had ordered it medium. My wife's pork was just as bad. Not only was it tough as hell, there was also no sign, taste, or smell to be had of the lemon grass it was supposedly to come with. Basically, the food did not only seem to be old, it had nothing that even the most good-willing reviewer could call "taste".

Prices are decent enough. The salads sound great at USD 5.00, but as they do not have them I can't judge. Mains are between USD 5.00 and 7.00. Not expensive, but poor on the value for money front. As mentioned, the beer is outrageously expensive at USD 3.00 a can; I have never paid this much in Siem Reap. The house wine is more reasonably priced, at USD 2.50, and juices are USD 2.00.

Conclusion: wasted potential. Something could be done with this restaurant but the impression is that the owner doesn't give a sh*t. Yes, he was there that evening; but he was obviously not concerned about his business.

Rating (out of 5):

Service: ****
Food: *
Ambiance: ****
Value for money: *
Recommended: No

P.S.: Still don't know what "tapenade" is, and I cannot really be bothered to look it up; this is one restaurant we won't be going back to.

Angkor Palm Restaurant

This restaurant proudly advertises itself as having won the "Restaurant of the Year 2006", without actually going into details by whom the prize was awarded and for what reason. Reviews on other sites range from the ecstatic to the disappointed.

As the Missus and I felt like some Khmer food, we decided to give this place a try.

The welcome was promising enough, we were greeted by a very friendly waiter who quickly brought us cold face-towels; much appreciated what with the current heat wave. However, I could not help notice some very bored staff hanging around in the background.

A look at the menu confirmed what I had feared: yet another place catering to tourists on a budget. This seems to be a common problem in Siem Reap and, I suspect, in many other touristy places: what do we care about the quality if the punters are only here for a couple of nights anyway? Keep it cheap, have Beer Lao in the fridge, and put a big sign "Khmer owned" and guests will roll in.

Anyway, back to the menu: main dishes ranged from USD 1.50 to 4.50, soft drinks started at USD 1.00 and beers were anywhere from USD 1.50 to 3.50. We opted for the "Angkor Palm Platter for Two" at USD 14.00. I quote from their menu: "Combining the authentic taste of Cambodian country cooking with western attention to detail...."

This is what the platter looks like according to the menu:




In theory a dish with a lot of potential: Fresh Spring Rolls, Green Curry, Mango Salad, Fish Amok, Spare Ribs, Fried Water Spinach and Rice. All easy to make but a lot more difficult to make well.

The presentation was a let-down straight away:



Note to all restaurant owners in Siem Reap: dumping your food in banana leaf cups and throwing a couple of strips of Chili on top is NOT presentation; it shows a lack of imagination and care.

However, even worse was the fact that the food was cold. I can stomach a lot, but the only things I want cold on my table are beer and ice cream. No matter how good the food, serving it cold will just about negate any efforts made in the kitchen.

Though I must point out that it was not much of an issue in this case as the food was pretty tasteless anyway. Why do restaurant owners in Siem Reap think that only utterly boring and bland food is suitable for the tourists' palates? Even worse was that the dishes that MUST be fresh (Spring Rolls, Mango Salad, Water Spinach) were not. They weren't spoilt, but they had certainly spent a few days in the fridge. I understand that it is the low season; but inventory control is not really my problem.

At least the entertainment was good. The restaurant faces the Old Market/Pub Street Area and we had a steady stream of ill-dressed "travelers" passing by; at least they took our minds off the food.

Conclusion: If you are on a budget, you think you must have Beer Lao to go with your Beer Lao T-shirt, and if your taste buds are fried from too many Banana pancakes on Khao San Road then this restaurant is for you. Anyone in search of a decent Khmer meal: steer clear.

Rating (out of 5):

Service: ****
Food: *
Ambiance: *
Value for money: *
Recommended: No

Got to love the color-matched Bandana and singlet....