Cambodia Final Part: Nest! It's Cafe, Bar & Restaurant

Nest, this is where we've chosen to have our farewell dinner to Cambodia. I'm wondering at first if it's a seminar hall as it doesn't appear to be alike somewhere that I can have my food; furthermore it's a cafe, bar cum restaurant that has been awarded as the Winner of Best Restaurant in year 2009. I do really like the ambient and decoration in the Nest whereby you can find various types of seat such as the round sofa, the roofed bed or the normal tables and chairs to cater for your drinking or dining pleasure.

Every guests are served with the complimentary starter of bread with the butter. I've to say that the bread is perfect and delicious; the inner is soft and the outer skin is still crunchy because they serve it while hot, after baking from the oven?

They do serve local and western cuisines here. My boyfriend has started his with a Grilled Steak that is served with some salad and a small scoop of fermented vegetable that is mixed of tomato and cucumber. To me, the portion of the steak is quite big but it tastes delicious and appetizing to go with the mixed vegetable. As my boyfriend asks for a medium-rare, so the meat is not too hard except that it's not juicy or it's actually a little bit too dry. I've ordered a Seafood Skew that the stick consists of Salmon, white fish, squid, prawn and capsicum. The seafood turns out to be awful because the white fish and squid are still not fully cooked. It's really a bit disgusting when I bite the raw seafood in my mouth. Anyway, one special side dish that has been served with the skew is the chopped rice salad. The cooked rice, raisins and capsicums are chopped into small pieces and then being mixed with some lime sauce, I guess... giving a really good freshness that combines the sweetness and sourness that is just perfect with the grilled skew.

We're just too full to ask for dessert anymore but we're satisfied with the food here. What we love more is the ambient and service here; just lazing around for a nice meal.

Cambodia Part IV: Teatime at Cafe De La Paix

Cafe De La Paix is belonged to the Hotel De La Paix whereby this small corner is serving sandwiches and coffee for a relaxing tea break. I do love the white color and simple yet modern concept of this cafe that the ambient is just so peaceful.

Some snacks for a break; we've decided to go for the Tropical Food Salad and a Peach Pie with the hot Jasmine tea and Latte Coffee. This is kind of a boring afternoon and it's just perfect for a bowl of juicy fruit, especially with a various mixture of dragon fruit, watermelon, papaya and pineapple. To me, I prefer my Peach Pie that comes with the crushed almond base. The almond itself smells nice, I guess because it's mixed with some butter. The peach has been dipped with a layer of syrup, but it doesn't taste too sweet. I've indeed enjoyed the moment when I bite the pie and feeling the smooth texture of the peach slices with the crushed almond to melt together in my mouth. Talikng about drinks, Jasmine has always been one of my favourite tea because of the nice aroma that is really refreshing and relaxing. I'm not in the bad mood to criticize about the latte, so I'll rate it as medium. The latte turns out to be too milky or I'll say that the aroma of the coffee bean here is kind of weak or in short, the taste of the coffee is not appealing in the milk.

The afternoon to sit in a small coffee corner that is not crowded, enjoying a hot drink in a leisurely pace; I guess I'm indeed enjoying this moment of my life.

Cambodia Part III: Italian? The World Lounge Restaurant

On our way to search for our dinner, we've decided to get something at the Pub Street. This is somewhere all the bars and restaurants are located and somewhere that you'll find the tourists are gathering around. There are too many choices here with a lot of banners or advertisements that I'm starting to get regret for not doing some research about the food in Cambodia. Anyway, out of the confusions, we've decided to go for Italian Pizza at the World Lounge Restaurant.

My boyfriend just can't live without the pizza and he has ordered the Pepperoni Pizza. The pizza is very thin and it's definitely very crunchy. Look at the picture! The dough is flatten till it's so thin and then being baked till golden brown color whereby the edge is expanding with air bubbles inside. I've no doubt in enjoying the crunchiness of the pizza with the stickiness of the cheese but it's kind of disappointing with the tasteless pepperoni or I should say that the quality of the pepperoni meat is quite bad. In combining with the extreme sour tomato taste as the base of the pizza, it's making the pizza to taste so not fresh and it's stopping us to finish it all.

My choice is the Baked Tuna and Ricotta Rigatoni; the penne is stuffed with cheese before being baked with some tuna in the oven. The richly taste of the cheese with the tuna and some herbs as the garnishing; are giving enough saltiness and aroma to the penne. However, the amount of the tuna has been too less that the penne becomes so tasteless at the bottom of the bowl.

One good point is the cocktail that costs us only USD $1 per glass. Ya, it's really very cheap but the cocktail tastes so awful. Cost savings; the liquor that is being used is the cheap class whereby I taste only the bad liquor taste in my mouth.

Pub Street is one of the main attraction or activity centre in Cambodia. There's so many restaurants or bars that you can find here. Do some research before you depart; I think it should be safer to try local Cambodian cuisine here.

Cambodia Part II: Indochine Restaurant; A Wise Idea?

We've decided to go for the Indochine Restaurant that is opposite our Somadevi Angkor Hotel because we're too hungry to search for food. Honestly, I'm first attracted by the red banner with the nicely decorated front view of this restaurant. In fact, I like this wooden style restaurant as it seems traditional yet simple. Every single ratten chairs, wooden carvings or the old lamps have created a cozy ambient that is peaceful and it's perfect for us to leisure in.

It's kind of funny but my stubborn boyfriend is still insisting of having a western meal here. I can remember that the name of the dish is quite interesting with some wordings like 'Tak, Lok...' but I just can't recall the name correctly. Anyway, it's a plate of beef cubes that come together with a type of sauce, some fries and an egg on top. The beef tastes sweet and sour, a little alike the HP sauce but what has made it delicious is the tenderness of the meat. The beef is cooked just perfectly that it's still juicy and nice to bite. Don't ask me what are the mixture for the sauce but it tastes salty, sour but yet with a little bitterness at the end of the tongue. Well, the beef is just nice without any additional sauce. One of the disappointment is the soft fries; really that they're not crunchy at all.

I've decided to go for the Cambodia specialty that is called Amok. Amok is type of curry but it's with a thicker coconut gravy that has given a nice aroma to this national cuisine and also it tastes sweeter, but will be just perfect to go with the white rice. Normally, we can choose either chicken or fish for Amok.

The bill comes in a nice wooden box that contains some sweets for us. Paying in USD and this meal costs us USD $20. I've indeed enjoyed the food and also the environment here.

Cambodia Part I: My Bizarre Experience; the Snake

I call it as a bizarre food experience as it's the first time for me to taste snake meat that I've never imagined that I'll really give it a try. To me, this soft texture, cold blood reptile that is lacking of backbone or what we call it as invertebrate is not only ugly but scary and now, to put it into my mouth?

According to our taxi driver, water snake meat is a snack that is easily available at any roadside stalls. Cambodia has a lot of rivers and mainly a big lake that is called Tonle Sap; a strategic place as the living place for the snakes. Thus, the snakes have turned out to be one of the main dishes for the local people.

If you asked me 'how the snake meat tastes alike', I'll say it tastes a little alike chicken but the meat is actually smoother. The snakes are grilled on the fire from the charcoal and being served with a special homemade sauce. I guess they've marinated the snakes with some colouring or sauces that have made the skin to be in red. The meat is tender but this small animal is having too many tiny bones that I've to really be careful during biting. It's being served with the lime and fresh basil leaves, to add in freshness and to remove the smell of the snake meat. What I find it as special is the sauce whereby it's alike Thai chili sauce but they've added the coarse salt to give saltiness and deliciousness that has refreshed this simple sauce.

I guess there'll be no more second chance that I'll taste snake meat again because... I still feel it's too ugly. Moreover, an unforgettable matter is the disgusting smell of the snake that is remained on my finger that can't be removed with soap.

鹤屋 'House of Crane'??? It's Tsuruya Japanese Restaurant

I'm wondering which article that I should start for my new year 2011 and here I've decided; to write about Tsuruya Japanese Restaurant. I don't know the meaning of Tsuruya but the Chinese character 鹤屋 means 'House of Crane'; I just feel that it's special.

I've only one word for description when I first step into Tsuruya at E-Gate, 'Small'. The space is kind of limited and compact with the tables, chairs and fences to section up the Tatami area. But, it's no doubt that I'm attracted by the colourful lighting and landscapes that have been designed to live up the surroundings. It's quite a cozy and relaxing ambient to stay in for a meal.

I'm not really an expert for Japanese food and it's lunch time, so I've decided to go for the set meal. The lunch set meal comes with a Chawanmushi that means 'Steamed in a tea bowl' or what is commonly known to us as the steamed egg, a bowl of Miso soup and some fruit. Here we've placed our orders for a Nabe Kaisen Kimuchi Tofu and a Chicken Katsu. I'm really impressed and indeed I've enjoyed my claypot of Nabe Kaisen Kimuchi Tofu soup or in short, it's actually the spicy Kimuchi soup with seafood and Tofu. The soup-based is from the Kimuchi or the fermented Chinese cabbage to give the spiciness and sourness. Then, the chef has put in various ingredients such as mussels, mushrooms and mainly the Tofu that has been mashed to thicken up the soup. Really, to me; I love the taste of the soft Tofu that has mixed completely with the Kimuchi soup whereby each spoon will just melt smoothly in the mouth. The Chicken Katsu or it's simply the chicken fillet that has been coated with breadcrumb before frying. I don't really find it tastes delicious especially when it's oily and not crunchy. Additional side dish that comes with this set meal is the Tofu in Soy Sauce. The Tofu is soft but it's tasteless whereby the taste is purely from the saltiness of the soy sauce. The most disgusting thing about this Tofu is the outer skin that tastes sticky and a little slimy in the sauce; I guess it's fried with Sago flour?!!

We've ordered one side dish that is called Chiki-Chiki Ban Ban. Can you guess the dish from its name? It's the fried boneless chicken with eggs that the eggs have created the spider-web alike layer on top of the chicken meat. Nothing is really special except that the egg has added a nice aroma and also has neutralized the saltiness of the chicken.

I don't really feel fancy about the food in Tsuruya Restaurant but if I've to find a place for a nice claypot of Kimuchi Tofu, this is definitely my choice. One improvement that I've to suggest is, they should add English explanation into to their menu. It's so unease for every customers or especially to myself whom doesn't know Japanese words.