Come Here?! No, KHMER! - Our Foray Into Cambodian Cuisine

Trying out the local cuisine whenever we visit a new place is quite the norm for us. Visiting Cambodia was no exception. If you're going to Cambodia, particularly Siem Reap anytime soon, and might want to check out the local cuisine, here's our 2 cents on 2 Khmer restaurants in the area: the Khmer Family Restaurant and the Khmer Wooden House.

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A. Khmer Family Restaurant

Located along the popular Pub Street, Khmer Family looked a place we would comfortable bringing our 6 year old son to.

Open sitting (as seems to be the trend in the neighborhood), we wheeled up our son's stroller (filled with our purchases from the Old Market) with no difficulty.

Orange and wood was the motif of the place, which somehow resembled someone's living room. The atmosphere was laid back and the staff was friendly and accommodating.

The menu was written in English and had visuals. The staff was quite knowledgeable about it's contents, that asking for their opinion wasn't difficult. Here's a look at their menu: KHMER FAMILY RESTAURANT MENU

Khmer, Chinese and Western cuisine were on hand. Being in Cambodia, we tried the ff.:

GARLIC PRAWNS - small shrimps NOT prawns in a nice spaghetti sauce like sauce with lots of melted cheese on top, served with baguette slices. Quite delicious!

SPARE RIBS  - tough PORKchop cuts marinated in oyster sauce

KHMER AMOK - curried shrimps and veggies

FRIED RICE WITH PINEAPPLE and CHICKEN

Prices were a bit high for a street pub and for the quality and flavor. We have had much better food in neighboring Thailand for a fraction of the price we were paying in Cambodia.

Here are our YAYS and NAYS:
Yays - friendly staff laid back ambiance, good location and extensive menu. You can also do a little bit of shopping while you wait for your food. Most importantly, it's got free Wi Fi aand the bathroom's really clean, though small. They also take Visa or Mastercard.

Nays - pricey, tough cuts of meat, so-so flavors



B. Khmer Wooden House.

Tired, hot and hungry after visiting a couple of temples in the morning, our tour guide dropped us off at this roadside restaurant call Khmer Wooden House. We were too pooped that taking pictures slipped our minds. The blogger within still managed to send out an SOS to my overheated head and so I managed to take photos of the menu and the food that we ordered.

Divided into 2 sections, where the upper floor is open air and the bottom, air conditioned, we chose to go into the respite from the heat, that was the lower floor.

Greeted by a traditionally clad hostess, the friendly personnel showed us to our table. The menu she gave us was mind boggling. Mind boggling in a sense that there was no way that their prices were put together by a sane person! See menu here: KHMER WOODEN HOUSE MENU

Western and Khmer cuisine, where a plate of shoe string fries cost 5 US dollars and a regular serving of small curried shrimps cost around 9 US dollars, we were stuck in the tourist trap for the duration of our lunch break. Here's what we got:

could use some chili

really tasty

Sticking it out with the shrimp and rice combo, the meal was once again so-so, but we were just too happy with the AC that we just went with the flow and ate in peace.

YAYS and NAYS:
Yays - the place was clean, air conditioned and the staff, friendly. The 9 dollar meal came with steamed Jasmine rice and a plate of local fruits. The menu was quite extensive, written in English with visuals.

Nays - 5 dollars for a plate of fries?!! Don't bother to order any of the western fare.






 From TMW, may all your wanderings be better than ours!