May 2008
Feb 2009

Jet Odrerir

In these days of escalating costs and exchange-rate mayhem, shoe-string tourism has risen to the top of everyone’s agenda
Cheap Thrills
Making your money last longer requires both patience and detailed research . . . or you can just read this pauper’s guide to good eats

Read the title again. We’re not picking out Cambodia’s top chefs, we’re selecting the top deals. One way Siem Reap has changed over the past few years is in the loss of many of its noodle shops. That, as well as the spike in the cost of foodstuffs, has made things tough for the fiscally conservative diner. Fear not, though, because southeast Asian bites will always top the list of wallet-friendly food. One thing I’ve noticed, though, is that the “local eateries” (no tourists) aren’t quite the bargain you might think. Make sure you look at the menu before sitting down, because there’s no reason to pay $3 for a meal in a dirty tent. Check the menu at your guesthouse, because it probably has one or two deals that mean you can plan your other meals around that. Most places have snacks that are less than $2, but we’re looking for an actual meal.
On National Road 6 near the Caltex is The Silk Lounge, which is a great setting for lunch or dinner (no breakfast). It has a nice variety of tasty Khmer soups and curries, many in the $2 and under range. It also has another location on Taphul Road near de la Paix road that has indoor seating.
Karo restaurant (Sivatha Road near Night Market street) has a large selection of items for between $1.50 and $2. I’m surprised it isn’t packed morning, noon and night as it has a nice mix of Khmer, Thai and western dishes and what must be the cheapest fish’n’chips in Cambodia. I’ve yet to have a good meal at the places immediately surrounding Karo, so check the name on the menu to make sure you’re in the right place.
Around the corner from Karo on the Night Market road is I Hong, an unpretentious but clean and airy place with a short menu of Khmer soup and fried rice. Actually, it’s six photographs on the wall to which you point and you’ve ordered your meal! Prices are only 3,000 to 5,000 riel per item and the eatery is open only for breakfast and lunch. Soup Dragon is a hotspot for breakfast when it fills up with tourists, drivers and tour guides. Located on Pub Street, it serves Vietnamese beef soup (pho) for only 5,000 riel during the morning hours. Be warned, skinflints, during the rest of the day the prices are in the $3-$8 range.
Phsar Chas (Old Market) has had a makeover and the eateries there are much better for it. The main ones are located along the north side of the market and all have basically the same menu of fried rice/fried noodles with your choice of meat (or not to meat). Prices are predominantly in the $1.50-$2 range and the customer base is a good mix of locals and tourists; it’s open from 7am-10pm.
Wat Bo Road, located on the west side of the river, is a haven for the cost-conscious. Koh Ker, at the corner of Wat Bo Road and National Road 6, opens at 5am for breakfast. Western breakfast, sandwiches and fried rice are on offer; prices are higher for lunch and dinner. Chiang Mai Thai is about 50 metres south on Wat Bo and has a full Thai menu with plenty in the $1-$2 range and a whole lake fish costs $3. On your way home from Pub Street, it is open until midnight.
Last but not least, Phuket Noodle Behind Bars offers a range of authentic Thai noodles and other items full of spicy flavour in the $2.50 price range, which is a bargain considering its location in the Passage..
With all the money you save you could stay an extra day or two.

Luke Young
Drinking gallons of beer maybe fun for a few hours but the morning after, your best bet is to reach for something healthy
A Natural Cure
With so many delicious fruits, from guava to passion, you can satisfy your mind and your taste buds with a homegrown treat on the hottest of days

December 2008

Joanna Owen
Three schools are lifting young people out of the poverty trap by training them to meet, greet and serve the tourist hordes
They’re The Tops
As visitor numbers increase,
the shortage of hospitality staff reaches crisis point and hotel managements turn to Siem Reap’s finest

As the heat rises, so does your desire for thirst-quenching libations. Luckily, Cambodia has a rich diversity of delicious tropical fruits ranging from sweet and juicy to sour and sticky.
All the local markets have “tuk-a-luk” stations, which serve blended ice fruit concoctions. If you don’t like egg put into your “tuk-a-luk”, then politely ask for it without or point at the eggs in the cabinet with a heavy frown and the universally negative “no”.
Most street market stalls open at night and a glass of fruit shake is 2,000-3,000 riel (50c-75c). Freshly squeezed sugar cane juice is also sold at many markets around the city. The carts have a distinctive look, as the wheel crank that draws the juice out of the stalk looks like a ship’s helm. A small bag or glass of juice shouldn’t cost more than 1,000 riel (25c).
There are also herbal shakes for sale at Boeung Kak lake, but they can have an odd, mint flavour and should be approached with care, as one can never be sure what “herbs” have been used.
Local coffee shops, which are never more than a stone’s throw away in the city, will serve any of their teas or coffees on ice if asked. One of my favourites is lemon ice tea, or tai jruwak, with a fine coating of white sugar at the bottom for you to mix in according to taste. To my mind, some of the greatest oddities in PP’s coffee shops include a pink syrup delight, a neon green concoction with sweet milk and other colourful drinks made from various syrups and flavourings, which often defy description.
I believe they are meant to be fruit-flavoured, but if you close your eyes and take a sip you will realise they are definitely an entity unto themselves. An abundance of coffee houses also offers a change from the local stuff. There are shops such as Jars of Clay, which was started as a workers’ co-operative, and chains like Tea and Coffee World, Café Sentiment or Black Canyon. Frappés, mocha blends, lattes and Americano are all available.
Space dosn’t allow me to mention all of Phnom Penh’s bars, cafés and delis, but a recent find for me is a gorgeous bar and grill in Toul Kork called Sorika. It has a lush garden with ponds and tall trees giving one the feeling of rest and relaxation. It serves a large variety of healthy fruit blends, gourmet coffee and tea as well as imported bottled water that can be bought by the carafe and enjoyed in the garden or inside its French-style, wood interior.
A more central place to read a book and enjoy something refreshing is Java Café near the Independence Monument. It has a selection of teas and coffees from southeast Asia as well as several, now famous “cleansing” health drinks. The Lemongrass Chiller is one such drink, which offers an assault of Asian flavouring. Java is also one of the few places serving ice cold and refreshing berry shakes. Fizz is another laid back, faux art deco café where an astonishing array of fresh fruit juices and shakes can be enjoyed in a calming atmosphere. It is located behind the royal palace facing a large pagoda complex framed by big, shady trees.
Without any shadow of a doubt, fresh locally grown fruit is the ingredient of choice for Cambodian refreshments and it would be surprising if a café or restaurant near you didn’t have some form of fruit drink on its menu. Seek and ye shall definitely find.

Februrary 2008

Aaron Leverton
Beer Garden (Aus): the place behind the pub where you go pretend you're sophisticated while you drink beer (and possibly listen to a band).
Beer Garden Etiquette
Beer Garden (Cam): a place where you go to drink beer at local prices, have a barbie and probably listen to a band.

Beer gardens in Phnom Penh are good fun and they come in several different forms, from up-market to local dive, but they all share one characteristic: excellent, unforgettable names.
Though of course remembering which name belongs to which establishment is not always so easy, especially if you decide to take in two or three of them in a single night. On entry to a beer garden you may find yourself welcomed by several ladies who appear to be dressed for the Melbourne Cup, or possibly the Milan catwalk. They will find you a table that meets two requirements: first, and most important, that it’s empty and secondly that its seats match the number in your party.
Once you are seated a second group of girls will crowd around you. These are the beer girls, each of whom represents a different brand and is paid according to how much beer they sell. If, like me, you always drink the same brand, then you will be a great disappointment to all but one of these girls. And if, again like me, you are there to drink at local prices then stick to Anchor and Angkor, otherwise ask the price first to avoid any complications when it's time to pay the bill.
After you've placed your beer order, the third person you will see is the waiter who will take your food order should you wish to eat. Not all beer gardens are split into “serving zones”, but quite a few are, and while some beer gardens have menus, some do not. Some staff will speak almost no English (these are the best fun, but be patient!), while others are fully fluent. Staple dishes are fried rice, barbecued beef or pork, squid, prawns and mussels (I recommend the squid wholeheartedly, but once it’s cooked pull the “bone” out before you start eating).
On the subject of menus; it seems that no two beer gardens call the same dish by the same name. I have had French Fried Khmer Beef Steak and Potato Lok Lak at two different establishments and been served the same thing, a dish of fried beef served with chips and a salad. Beer gardens fall into two distinct categories. The first is a beer garden with karaoke, while the second is not, strictly speaking, a beer garden, but rather a Khmer barbecue restaurant. The barbecue is usually a little clay pot at the end of your table, and there's no karaoke at these places. Generally, but not always, the former will have fairy lights strung around the entrance and inside as well while the latter will not.
Beer gardens I have been to and can recommend include the Happy Night Garden (K) on the corner of Streets 63 and 214 and on the corner of Streets 51 and 282 is an excellent place with a Khmer-only name (non-K). At #51 Street 163, near the intersection with 310, is M’lop Daum Dong (The Shade of the Coconuts) (non-K). The end of Street 360 has a cluster (K and non-K), as does Street 310 between Monivong and 143. The Monivong end of Street 432 also has a major “strip”.
Across town is the Happy Night Restaurant on St 271 (the ring road) beyond the Chinese embassy, but if you can make it through the double parked Lexus out front the food is definitely worth it. Fried Rice with cracked pepper is $2 and you have the choice of dining under cover or under a canopy of stars. For a “genuine” experience, look for the poorly translated signs, or the Khmer-only signs, and keep an open mind.


November 2007

Mustafa Shwarzberg

For under $10, you can drink like a Khmer Colonel in Kompong Seila.
Maybe Just A Snifter
Another ride and another 2pm departure from the big smoke, Phnom Penh.

First stop as usual was Kompong Speu where we loaded up with essentials: bread, water, beer, and of course, whiskey. At our regular vendor we were confronted with a handsome selection in their liquor case. Johnny Red, his big brother Johnny Black, even a stray bottle of their estranged but upscale cousin Johnny Green dominated the most prominent and accessible spots.
But tucked away in the upper corner were a few interesting if not dusty options. Something called Red Eagle and what I assumed to be its big brother, Wealth Eagle, and the always popular Black Cat graced the shelves. There was even an unpretentious little bottle of something simply called “Booze”. After some deliberation admiring the detail in the bottles we selected the Red Eagle for the God-fearing price of $4.
Country whiskey selections are usually consumed like dessert, after the main course beer is exhausted. Unless of course, one remembers to buy a bottle of the old staple, Khmer Mekong which is quite drinkable. Unlike its Thai cousin, Khmer Mekong has a decidedly sweeter top note than Thai Mekong and only measures up at 35%. Ironically, while Thai Mekong is plentiful everywhere in the Kingdom, finding a bottle of Khmer Mekong is next to impossible outside of Phnom Penh. My only guess as to why this is the case might centre on the well accepted local axiom: if it’s more expensive it has to be better. What self respecting farmer would supply his guests with a 3500 riel bottle of Mekong when he can lavish them with a $7 bottle of Wealth Eagle? Better still, have one of the Johnny’s “keep on walking” up to the estate for a visit.
For us, we usually leave the hard stuff until the beer anesthetizes the palate a bit. Sitting in the drizzle and flicker of our humble campfire, we were down to around half a dozen cans of the other local favourite, Crown, when someone suggested cracking the seal on our little purchase. That first little sip is like most experiments with local whiskey: insipid. If you can get past the flavour of nail polish remover and the caustic sensation of Drano as it burns down your throat, you will be rewarded with a nice little buzz. A few sips more and you may even forget that you bought it at what was essentially a hardware store.
Inevitably though, the dregs were soon all that remained of our vile little selection and after a last, mostly ceremonial pull each, the ornate bottle was cast aside like a worn out toothbrush. Despite the drizzly moonless night we slumbered peacefully, swinging gently in our hammocks, warmed from the fires within.
The Aftermath: Not as bad as one would think. The splitting headaches from that other, purely evil countryside beverage, distilled rice wine, were thankfully absent. Not surprisingly, after shelling out $4.00 for a bottle of Kompong Speu’s finest, our skulls were spared the after effects of that more pedestrian beverage that contains among other things: acetaldehyde, methanol, isobutyl carbinol, d-amylalcohol, and more than a few esters. The mere fog inside our heads complimented the real fog that settled in our pretty little valley that night. The rising sun and a pleasant little stroll down to the jungle waterfall burned both off nicely.


August 2007

Mark Eastty

After a hard day's shopping or visiting the tourist attractions, what better than to relax with a couple of drinks in the watering hole of your choice?
A Special Brew
Well how about getting those drinks at promotion price or even winning a prize on the back of your drinking!