The food scene is pretty underrated here IMO, especially for the non-local food. And the drinks? Wow. Best gin ever. Unfortunately a lot of our favourite joints closed down during the pandemic.

Anyway, as per usual, summarized some of my top picks below. Ctrl+F to read more about a place.

Last updated: 29 July 2023 – photos added and I am told this now formally qualifies as a proper list!

The Takeaway (kind-of in order of my personal must-go):

• Mawsim (must reserve ahead. Insane hospitality, dodgy location, excellent gin, jazz of course. Buy back a few bottles! That orange fizz gin cocktail is delicious, and the raisin gin butter wew)
• Sak Pub (could be my favorite craft beer bar at PP right now. All their brews hit the spot)
• Seekers (Phnom Penh-made gin! Also, 1st Friday every month is a great Seekers-based cocktail menu. IMO they should do it every night, it’s such a great place)
• Samai (Thursdays-only cocktail parties at the distillery, delicious cocktails)
• Malis (great breakfast spot, delicious Khmer food)
• Mexicano (Proper perfect tortillas, addictive frozen margaritas, delicious tacos overall. Thought the quality of the tacos has dipped a bit during the last visit.)
• Topaz (USD25 business lunch set is well worth it. Decent French food – not quite Hanoi-tier, but there are some good dishes)
• Sushi Lab (USD 25 lunch omakase sushi set! And it’s good!)
• Pizza 4P’s (it’s not as good as in Vietnam but it’s still very very good!)
• Garage Sale (tasty smash burgers)
• Katanashi (legit izakaya, quality has dipped but still solid. Love the feel, and love the food even more)
• Sundown Social Club (gorgeous interiors, great fish tacos, cocktails better and cheaper than Coley’s Koktels, some cocktails may be a tad too sweet)
• So Wat Coffee Roasters (cafe hidden away inside an alley, with a large roasting area in front. Note: apart from So Wat and Story etc, not many 3rd wave coffee spots in PP. Don’t expect a scene like Hanoi or KL, it’s not quite there yet.)
• La Volpaia (it aint cheap, but the pastas are good. And the setting is lovely)
• Soba and Udon Chiyoda (great tempura and soba – could be mid Tokyo level – but expensive)
• The Chug Lab (tucked away in a housing area, metal and craft beer. Giggity)
• Embargo (craft beer from around Indochina and more, worth visiting after Katanashi etc)
• Delikat Gelato (delicious gelato) (rebranded to Pinocchio Gelato?)
• Le Marche (great French grocery store with lots of nice products – and a cafe upstairs)
• Farmhouse (nice Chemex pourover, super chill vibe. Great to relax and/or work)
• Brooklyn Pizza (good pizza, great craft beer)
• Story Coffee Roasters (more commercial feel, but the filter coffee was great)
• Feel Good Coffee (espresso wasn’t great but deserves a revisit)
• Nesat Seafood House (beautiful place, lots of greenery, delicious pasta pastis, good to great seafood – although quality has dipped quite a lot in the latest visit)
• Eleven One Kitchen (good Khmer food, better than 72 Restaurant. Nice setting)
• Indy Steak(order the fried chicken and bring it to Tini – although since Tini has closed down, you might want to eat it at your air BnB)
• Long After Dark (good selection of whisky. Whisky flight worth it. Individual drinks may be a bit pricey)
• La’Baab (decent Khmer fare, very nice setting, pricey)
• Odin Bar (used to be a fantastic place, but it feels very different now. No longer the Tokyo-vibes of a hidden whisky bar with only Japanese patrons, smoking away at the countertop. More limited whisky options now, though they still have a wide range. Food nowhere near as good as it used to be. Plus it’s bloody expensive)
• No Style (Maruhi Sakaba-level yakitori, cool setting)
• Khema Pasteur (decent breakfast place)
• 72 Restaurant (relatively cheap Khmer food, not bad)
• Le Boutier (decent cocktails – best to ask to tone down the sweetness)
• Integrite (nice setting, very relaxing, coffee expensive and so-so)
• Open Wine (Pretty place, French food. USD 14 bistro lunch is cheap but food underwhelming especially compared to Hanoi)
• Pepe & Co (local artisan charcuterie, made from local ingredients. Truly delicious stuff. Super informative and friendly owner too.) Tragically, this has closed
• Tini (cocktails better than Coley, great coffee, great vibe, can bring outside food etc – recommended to bring in from Indy House. Absolute gem of a place) Tragically, this has closed
• Masamune (ramen better than KL, great gyoza too) Tragically, this has closed
• Phka Slaa Khmer (Great Khmer food without the Malis price – the USD 6 lunch set is killer value) Tragically, this has closed
• HanaMizuki (solid tempura in a Japan-like tiny spot) Tragically, this has closed

Haven’t visited the following places yet: Botanico Wine (jazz and craft beer), Kingdom Breweries, Seibur (cocktails), Enso (great breakfast?), Chubby Brother បងម៉ាប់ អយស្ទ័រ 1 (grilled stuff for sharing), Piccolo Italia (pizzeria), The Providore ($10 Spanish platter), 54 Langeach Sros (great ribs, goat with black ants etc), Jidaiya (legit yakitori – eggplant dote-katsu is a must), The Box Office (craft beer), Bouchon Wine Bar, Himajin, Buffalo Sister, Friends the Restaurant, Romdeng, Kinin (pasta pastis, kampot lok lak, drinks), Lot 369 (coffee), Maloop (good food, good cocktails), Juniper Gin Bar (cash only) (5-7pm happy hour!), d.e.s. Coffee roasters, Cheriny (pastries, cakes, desserts), Himawari Microbrewery (craft beers), noisy chili tap house, Voodoo Boulevard (cocktails), Oh San ramen, Prei speakeasy, The Keys by Tomaka (cocktails), Itacate (Taco Tuesdays)

Integrite:

• Decent espresso, not amazing. Everything seems a bit pricey. Although Gin & Tonic with Roku for USD 5, and Monkey Shoulder Old Fashioned USD 6 were enticing. Lovely top floor setting. Super chill.

Sundown Social Club:

• Gorgeous views, gorgeous interiors. Less grand than Pacific Standard Bar but I prefer how it looks. Bit like Miami was smashed against Pacific Standard Bar, if that makes sense.
• Great fish tacos. Nice and crispy, not soggy at all. Good flaky flesh too. Eggplant tacos were terrible though. So watery, eggplants poorly cooked
• Very good cocktail actually. Sundown Social Club Special cocktail. Very boozy, can taste the high alcohol content, but not too sweet. Much better than Coley’s KOKtel menu and cheaper

Nesat Seafood House:

• What a beautiful place. Lovely open kitchen. So lovely. Hard wood tables. Boat with cushions on it, and tables. Lots and lots of greenery everywhere. Have I said the open kitchen is gorgeous? It is. Draft $1 even before happy hour strikes
• They’ve moved, by the way, to a much bigger place, and it’s arguably even prettier now. Lots of open space, open air, lots of plants
• Pasta pastis is delicious. Damn. Don’t like pastis but it’s a stroke of brilliance to pair it with the creamy sauce. Rich, decadent, bite of sweetness and er acid? Astringency? Whatever it is, it’s great. An excellent plate of pasta – only point to nitpick is pasta could be more al dente
• Nesat madness platter – lovely grilled squid, cooked perfectly. Crab super sweet, delicious with the kampot pepper. Prawns sadly not very fresh. Would advise to steer away from this platter and get the other dishes. Hard to go too wrong here, it’s just seafood cooked simply but well. Love the place tbh.

Mory pizza:

Back-of-a-van style pizza oven. Pretty cool. Nice toppings, poor crust, don’t expect too much. Good enough if you’re looking for something to soak up the alcohol

Samai:

Go on Thursdays, but bring a friend. Or a group of friends. And go early, it gets super packed. Fun stuff though. Try all the rums and the cocktails and the delicious chocolate truffles. Most of the cocktails are pretty dope. I did ask them to tone down the sweetness even before I ordered though, so might not be able to ascertain accurately. Damn I do love those truffles though. Anyway, the store is open pretty much everyday and it’s right opposite the distillery so you can check that out too during other days.

Malis:

What a gorgeous courtyard. Open air, lots of greenery etc, perfect place to be in the early morning. Unfortunately, no fermented amok in the morning though, and I hear that’s great. Fortunately, breakfast is very much impressive enough to warrant many returns.

Had the Kuy Teav Prahok Ktis (USD 4.80) which was bloody delicious. The pork broth came separately from the dry noodles, and boy was it a big portion. Huge pork rib inside. And I loved the noodles too! The fermented fish paste was delicious. Huge plump, juicy prawns. Overall dish was impressively subtle with its layers of flavors.

Farmhouse:

Very decent Chemex pourover. Nothing exceptional but it does the job. Also, very chill and quiet place. Perfect to chill/work.

Le Marche:

A very well-stocked French grocery store. Impressive range of stuff. And they have a cafe upstairs. Neat.

Mexicano:

Best believe these are the best tacos I’ve had, and nothing in KL even comes remotely close. The decor inside is gorgeous of course. And the frozen margarita (USD 3) is so addictive. Not too sweet at all. Dangerous!

Tacos are USD 7 but they come in a set of 3 and are absolutely packed to the brim. Only gripe with the place is they overload the tacos a bit too much IMO. Becomes messy. Not that it matters, it’s still delicious. And the tortilla shells don’t break apart like at Momo’s, and don’t go soggy and limp like at most other places. Because the tortillas are…god, so bloody good. The taste and bite of the corn is perfect.

Great great tacos. Won’t bother telling you which ones I got, because I’m confident they’ll all be good.

Seekers:
Surely a must-visit. What a beautiful place. They really should open up every night for cocktails, instead of only on the 1st Friday of each month. Ah well. You can still buy the bottles during normal days anyway. 11 native botanicals from the Mekong river (everything from pomelo to pandan to palm seed) and spring water from the Kampot mountains make a bloody good gin. Oh, and don’t sleep on their bottled martini. Surprisingly great!

Lot 369:

• Leafy entrance, green wall at the side, plants at each table. The greenery seems to be a common theme in PP.
• Long black served too hot at first. Beans roasted by the famous Feel Good chaps. When it cools down a bit though, the flavour is good. Robust without being overly roasted/burnt. Laces of acidity. Very drinkable. Good deal better than a lot of places in KL, I’ll give them that.
• Chicken bobor was a mistake to order. Comes floating in a massive bowl of soup. Never a fan of porridge, especially when it’s this watery. Oh well.

Phka Slaa Khmer

• Gorgeous place. Bit glitzy without being tacky.
• USD 6 lunch set is fantastic value. Green curry chicken – chicken is tough and stringy but the curry delicious. A watery curry far removed from the usual Thai fare – barely any heat, but it bursts with a more complex medley of flavours. A tad salty though. The pork rib (also in the curry) is very tender. Dumplings are good – crunchy wonton skin outside isn’t anything special but the filling is surprisingly rich, meaty, fatty, and has a nice bite to it. Clams are fresh and the sauce is great. Tastes like a very mild touch of white wine, and lemongrass gives it a SEA-spin.
• Was told to get pumpkin flowers but not available today sadly.
• Coconut expensive at USD 2 but really great. So sweet and soothing.

Hanamizuki

Is this Japan? A 7-seater izakaya, stumbled upon it – can’t even find it on Google Maps for that matter. There’s jazz! And they only have kushiage and tempura, plus some other small dishes. Oh, no smoking inside, so I suppose it’s not Japan. Plus the ventilation is…non-existent, so expect to sweat when the cooking gets going.

But anyway the $7 tempura set was great great value. Ran out of shrimps so he swapped out with pork for me – and oof the pork tempura is good. Not the greatest coating but it’s almost certainly better than the vast majority in KL (so much better than Tendon Kohaku KL lol but that’s a different story). Can’t remember the last tempura in KL that matched up to this – perhaps Makoto? Haven’t been back there for close to 1.5-2 years though. Anyway, juicy and tender pork inside this one. And boi the tempura set is just an endless array of more and more deep-fried goodness. Only drawback is it’s a bit greasier than the best tempura spots in Japan. So much food though!

Also had the hot udon with a lovely subtle, soothing broth. So-so noodles but liked the broth a lot.

Embargo:

Tucked away further down inside the same lane as Sushi Lab, Katanashi etc. Craft beer spot, mainly featuring Cambodian breweries on tap. Generally not a huge fan of Cerevisa (Himawari is a bit better), but prices are cheap and the breweries are slowly improving. Worth supporting. Nice, chill place too. And lots of other bottles available.

Taste Budz:

Dosa is very meh, nothing on MTR. Great idli though.

Pepe & Co:

A local artisanal charcuterie, using local ingredients to make everything from fennel salami to guanciale. Both of which I tried and both of which are bloody delicious. The owner is also super friendly and informative, chat with him for recommendations if you’re not sure what to get. Love this place.

Le Boutier:

Cocktails. Tiny, gorgeous place – 3 floors, each one seats 10 people at a squeeze. A tight squeeze. Decent cocktails but generally all too sweet – definitely ask them to tone down the sweetness.

Khema Pasteur:

Decent “Western”-style breakfast place. USD 12 for free-flow breakfast but IMO not worth it, given the limited options. Heard the steak frites and pate here are good, so maybe try those. Pain au choc was nice, croissant wasn’t. The sausage that came with the “eggs your way” was nice too.

Feel Good:

Two outlets, as far as I know. Went to Feel Good II, which is under a hostel, and next door to Botanico. Deserves a re-visit. Espresso I had there was so-so, though Tini gets a special blend from Feel Good that tastes great. Very nice place to chill at and work/relax anyway.

Sushi Lab:

What a find! USD 25 for the lunch set omakase is such a steal. The female Japanese sushi chef ran the show. Snails for starter was a surprise – very atypical of the usual sushiya, to say the least! – but loved it. Portion was surprisingly massive, but I do love me some snails. The nigiri in general ranged from good to great. Rice was nice and warm, no temperature modulation in general but at least it was warmer than Ori and Oribe. Bit more vinegar would be better too. Also there’s a lot more wasabi here than in most places.

Standouts were the ika/squid which easily contends with Ori/Oribe, barracuda with yuzu kosho, sawara (with a touch of chili!), and the akami (one of the better renditions I’ve had).

Great pacing, by the way. 90 minutes just flew by. Amazing value at USD 25. It’s not the most sophisticated omakase experience by any means, but would easily be top 5 in KL. Worth visiting for dinner too, of course. But that lunch deal is unbeatable. Oh, and they also serve a ginger ice cream that’s so much better than the ice cream ending at Ori and Oribe.

So Wat Coffee Roasters:

• What a cool place. Right up front is the roaster, go further in to find the tucked-away coffee bar.
• Costa Rica single origin espresso: good cream, perfect temp, good body to it. Generally very good.
• Chill setup. Single wood (proper wood, as always here) and pipe table that seats 6. A 5-seater bar around the espresso machine. That’s all the space there is. The roasting space is as big, if not bigger.

Brooklyn Pizza:

• So happy I came here. Beats most of the pizzas in Malaysia easily. Inside looks like a blend of Mikey’s and a homey Italian joint. However, upon 2nd visit (1 Jan 2020), the Brooklyn Bridge wasn’t that good. Probably steer away from the pies that have too much meat/toppings on them.
• Riel Craft Beer – IPA ($4 on draft): Very nice. Bright bite at first, hops linger for quite a bit. Sure, it’s 4x the normal stuff on draught in PP – which actually is much better than like a Tiger or Carlsberg or whatever piss Pilsner the usual bars stock in Malaysia – but it’s still a really good price. It’s half the price of a craft beer on tap in KL.
• Riel Craft Coffee Stout – thick, very coffee-y, but gets a bit overwhelming after a bit. Too syrupy in mouthfeel.
• Riel Craft Honey Blonde – insanely sweet. Too sweet for me. Still finished it, but it was a chore.
• New York classic cheese thingy – fantastic pizza. Crust as hard as Mikey’s when it first came to Malaysia, but had a more satisfying chew to it. No flopping. The cornicione not as good as Proof etc but small price to pay for such a delicious bite to the crust. Tart, citrusy, umami tomatoes and very good cheese. Would eat it regularly if it was in Malaysia.

Chiyoda:

• Place is expensive. USD 16 for a (very small) starter, a drink (well, at least I can get a highball), soba and tempura.
• Love the place outside and in. Like an authentic slice of Tokyo. And surprise surprise, the food could be right out of Tokyo too.
• The appetiser was alright. Slimy okra was almost too slimy. Understated sauce was a bit too subtle.
• Tempura was excellent. Rivals Makoto in KL which means it’d be one of the best in KL. Perfectly crunchy, light batter without any feeling of greasiness. Prawn was plump and juicy. Vegetables still crisp inside.
• Soba even better. Far superior to any soba in KL. There’s a really satisfying bite to the noodle – grainy, chewy, and you can feel the bruised edges and all the nooks and crannies. Better than the one I tried in Fukuoka, not as good as the best in Tokyo. But definitely formidable.

Long After Dark

• Not bad. It’s dark inside, vinyls on the wall, alright collection of whiskey, some cool beers on tap. Long ass bar seating (again, proper timber) that can sit 15 people in total.
• Drinks are a bit pricey but the USD 12 explorer flight is great value. Nikka All Malt (haven’t had it before, very marshmallow-like), Laphroaig Quarter Cask (always good), Rebel Yell Rye (not a distinctive rye apart from the sharp initial bite), Bushmill’s Black (never been a fan)
• Wanted gnocchi but finished. Empanadas sucked, so probably best to stay away from the (expensive) food

Story Coffee Roasters:

• Outside, leafy as most places here are. Inside, more upscale and polished and sort of clinical. USD 3.50 for the filter which is a well-poured V60 to be fair. Very good filter.

Masamune:

• Ridiculously cool location. Tucked away inside a tiny alley that has a bunch of other bars and restaurants and little stores. Dope. Cool inside too. Reminiscent of walking into Seirinkan to a certain extent. Small place at ground floor, about 4 can sit at the ‘bar’ – or, well, the top directly facing the semi-open kitchen (the customers are separated from the smoke by glass), and there are a couple of tables near the actual bar area.
• USD 7 lunch set (shoyu ramen + gyoza + Salad). USD 2 Asahi bottle
• Salad bright and crisp.
• Ramen fantastic. Rivals Keisuke Tonkotsu King in SG except it’s shoyu, not tonkotsu. Noodles are perfect. Don’t have to ask for hard. Auto-hard, bro. Stiff like morning wood. Slurpy bite to them. Bamboo shoot not good. Meat (shoulder) very lean and not amazing either. Shoyu broth subtle but good – although only gripe is it’s a bit too salty. All comes together for a Tokyo-level ramen.
• Gyoza – again, better than KL. Beats Hanabi’s. Perfectly crispy at one end. Resistive but soft on the other.
• Ajitama cold and very salty, shouldn’t have added it

Indy House:

• How not to love the concept. Small place, 1 man runs the grill from 11 to 3, and 4 until sold out. Choose your protein, he grills it. Also, this dude has such a strong Thai rockstar vibe. Chicken @ USD 3 comes with fries, rice, huge salad. Place is always packed with people waiting downstairs for their to-go order, or eating inside. Packed for a reason, dawg. It’s not amazing but the chicken is tender and juicy inside. The accompanying sauce is very slightly spicy and sweet, and pairs great. Simple, but satisfying. Although rice mushy so I didn’t eat much. And the fries are frozen fries. Go for the pork instead of the chicken.

Tini:

• This place speaks to my goddamn soul lmao. Cafe, bar, art space, cinema, outdoor area, coffee that’s cheaper if you get it to-go, interesting cocktails, most of the furniture and decor on loan from an antiques store. You can even bring food from outside to eat in. The Indy House guy came buy to collect plates.
• Happy hour goes from 5 to 7pm: 25% off all bottles of wine, buy 1 free 1 glass of house wine / cocktail
• Great music too. Heard while I was there: Flume, Grimes, Royal Blood, Sufjan Stevens, The National, Radiohead, The xx
• Cafferinha (USD 4): happy hour means this costs USD 2, or MYR 8. Insane. Also much better than Coley’s KOKtel range. Coffee-infused cachaca cuts through immediately with a boozy haymaker. Palm sugar and lime round out the simple drink – not too sweet, which I’m always thankful for.
• Don’t Be Shy (USD 4): Stolichnaya vodka, fresh watermelon juice, mint, lime. So refreshing. Tastes like a freshly squashed watermelon juice, with all the pulp. Real mouthfeel, namean. Like a buzzy, boozy watermelon juice. Balanced and refreshing.
• Merik Mule very tasty too. Lovely peppercorn bomb.
• The M. Chapouter Marius wines were not my thing but hey, cheap. Not a huge loss.
• Long black very good too. USD 1 for a takeaway

Sesame Noodle Bar:

• Like a lot of other takeaway spots here, they use a natural plant fibre biodegradable takeaway box.
• Nice looking space, plays a lot of Radiohead
• Thor Buns: Good pork. Soft buns are ehhh but the spicy firm pork is delicious.
• Noodles with ground pork: pricey at USD 4.50 but big portion but ehhhh it doesn’t taste great. Nice, not amazing, noodles.
• Also there looks like there’s a legit Chinese dumplings store next to it

Katanashi:

• Izakaya down another insane alley. Like the back roads of Tokyo. Random dodgy looking, then you go in and there’s a whole bunch of tiny Jap joints and some not-so-tiny ones. Katanashi for instance is actually one of the bigger ones around. But it’s still cool. It’s very cool.
• USD 1.90 for a highball. Not too boozy, but that’s okay. Helps to drop the alcohol level a bit. Definitely tastes like a highball right out of Japan. Play the dice game anyway, it’s fun.
• Downstairs, about 8 people can fit around the bartop. Space for about 8 to 10 others around the tables. Then there’s an upstairs spot.
• Katanashi beef steak: USD 3.90 for 100g, got 180g. Great. Only gripe is that sometimes the meat ends up getting cold by the time it reaches the table. A could-order, rather than a must-order.
• Scotch Shime Saba (USD 3.90) – salted, vinegared mackerel. Then they torch it. Brilliant. Great portion. Very vinegary. Inside soft and luscious. So it’s like a ceviche inside but outside is smoky and firm. Skin not very crisp but not limp and chewy either. A must-order
• Mentai butter gohan: pretty nice.
• Mentai & potato ahijo: meh bread, but super delish oil and garlic. Get it!
• Pickles meh don’t order
• Squid and lemon thing: garlicky, lemony, umami. Squid is great, perfectly cooked. Bread isn’t great but does the job. The anchovy taste very prominent. Loved it overall.
• Osaka-style omelet: love it. Runny eggs, delicious dish.

The Snack:

• Grilled and deep fried shit basically
• Low tables, low stools, sauces on table, you know how we roll.
• Salad was tasteless, just random sliced up cucumbers and carrots
• Chili served at the table was very fiery but tasty
• Staff all super young + command of English non-existent
• Nice grilled frog. Slightly sweet which lent itself well to the ferocious chili
• Lunch set: fried chicken stuff. Juicy chicken. Skin too dry though. Thai-tasting sweet dipping sauce.
• Decent meal, worth dropping by if you’re nearby, but don’t go out of your way

72 Restaurant:

• Was told this is the best cheap Khmer restaurant around
• They’ve all sorts of dishes, alright. Rice, noodles, the whole gamut.
• Ordered random fried noodles. Kinda pricey. USD 3 gets a bunch of stuff fried together. Wet noodles, which I’m not usually a fan of, but at least not too soggy.
• Satisfying without being great. Probably better value to get the rice stuff. Not amazing.

Delikat Gelato:

• Love the low key palace-like vibes. Long ass bench thing is a brilliant way to maximise seating space while giving a nice structural flow to the floor. Love the tree too, right at the entrance. Huge cook-space, completely see through behind the glass panels. See-through, sectioned-off washroom area: open the door to a garden-like short walk to get to the toilets. Gorgeous.
• Avocado ice cream: delicious gelato. Thick, creamy, lush. Rivals Piccoli Lotti, really does. USD 1.50 for a big ass scoop. Really happy that it’s not too sweet
• Free yoghurt: wow, delicious. Much better than Llao Llao etc. Imagine this with the Llao Llao cookie sauce, god damn. Tart, not too sour, or too sweet, and it’s quite milky. Very pleasing, thick mouthfeel. Chewy, almost!

No Style:

• Yakitori. The bar counter sits 8 in total. Very small place. There’s one table by the side that can sit 4 people, then there’s a washroom. That’s about it.
• Fucked up card game unlike the cool dice game at Katanashi where everyone wins. Here, I ended up paying USD 2.20 for a normal size draft instead of USD 0.90. Thanks fam.
• 12/10 for atmosphere etc. But food-wise, it’s largely around the same level as Maruhi Sakaba only – okay, but not great.
• Tsuya Buta: Pretty good. Fatty. Not amazing.
• Kamo Negi: Duck breast and leek. Very nice duck. Leek was alright.
• Negi Maki: Nice, smoky, salty bacon.
• Ichiya dori: Very juicy chicken leg. Could do with more salt
• Chicken pate: Very nice crispy chewy biscuit. The pate is not bad – Yench does better pate
• Truffle pepper shrimp: Alright.
• Atsu age: tofu with walnut miso. Meh
• Gari Bara: Pork with weird ginger. Meh

Odin Bar:

• Jazz and whisky, baby. Long single bar counter seats up to 12. Massive, long timber piece. Beautiful. Prices are steep though.
• Must be 500 bottles up in here at least. Beautiful. Crazy whisky bar.
• All Jap clientele the entire night (the first time). The second time, there was a group of noisy Frenchmen. So annoying.
• Akkeshi is a new distillery established in 2016 in Hokkaido. This one is a vatted blend of non-elated malts matured for 5-14 months in bourbon casks, bottled in Jan 18 and released in a limited run of 10,000 bottles. Clean, straightforward nose that then develops into a distinct, strangely pleasing fermentation aroma. Malty cereal mixed with mustard seeds, almost. Tastes faintly of ginger, of ripe apples, rich, short finish etc. Best Jap whisky I’ve had.
• See whisky reviews for further notes (Hokkaido Akkeshi, Hibiki 17, Springbank 17, SMWS 125.69)
• Tsukemen: USD 7.50 feels very expensive for no pork, no meat etc. But then it comes out and the noodles are just perfection. Chewy, resistive, so slurpy, so pleasurable to gnaw at. The broth is shrimp flavour bean paste, ridiculously thick, more solid than liquid, and too salty for me. But I still ate it anyway, that insanely salty insanely thick sesame and (anchovies?) broth. Tokyo-level, but unfortunately not around anymore.
• Tantanmen at USD 8 was great nevertheless. Spicy, but not too spicy. Rich, but not too rich. Lovely bite to the ramen. Definitely recommended to order this.

Open Wine:

USD 14 bistro lunch, 11-5pm everyday. Is it worth it? Kinda. It’s cheap, but food not great. Definitely worse than Topaz. Brown bread – decent bread, butter too cold. Chardonnay by the glass wasn’t too bad though. Starter – mozza – was very much lacking in flavor. Basil oil was too subtle, and both the tomato and mozza weren’t great. Main – fish was overcooked. Had to season with salt and pepper myself too – imagine that, adding more salt in a French restaurant! Apple tart so-so. Would suggest sticking to Topaz biz lunch, but no harm trying this of course.

Eleven One Kitchen TTP:

• Smaller than expected, but looks great. Partially open air, plenty of natural light
• Fri & Sat from 7pm onwards, there’s a $4.95 BBQ Pork Ribs, chicken wings, seafood (usually shrimp skewers) and a side. Sounds like a good deal to me
• $5 for fish amok and rice. Which isn’t super expensive but does feel a bit expensive compared to a lot of other options around. Atas Khmer stuff
• The white rice strangely enough was nice. Smaller/shorter grains than I’m used to. Slightly sticky but not disgustingly wet like some rice can be sometimes.
• Fish amok was alright. Fish cooked perfectly. The curry subtle and yeah, just subtle. Nothing particularly remarkable about it.
• Luckily, the place is not too expensive. Still a good place to try it. Recommended also because of the setting of course

Topaz:

• USD 25 biz set lunch is good value for the setting. Gorgeous, glitzy place. Plus you get 3 courses, wine, and coffee/tea
• It’s beautiful inside. And the garden @ the back is splendid. Heck, even the walk to get in to Topaz is very nice. Inside, soothing, calm jazz
• The house red is quite nice.
• Bread is alright. Took the hardest one possible. I like the hard crust. But it’s a bit gluey inside. The butter is nice though, very good butter
• Surprise starter shrimp was okay
• Appetizer/starter – should have taken the charcuterie bar. The rilettes, pates look good. Instead, took froggu legs pan fried – plate very warm which was nice. Frogs are usually quite tasteless but could have done with more salt / more sauce directly on to the frog. Needed more flavour. Bit bland. Also cos pan friend, some parts not as nice and crisp as others so less flavour. Overall decent.
• Pork fillet mignon – looked great. Unfortunately very dry and tough. Not to the point of being inedible, but just enough to make me wonder if perhaps should have sent it back. But I trudged on away.
• Carrots are nice. Extremely soft. Quite salty though. French-level salty. But works well to take a bit of carrot and a bite of the pork.
• Sauce is nice, and helps to add moisture. Overall pretty good
• Pistachio financiers: looks brilliant. Plating and presentation perfectly on point, but the flavour isn’t quite there yet. They’re not great, but they do taste a bit better when paired with the long black, at least.
• Coffee: good. Even though the beans taste too roasted/dark for me
• To be fair, likely not even the main chef cooking

The post Phnom Penh, Cambodia appeared first on Foodgazer.