Ph Sivatha
Siem Reap
Cambodia

We decided to look out for something different on our third night in Siem Reap – we weren’t sure what we were looking for, but we’d know it when we found it. So we set off around the block, ended up crossing the main road (Ph Sivatha) and stumbled across a sign showing the menu for Carnets d’Asie

The restaurant itself was tucked away behind an arts-and-crafts shop. There were no staff at the entrance, so we wandered in, chose a likely-looking table, and made to sit down at it. At that point a waitress finally did appear. She seemed surprised to see us (after all, it was only a quarter past six in the evening) but assured us that the restaurant was indeed open.

After looking at the wine list, we decided we’d have a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. Mr ND attracted the waitress’s attention and made the order. She dutifully read it back: “One bottle Sauvignon Blanc… and Madame is not hungry.” We hastily assured her that Madame was indeed hungry – we just needed a bit more time to read the menu.

And a very interesting menu it was, too. We like to sample a variety of things if we can, rather than wade through a plateful of a single dish each. So we ordered five different dishes. Neither of us had ever had banana flower salad or palm heart salad before, but we were intrigued at the prospect. Both were rewarding – similar to a Thai som tam in some ways, but less fiery and more complex. Well worth trying if you get the chance. The duck foie gras – home-made, apparently – was melt-in-your-mouth smooth. A nicely-presented Caesar salad and a rich, tasty spaghetti in pesto sauce rounded off the meal. It seemed a shame not to stay for dessert, but we were too full!

Visit Two: July 2006

We headed over to Carnets d’Asie again on our second night. It was much busier than it had been on our previous visit, no doubt because we went at eight o’clock instead of quarter-past six. (The service was fine and showed no signs of being unable to cope with the greater numbers.) Sadly, as it turned out we weren’t feeling hungry for their particular menu – we were really in more of a mood for something hearty rather than exotic, subtle flavours. But we still managed to do justice to the duck liver paté the banana flower salad and the scallop salad (which we’d wanted to order last time but were thwarted by the lack of scallops). And, of course, the obligatory bottle of Sauv Blanc…

Overall rating: 4 out of 5
Despite the quirky service the first time round (and after all, it was relatively early in the evening) we thoroughly enjoyed this. Not somewhere you’d want to eat at every night – it’s a little too expensive for that – but great as an occasional treat.

Bar Street
Siem Reap
Cambodia

As our stay in Siem Reap in July 2006 drew to a close, we took a fancy to some pizza for a change. So we all went hunting for a suitable restaurant. After checking out a couple, we finally settled on Pissa Italiana.

All the Bar Street open-air tables were taken, so we went inside. But the wood-fired oven was producing a fair amount of both heat and smoke, so we hesitated to sit down there. Fortunately they’ve got tables out at the back, in a little alleyway running parallel to Bar Street. Sitting out there was surprisingly pleasant, with more of the air of a Mediterranean town back street than a South East Asian one. And there were very few hassles from passing beggars (actually, we’re struggling to think of any).

We ordered a salad with scallops from Sihanoukville in balsamic vinegar, a tagliatelle carbonara, and a vegetarian pizza. We had some doubts about the pizza, though; the menu listed spinach and cauliflower alongside more conventional ingredients like mushrooms, onions and tomatoes. But we asked the waitress if she could have one made without spinach and cauliflower. She said this was possible, and confirmed it when she read the order back to us. So that was all right.

Or so we thought, anyway. When the pizza (which was rectangular) arrived, it was certainly brassica-free as requested. However, in a bid to ensure we got our money’s worth, the chef had replaced the spinach and cauliflower with courgette (fair enough) and carrot! Still, he’d also arranged the veg in rows across the pizza rather than in the more traditional mix-it-all-in-together arrangement, so it was an easy matter to remove the row of carrot. This left two pieces of tomato-only pizza, but better that than carrot-and-tomato. The other slices were also two-veg combos. All in all, a strange pizza experience, but there was no faulting the quality of the cooking – it was served hot, with a good thin base. We ate it all, anyway (apart from the carrot), so we must have enjoyed it! The carbonara was very good too.

What really set the meal apart was the scallop salad. We thought that for six dollars we’d be getting a respectable number of scallops, perhaps as many as a dozen. There were at least twice that number – and not tiny little ones, a decent size – all beautifully cooked, in other words just ever so slightly underdone. Wonderful stuff! And with a nice bottle of Kiwi Sauv Blanc to set it off, too.

Visit Two: October 2006

Our second visit was something of a spur-of-the-moment decision. We’d had a huge disappointment earlier in the day from the Koala Bar, and decided that we weren’t wanting to risk another, so we thought something suitable might be available from Pissa Italiana – though neither of us particularly fancied pizza, with or without carrot.

The staff remembered us – “You ordered the Sileni Sauvignon Blanc, didn’t you?”! We promptly ordered the same bottle again, and it was every bit as delicious as the previous time.

Looking at the menu, we were mystified by the “Risotto back from kept” (it turned out to mean “catch of the day”), but settled for the tuna carpaccio, which was superb, and the garlic bread, which was very tasty. The tagliatelle carbonara was just as good as the previous time.

We were disappointed to see that scallops weren’t on the menu. Mr Not Delia nevertheless thought it was worth asking for them, just in case, and we were delighted to be told that we could have them, though we were warned that it would be a different chef this time and she had never done them before. Unfortunately, when they arrived they were terribly overdone, like little rubber bullets. When we pointed this out, the manager was very apologetic and told us that the chef would prepare another (at no extra charge, even though they could justifiably have said that we’d ordered at our own risk). The second attempt was not much better, though the scallops were at least edible. But we really couldn’t blame the staff – they were doing their best to accommodate an off-menu request.

Overall rating: 4 out of 5
OK, so the pizza was a bit bizarre the first time round, and the off-menu scallops disappointed the second time. But other than that you’d be struggling to fault it – you’d struggle to find food as good in London for just $14. They’d charge you a damn sight more than $22 for a bottle of New Zealand wine, too. Excellent friendly service, neither over-fussy nor under-attentive, and a relaxing atmosphere.