The Weekly Whisk 6/18/18

Musings from a foodie…

In my recent visit to Southeast Asia, we had the opportunity to visit Cambodia.  The focus of the visit was a trip to the temples at Angkor Wat, which are quite incredible.  There’s a reason that they are considered one of the top ten sites in the modern world.  While there, I naturally wanted to visit some local cuisine.  Well, if for any reason, you’re in the neighborhood - I’d highly, highly recommend Viroth’s Restaurant [ * * * *].  Our guide for the day recommended it as one of the best representations of local food in Siem Reap.  And, we were not disappointed!

For starters, let me be clear that I thought it was a fabulous restaurant.  In fact, I’ve already had some folks visit who concurred with my assessment.  We started with the obligatory banana leaf adapted salad that included onions, shallots, pineapple, shrimp and an unfamiliar spice from the parsley family.  The dressing had a coconut flavor which is always refreshing.  They then brought a second salad of Green Mango.  It included spicy carrots, onions, green beans, shallots and small pieces of pork.  Again, quite tasty.  We then moved into the main course with two major options.  First, the “Amok Fish” is a local white fish cooked in a ceramic bowl with a light curry and coconut milk sauce.  It also is flavored with “agor leaves” which are from the basil family.  Extraordinary and the fish was cooked to perfection = not overcooked.  We also had the Chicken Laab.  “Laab” is basically ground up meat from various sources.  Chicken, pork, lamb and beef were the dominant choices during our Cambodian trip.  The Chicken Laab was seasoned with ginger to give a spicy flavor along with shallots.  There were some other spices as well but, they were foreign to my tongue…  So, you’ll just have to travel there and try them out.  Finally, we ended the extravaganza with Mango Sticky Rice (one of my very favorite desserts) and Gravita Lemon which was incredibly refreshing.  And, if that were not enough – they then brought us some Bananas Flambe as the piece de resistance!!  All of this for about $25/person!!! 

Not only is the food outrageously good but the prices were incredible as well.  It makes me want to go back but, I think I’ll wait till I recover from the 30-hour flight and 12-hour time lag first (in about a year 😊) before heading back.  Cambodia is a wonderful country.  It should be on your bucket list.  Check ‘em out:  Viroth's Restaurant – 99 Street Wat Bo – Siem Reap – Angkor, Cambodia – +855 (0) 12 828 346

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