Where's Jonny? Care to dine with me? You would think that 11 years of daily food tasting for a living might put me off?......au contraire! Chomp away with me across 6 continents. Seduced like a bloodhound to the scent of good food, I anticipate the misty waft of steaming broths, the satisfying crunch of mudbugs and the vibrant aroma of freshly pulverised lemongrass. Buon appetito

Restaurant review - Romdeng

CAMBODIA | Wednesday, 2 May 2007 | Views [1872]

Like Jamie Olivers "Fifteen," in London, Romdeng offers street children an opportunity to acquire new skills.

Impressed by my first visit with Ian", I returned alone to examine the cooking and hang with the expats. Maybe listen to some gossip about arms deals and shifty trades?

Romdeng have a cunning plan. Their three tiered approach to learning establishes serving/cooking skills first at their canteen, then Romdeng and finally, "Friends" restaurant.

An inspirational menu of 40 regional dishes (including a salad of crispy tarantulas!) is offered in grand colonnial surrounds. "Just my bag," I thought, "real Khmer food and relaxing surroundings."

Dark wooden tables, long opal lampshades and a cool tiled floor complete the simplistically chilled vibe.

On the spacious balcony, being fanned from all angles, a "student," (as denoted on their black T-shirts) delivered my sugar cane and mandarin juice drink - "what a pairing," I thought sipping the sweetly aromatic liquid.

Steamed Mekong fish fillet surrounded by prettily arranged slices of cucumber and holy basil was meaty and perfectly cooked. Just the right amount of gingery sauce ensured it was not overpowered.

Previously we had eaten a grilled, pike-like fish which was similarly subtle in flavour but beautifully textured. The sauce on this occasion was green tamarind (a first for both of us) It was only at the market the following day that we realised it was the green leaves of the tamarind pod which had provided the sweet/sharp dipping sauce. The "teacher" pointed out that the fish we were eating (not the ACTUAL one) was responsible for the deaths of many babies in Cambodia. Well I suppose its always good to give something back to the community by eating a predator.

Every dish I had eaten at Romdeng had been presented creatively with care and attention.

Pork loin stuffed with fresh coconut and wrapped with individual spring onion flags was no exception. It looked and tasted stunning.

The desserts are a must try for any westerner. They evoke great harmony of flavours, textures and foods in season. They even had a festival dish that we were unable to try as it was the wrong month!

Some appetising seductions offered are, crispy rice flake dumplings stuffed with banana and palm sugar syrup, red sticky rice porrige with coconut and longans and red bean and banana ice cream.

WOW! my mouth began to salivate pondering the appealing options.

Eventually, I opt for the red sticky rice porrige. I thought it very clever to use a rice variety that will not break down completely thus leaving nutty, wholesome grains amongst the glutenous, pinky porrige. The luscious longans work well with the sweet coconut flavour. They offer great textural contrast and serve to lighten the dish.

Not overly sweet or sickly (which it might have been) this dessert was comforting spoon after spoon of coconutty nirvana.

I departed a second time a content man. Phnom Penh has some real gems away from the muck served to tourists and at fair prices too.