Eating In Translation

Psar Orussey

In and around the Orussey, every day is greenmarket day.

Khmer Borane

I'm still trying to recapture the taste of my first amok.

Fritz

Amok, described on the menu as "steamed coconut fish" ($4), arrived as a granular puck tweaked with turmeric and other spices. On the dry side, too; I was glad to have a mixed-fruit shake ($1) close at hand.

Fritz
335 Sisowath Quay, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
(From a November 2006 visit)

Sa'em

Maybe it's not what I'd call amok, but I really enjoyed the version at this informal little eatery: an ample bowl of firm-fleshed fish, swimming in a thin curry with a little bite ($2). (Was that fish taking a swim at daybreak that same morning, in the Tonlé Sap river just across the way?) Good banana shake (80 cents), too.

Sa'em
379 Sisowath Quay, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
(From a November 2006 visit)

Amoc Café

The fish version of the namesake entree ($4), steamed but still, sadly, chunky, sat in a sweet, bland curry sauce. I didn't specify "banana leaf," so I suppose I deserved the default tourist presentation, too. Ribs ($3.50) were OK.

Amoc Café
2 Ph. 278, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
(From a November 2006 visit)

Foreign Correspondent's Club

Wetting your whistle? Sometimes an inoffensive brew is your best bet.

Pop Ice delivery truck

I'd gladly pay you Tuesday for a bag of ice today.

Pop Ice delivery truck
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
(From a November 2006 visit)

Psar Kandal food vendor

A gentleman I met on the street — he moved here from Germany more than a decade ago and was working on establishing a turkey farm — introduced me to his local market. This Cambodian take on a banh xeo (about 2,000 riels), served "broken," had a similar name and was accompanied by lettuce leaves and fish sauce for wrapping and dipping.

Psar Kandal food vendor
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
(From a November 2006 visit)

Psar Thmei

A few of the sights waiting inside the "new market" were quite visceral, even for me.