La Cabane Des Filles, Siem Reap.

I love it when it feels like you have stumbled across a little foodie secret and La Cabane des Filles restaurant, situated on a non-descript side street leading up to Pub street from the river is just that. The little bistro offers a dual concept of Khmer and classic French menus and is operated by a friendly all female team who are as happy conversing in English or French as they are in Khmer which can make for an interesting evening once I’ve had a couple of glasses of wine, but a fun one all the same.

Whilst the Khmer dishes can be found on the main menu, it is the French specials, bought to the table on a large blackboard, that I have tried; with appetisers including homemade pork and Kampot pepper terrine ($5) and scallops cooked in their shells with parsley butter ($7.50) with the most expensive appetizer being an unusual sounding scallop bisque with foie gras ravioli ($9.50.) Main courses are equally tempting and include Pork Chops with mashed potatoes and apple sauce ($9) Beef Bourguignon ($11) and Tartiflette with Reblochon ($12)

Now this is my kind of salad! Simply described as a salad of goats cheese and bacon I was pleasantly surprised to see that the goats cheese had been wrapped in filo pastry and baked; there was even an unadvertised handful of little potato croquettes and some cherry tomatoes thrown into the salad for good measure. As for the bacon – well you can see it would have been hard for them to squeeze any more into the bowl and the leaves had virtually disappeared from sight – definitely a positive in my book!

I love the little Le Crueset-esque pots that the egg and mushroom cocottes have been cooked in. The crunchy bread served as an accompaniment is perfect for dipping into all the lovely runny egg yolk and this is the perfect supper when I just fancy something light.

My favourite meal there so far was actually the French style fish and chips ($8) made with a local fish from Vietnam (whose name I forget) that has been simply bread crumbed and pan fried. They serve it with a black pepper and lime sauce and beautiful homemade chips, made with a local potato variety that are in season at the moment – really very good indeed. The fish was just cooked perfectly, lovely and translucent still and flaking away at the touch of the fork and I loved the zingy lime sauce as it reminded me of one they serve at hawker centres in Singapore with shellfish sometimes.

I really like the fact they serve a little homemade “amuse bouche” too – anything from a few crisps straight out of the fryer or a spicy vegetable samosa & I don’t think I’ve ever paid more than about $12 for a meal there, which considering I always start with a Ricard and manage a couple of glasses of wine as well is very reasonable.

La Cabane des Filles:

18 New Street A | Pub Street Extension, Siem Reap

+855 78 697 833

https://www.facebook.com/pages/La-Cabane-Siem-Reap/410624752316933#_=_