Cambodia: Frizz Restaurant

Traditional Khmer food

            Street 240 is the bohemian boutique street in Phnom Penh. It is adorned with colonial-style boutique shops and few cafes and restaurants owned mostly by expats. It’s a shopping haven, as well as funky place to chill, away from the noise and the crowd.

            There are a lot of acclaimed restaurants in this street and one of them is Frizz Restaurant.

            Frizz Restaurant, established by a Dutch expat, started in 2004. It aims to serve “genuine and traditional Cambodian cuisine” which is relatively hard to find in Phnom Penh for most of the restaurants have their own twists, fusions and versions of the cuisine.

            After 8 years of cooking, Frizz Restaurant’s reputation grew into one of the most sought out traditional and affordable restaurant in the city.

            On my 3^rd day in Cambodia, I went to Frizz for brunch. Frizz is famous for their fish amok but I want to try another dish so I ordered Lok Lak.

            Lok Lak. $5.00 or P215. A Cambodian favourite: Stir fried marinated beef on a bed of salad, tomatoes and onions topped with a fried egg. Served with famous lime and pepper sauce.

            I think it fits to order Lok Lak since this is my first meal of the day. Lok Lak is similar to our Bistek, but with a thicker sauce. There’s also the overpowering fragrance of the pepper. But what makes the Lok Lak special is the lime and pepper sauce. It gives the marinated beef a complementing kick.

            I’m never going to eat bistek without a lime and pepper sauce again. :-)

            Fried Spring Rolls. $2.75 or P120 for 5 pieces.

            After having Tricolore’s friedspring rolls, my taste buds for fried rolls have upgraded. Not that I’m expecting a lot from Frizz’s rolls but I just wanted to know what a traditional Cambodian fried roll tastes like.

            Unlike other cuisines, a traditional Khmer filling only consists of vegetables: taro, carrot, peanuts and salt, sugar and pepper to taste. The outcome? Well, it’s uhm starchy and bland.

            This is where the flavorful dipping sauce comes in handy. It’s sweet, sour, salty and spicy, all in one sauce. A mixture of sugar, lemon, fish sauce, chili and red pepper, topped with shallots and peanuts. The fried roll tastes so much better with the sauce. But if we're talking of fried roll in general, Tricolore's version is still the best.

            Fresh Coconut Juice. There’s an abundance of coconut in Phnom Penh so I really took advantage of it.

            Again, I spent a lot for 1 meal, but food in Phnom Penh is not exactly cheap. Frizz Restaurant’s prices are already reasonable [and believe me, one they considered cheap] if compared to the food they serve, so I’m not complaining.

            If you’re looking for a traditional Cambodian food, Frizz Restaurant is a good place to start your Khmer cuisine adventure. If you’re also interested in learning a few Khmer recipes, Frizz offers half-day or whole day cooking classes.

Frizz Restaurant

#67 Street 240, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

www.frizz-restaurant.com

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