Lunch By The Mekong

At the group's request, our genial host struggled to think of an appropriate lunch venue that was not French.

From the city centre, we crossed the bulging Tonlé Sap to the restaurants along the bank of the Mekong River. He took us to a rustic restaurant serving traditional Khmer food for lunch.

Expansive and lovely, the restaurant was really somewhere I'd check out on vacation. I was secretly glad the host brought us to a place where locals go. The only grouse- it was damn hot man- no air-conditioning. June to August belong to the rainy season in Cambodia, so it's cool in the mornings and still freaking hot by noon.

The calm and quiet of the surroundings were so different from the hustle and bustle of city cafes and bistros. There was a different kind of buzz- we ate with the company of dragonflies and bees.

The conversation turned to Thai and Cambodian relations. Reluctant to enter into the topic, I sorta zoned out. I was still trying to figure out the Cambodian language and not being very successful. I could sort of read it in Thai, but it wouldn't sound correct in Camobdian. Then the ears pricked at familiar words- I could understand the conversation of the men at the next table! They are Thais. Oh dear. Okay, it's a long shot, but I hope they don't understand English. Eeeps.

Then I got distracted by a woman selling really fresh longans. Almost lush, I'd say. Full, round and luscious, the plucked leaves were still green. Very beautiful. Another came by brandishing durians and offering to open one for us to try. That, I avoided.

Horrors of horrors, there was a huge piece of chicken for each person- no way to escape it. One must be polite. I picked up a wing/breast with the chopsticks and poked at it. I played with it but still had to swallow a good portion. At least, it was well grilled.

Okay, I confess I'm not too enthusiastic about traditional Khmer food, the same way I'm not hot about Chinese food. Too much pork in everything. Khmer soups tend to be salty- too much fish sauce lah. I like the other elements of it- the dips and the chilli. We ordered giant spring rolls (with pork in it) a la Vietnamese style- I soaked it in chilli gravy. Yummmz. They filled me up nicely for lunch.