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Bopha Cambodian Restaurant***
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| This very elegant restaurant has two sections: one inside the building with white tablecloth and solid wooden tables; and the other situated in a beautifully manicured garden with lots of potted plants, a pond and a fountain. It is indeed a very romantic setting, and one can enjoy high quality Khmer dishes, although these dishes are very heavy with the use of lots of cream and oil. We think that when Khmer food is really elevated, it merges with French food in that lots of western ingredients are used. This is quite understandable because the French occupied this country for such a long time and the French would probably not have enjoyed Khmer dishes unless they tasted a little like their accustomed food in Paris. Nevertheless, this garden restaurant would be a perfect place if one wishes to splurge, although the prices are reasonable in that the Khmer dishes are $5 to $7 and a bottle of Angkor beer $3.50. We have since found out that the owners of this restaurant are French. So we were right about the food tasting somewhat French, but done in a very tasty way. One disturbing aspect of this restaurant is that there are quite a few group tourists eating, which may indicate that the tour guides are paid good commissions and that the management can charge more as such tourists cannot complain individually. In our follow-up tasting, we have found that various dishes we ordered were less satisfactory than before, as the Khmer curry, for example, had too many potatoes and not enough other vegetables, while their amok was too buttery, according to a European lady.
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