A week in Cambodia -11/18/2023-11/24/2023

Phnom Penh -11/18/2023

Phnom Penh at nigh &Dinner at Ngon

We are headed to Ngon restaurant, a famous Vietnamese restaurant that originated from Saigon.   The restaurant is located about 10 minutes from our hotel so we decided to walk there.

We are on Preah Sihanouk Boulevard which is a central boulevard in Phnom Penh

The sun was setting down on Sihanouk Boulevard.   On the right is the statue of King Sihanouk. The statue is dedicated to Sihanouk's accomplishment on liberating the country on 9 November 1953 from the French colonialism.

Statue of King Norodom Sihanouk in the Norodom Sihanouk Memorial.

The bronze statue is 14.7 ft. tall and is housed under a 88 ft. high stupa in the park east of the Independence Monument. The statue depicting the late king wearing a business suit and took about 8 months to complete. Norodom Sihanouk died on 15 October 2012 in Beijing, China, and survived by his son, current King Norodom Sihamoni, and his wife, Norodom Monineath

Norodom Sihanouk Memorial Stupa

View of the Sihanouk Memorial Stupa from the Boulevard.

Ahead the tall building is the Independence Monument

The Independence monument was built in 1958 to memorialize Cambodia's independence from France in 1953.

It stands on a roundabout in the intersection of Norodom Boulevard and Sihanouk Boulevard in the city center. It is in the form of a lotus-shaped stupa, of the style seen at the temple at Banteay Srei and other Khmer historical sites. The Independence Monument was designed by the Cambodian architect Vann Molyvann, who was “personally selected and instructed” by Prince Norodom Sihanouk on how it should look like, combining “the religious and the secular. It stands 121 ft. tall.

We arrived at Ngon Restaurant.

We are so happy to find a good Vietnamese restaurant.

Lotus flowers in a large pink earthen vase.

The restaurant is really nicely decorated.

It feels like we were is a private garden.

We decided to get a nice table on the patio.

The interior is tastefully decorated died cloth drapes, dark furniture, and is very open and airy.

Table setting. Beside this restauran they also have a restaurant in Saigon which was the original one, and another one is Hanoi.

The way the restaurant is set up is on the periphery there are a bunch of stalls with different type of food.  This one is specializing in food from central Vietnam (Banh Beo. Banh Bot loc, etc..),

A stall with garlic, shallots, and red peppers.

Cha gio, Grilled meat, and Bi Heo (pork skin)

I ordered some banh xeo (Crispy Vietnamese crepe)

The Banh Xeo was crispy and was really delicious.

We also ordered some banh Khot (Vietnamese savory pancakes) with shrimps.

They were good but I had better.

Goi cuong

Vietnamese broken rice with assorted meat.

We are so used to eat good quality meat in the U.S. so here the quality is just so so.

We also ordered rice in claypot.  It was tasty and we like it.

For dessert I ordered some sticky rice with coconut cream.  The sticky rice was not cooked properly so it was hard and the coconut sauce was not that great.

Overall, the restaurant in Saigon and Hanoi were a lot better.  However, the restaurant was beautiful and the space was really enjoyable.  Perhaps we did not order the right dish.

Next...Cycling around the Mekong