Ali Baba Prosto Restaurant & Café — Restaurant in Khan Daun Penh

From the outside, the restaurant is not all that welcoming, and the inside is not exactly cozy either; more of a canteen-style setting than anything else. There were no customers, only what I assumed was the boss and his buddy constantly speaking on the phone.

The waitress brought us the menus straight away, and it is quite a large menu. Page upon page of fried and baked items.

This is a Halal restaurant, thus no alcoholic beverages but plenty of juices and coffees. We ended up ordering a lemon-mint juice ($2.50), an avocado juice ($2.50), an iced coffee ($2.00), and a small bottle of water ($0.50). It was a scorcher of a day, I had been birding in the morning, and my tongue was shrivelled. Thus, I was not impressed with the fact that the drinks took 20 minutes to arrive. Again, we were the only guests and that is just way too long. My lemon-mint juice was quite tasty and not too sweet, but the avocado juice and the iced coffee were mostly sugar. We were not asked if we wanted sugar in our drinks.

I ordered Beef Hawawshi, a pita bread filled with minced beef, for myself ($6.00), Thao ordered a Mozzeralla (their spelling, not mine) Pide ($7.00), the boy took a Kofta sandwich (actually a wrap) at $5.00, and the girl went for the mixed cheese crepe ($3.00). All prices are inclusive of VAT and service charge.

As I wrote earlier, the drinks took 20 minutes, and I was worried about how long the food would take but it arrived as the waitress put down the last drink. A word on the staff: very friendly but not the fastest. One waitress came with four plates and cutlery and put it on a table opposite us. She then took a plate at a time and placed it in front of us. The same procedure with the cutlery. No wonder the drinks took an eternity.

The pide was humongous, it covered most of the plate and it was no small plate. Quite tasty, but a little dry (for my liking but probably right for Turkish food) and the ketchup that came with it was very, very sweet. Plenty of cheese and way too much food for one person.

The Kofta wrap as very good. It seemed a little on the small side at first, but it was wrapped very tightly and had a lot of stuffing. And he had to help his mother with the pide.

The daughter liked her cheese crepe. It was nice overall, though I did not care much for the sausage in it. But I am not going to complain for a decent 3-Dollar feed. Her crepe, like all our food, came out piping hot, a must with Middle-Eastern food.

My Hawawshi was the only dish that had some decoration with it. It was also the only dish that did not come with ketchup but with a white, unidentified, dip. I do believe it was supposed to be a Tahini sauce, but I did not like it at all. The stuffing on the other hand was very tasty and the portion was big enough for me to struggle towards the end.

A few small tweaks, and the restaurant would rank much higher: put on some music, train the staff, change the ketchup, decorate the plates, ask about sugar in the drinks, redecorate, and stop lounging around (addressing the owner here). Sounds a lot, but really all just...

I visited this restaurant while I was in Phnom Penh on June 16, 2024. It is one of the few halal restaurants in the vicinity, serving mostly Egyptian Arabic food. I had both lunch and dinner during my visit. Please do consider giving them a try.

Lunch: I ordered (vegetarian) Koushary and Falafel for lunch. Your order comes with free bread regardless of what you ordered. The food prices are quoted in USD (due to imported products) and come in US portion sizes. I loved the Falafels—they're big, crispy and served with mint sauce. The Koushary is missing the rice, unlike in Egypt where you get macaroni, rice, and lentils. Nevertheless, it was still delicious and affordable.

Dinner: I ordered a watermelon salad and a Shawarma plate. The meat of the Shawarma was a bit dry, but the watermelon salad was refreshing. The portions for both dishes were huge; I had a hard time finishing them. Both were good in general. I was also offered Kunefe on the house, which was superb.

Overall, I enjoyed my dining experience here and wouldn't hesitate to come back again. I had actually wanted to visit them again on June 17, but they were closed (I found out it was Eid). The staff are friendly and ensure you are comfortable. They accept card payments too. It was the best halal dining experience I had in Phnom Penh.

Feedback:

The interior decor of the restaurant could be improved. While they have Khmer cuisines on the menu, it wasn't available...

Great experience! The restaurant truly deserves five stars. The food was absolutely delicious, especially the hawawshi. The service was respectful, the place was clean and well-organized. The prices are reasonable compared to the quality, and the overall atmosphere is comfortable and classy. I’ll definitely come back again and recommend...