MARA — Restaurant in Khan Daun Penh

I want to share my experience in a very open and honest way. It’s not to be mean or angry, just give feedback based on a lot of travel experience and visiting a lot of steakhouses in my lifetime.

A few observations. The staff is nice and friendly, but not well trained. They don’t keep their eyes open looking at tables and don’t come to get your drink order first. Nice people but need more training when you spend this kind of money.

The menu has a lot of mistakes. One example, Jack Daniels and Jameson are not Bourbons, but listed under the bourbon category. No indication where the beef is from (usually nice steakhouses share where the beef comes from)

Food. The mushrooms are usually caramelized at steakhouses, these were more like boiled. Too much water and not butter and they become soft and mushy, not dark brown and slightly crispy. Steak was dry and not moist for “medium”. And the cheeseboard had only 2 pieces of bread (cut in half) even though there more more than 6 types of cheese.

They should really study restaurant operations, have more cooking practice, and learn the fine details. If you’re going to charge $38 for a ribeye, you need to back it up with good service, and paying attention to all the small details.

As competition grows, people will know...

I have my terrible evening having dinner over there. The service was really bad that their staffs were keep asking us from one to one of removing our foods while we are eating. I didn’t know what is the standard they apply. I don’t mind if our food is finished or the plate is finished but they asked while we are eating and the food still remains on the plate. We answered to one staff and then another coming asking again. If you are a real customer service you don’t have to put 4-5 people running random on one table and asking every 2 mins the same question. You can observed if the customer is needed or not? We couldn’t finish our conversation or our eating just to respond to their questions. It look like they are in hurry for us to finish our plate and getting another one while we still having it. It was a terrible experience I...

I absolutely loved this place. It is kind of a mix of a cocktail bar with a nice vibe, a dj playing music, and truly great food.

We had oysters, salmon sashimi, Caesar salad, and Australian Wagyu steak

They had run out of the oysters of the day and although the preparation was great, the oyster quality was not on the oyster sashimi. This being said, I think I would inquire more about what times of the week they receive their oysters and eat them at the freshest time. I am not discouraged to try again.

The salmon sashimi was just amazing. One half was torched, the other half was not. Both had such great mouth feel and taste.

The steak was perfectly cooked and of the highest quality.

Overall I would say fantastic quality, great value for what you get, and...