Pépé Bistro — Restaurant in Khan Daun Penh

First of all I have to praise the service. The staff are all wonderful and especially the Swedish girl who seems to be restaurant manager there. Very high level of service and professionalism. 10/10 there.

I was here twice and the first time I was surprised how good the food was. We had beef cheek bourguignon which was perfect. Cannot make it better than this. The squid with duck fat was very good, so were the appetisers. Nice ambiance and lightning as well.

The second visit was good too but I had the seafood platter as a starter. It was good too but the octopus was different from all octopus we've had before. It had imo a weird texture. The Khmer staff said clearly that it's all frozen and imported from a company. The Swedish girl said it's fresh. I am not sure why they say 2 different things. Either way it was good just a different texture and taste of the octopus compared to the hundreds of octopus I've had and cooked myself.

The truffle burrata dish was outstanding and very well made. The hamburger was a bit disappointing since the bread was quite dry actually. The seabass over mashed potatoes was not bad but personally I'd fry the fish skin-side down and serve it crispy and not soggy. Personal preference here but I don't think Japanese wakame goes well with the fish and mashed potatoes. The salad and roasted potatoes were very good.

The creme brulee was okay, not that many vanilla seeds. Personally I like to bake it at 104° to get a nice and silky texture.

So in general the service is outstanding and te food is good. They seem to make some dishes extremely good and some are maybe not on the same level, like the...

I arrived first in this restaurant in advance before my wife and friends. Enter in saying the traditionnal hello in khmer "Tchob leb sour", the staff answered me in french "bonjour". I try to answer the word "bonjour" but the ladies laught at my prononciation.... They should better learn khmer than teaching french. Well, then i sit and i said i'm waiting for 3 more people. They gave me the menu and ask what i want to drink. When they give me my water the french lady asked me if i was ready to order food.... I answer i want to wait for my wife and friends: she left me without saying anything, but make an angry face. When my wife arrive 2 min later, the same thing happens to her and again asking what we want to eat.... We asked to wait for our friends. Then the lady say: if you don't order food, go to bar and not occupy a table. My wife and I, just pay and waited outside for our friends, then we went to a warmer restaurant. In fact our drinks was expensive. The french ladies horribles. No surprise that the restaurant was empty...

Cambodia, and Phnom Penh in particular, seems to exert an almost hallucinogenic effort to disorient (perchance to reorient) with its mad energy, intense heat and variegated extremes of wealth, power, histories, presents and possible futures, all appearing and disapperaring with each step one takes.

Pépé one sweltering evening appeared to me suddenly as if from a crack in time and space, wedged unceremoniously between buildings loaded with paraphernalia: calm and trim and modest; how could I not investigate with the hope of refuge from the wildness of the streets?

To say that Pépé produces superlatives at each point of enquiry would be understating the matter. The menu is exquisite; the wine and spirits choices extraordinarily well crafted; and the desserts to die for; even the toilet is a work of performance art (you think I'm going too far? Go and see for yourself).

Pépé seems too good to be true and yet it exists. In Phnom Penh. Just another hallucinogenic...