Villa 5 Contemporary Cuisine — Restaurant in Khan Daun Penh

As the curtain rose on my Sunday luncheon experience at Villa 5 in Phnom Penh, the setting was immediately striking. Like a gem nestled in the heart of the city, the restaurant's green garden and villa design conjured a sense of serene tranquility. The menu, a symphony of Cambodian, Italian, and Western cuisine, painted a tantalizing tableau of culinary delights.

The ensemble of dishes we ordered was a grand culinary production, each playing its part to perfection or near perfection. The Grilled Cuttlefish Grill Shihanoukville and the Australian Rib eye steak were the star performers in this culinary theatre, both cooked to perfection. The set lunch, too, delivered a performance worthy of applause, with its pleasing presentation and delicious French fries.

However, the show was not without its flaws. The service, akin to stagehands in a play, faltered in their attention to detail, leading to a mix-up in orders and a delay in clearing the table. The calamari, unfortunately, played more of a tragic role, being too chewy and encrusted. The Duck Breast Jungle Sauce, another key performer, failed to please the palate, its taste as discordant as a poorly rehearsed scene.

The bread, an ostensibly insignificant character, was a disappointment, as it was dry and seemed from the day before. A minor prop, the French Lagiuole knife, felt too light, casting a shadow of doubt on its authenticity. Lastly, the wooden boards used for serving steak failed to keep the food hot, a misdirection in the otherwise well-choreographed culinary narrative.

In conclusion, even though our bill totaled $181, the restaurant delivered a mostly enjoyable performance, with a few areas that could use some fine-tuning. Despite its missteps, Villa 5 manages to deliver an enjoyable...

A lovely restaurant with a nice ambience and stunning venue.

I'm impressed by the effort and thought Chef Sopheak and his team has put into creating the dishes. The gorgeous presentation and creativity really shines through in every dish we ordered.

Though pizzas isn't the main focus here so we did not expect their thick, fluffy focaccia pizza to be so good! Toasted to cripsy perfection, they have some bold and interesting flavours on the menu. Our favourite is the gorgonzola & pear pairing. You can also go for the char kdao pizza for a more Khmer inspired flavour.

We got to try many mains as we came in a big group, and I couldn't remember any one of them that didn't taste good. Of the mains we ordered, the ones that stood out for me are: Spicy eggplant, fish in cone, fresh spaghetti in spicy prawn, black-ink spaghetti with prawn tartare, tuna & passion.

The desserts are beautifully plated and presented though taste wise less impressive compared...

Food here is very good. The price is acceptable. The atmosphere is great.

However, the service needs work. Food takes hours and staff has no clue who ordered what even though they took the order.

Also, the ketchup they use kind of ruins the wonderful fries that came with the steak. Stop using cheap crappy ketchup and start buying Heinz ketchup. How difficult is it to go to the store and simply choose Heinz ketchup vs Bestfood ketchup no one ever wants? Any ketchup is better than the horror they served.

Everything about this restaurant is upscale but the service and ketchup selection needs to change to project that. This is what I saw and learned tonight.

Who knows if there are other problems but I will not give this place another chance at my expense just so they can learn how to run a restaurant.

Here’s another customer saying...