Banlle Vegetarian Restaurant — Restaurant in Siem Reap

I never write bad reviews but my experience here was terrible from start to finish. I entered the restaurant and sat down and right behind me a couple also came into the restaurant and sat down. They received menus first. A few minutes later I was given a menu. No hello, just put the menu in front of me and walked off. I ordered the eggplant with tomato and cheese. When it came it was tiny, and I also thought I'd been given the wrong dish as I couldn't see any eggplant. After I sifted through the tomato I found a few very, very, very thin slices of aubergine which were wrapped in a strange fried coating. I had a few bites and the taste was awful. I asked what was covering the aubergine and was told it was fried cheese. They seemed to be clearly hiding something so I asked again and they went and asked the chef. I was told it was cheese, egg and pepper. They asked me if I was allergic and I thought, well, it's too late to ask now. Thankfully, I'm not allergic to to those ingredients but really the egg should be stated on the menu as there are many vegetarians who don't eat egg as part of their diet, and so would be eating this completely unaware. As the food was not edible, I asked for the menu again to choose another dish. I also said I was happy to pay for the uneaten meal although I think they should have taken it off the bill because they have clearly not stated all the ingredients on the menu so it is their fault and not mine. Next I ordered the tomato soup. This was just okay, too many herbs, something like fennel or similar was quite overpowering. No one came to check whether my second dish was okay. Service overall was bad and I felt like I was a burden not a customer. When I finished, I asked for the bill. The total was 38,745 kuna. Considering I'd only had soup for dinner this is quite a lot to pay. I had to go to the till to pay as no one came to take payment. When I got to the till, I handed over 50,000 kuna and waited for my change. As the server was counting my change a woman walked in the restaurant and the server started talking with her. I stood waiting for a couple of minutes and when I received my change it was wrong. I did not realise this at the time but only when I got back to my hotel. It was only by 1000 kuna, which is nothing, but it was a bad ending to an already bad dinner. The service and food here is pretty appalling all round. In the 4 weeks I've been in Cambodia, all I've experienced is excellent food and lovely servers, so Banlle really paled in comparison. I assume I was just unlucky because I saw so many excellent reviews for this place, but I would definitely not return based on my experience. You never get a second chance to make a...

On my 5 month trip to Southeast Asia, this was by far my favourite restaurant. I am considering to go back to Siem Reap because of this place. I loved the interpretations of the dishes so much.

Cesar Salad - my personal highlight, we ate it on all 3 visits. Fresh, crunchy, sometimes slightly bitter salad that also grows in the garden with a creamy dressing. The topping has a consistency reminiscent of crab chips and, together with the salad, is a creative interpretation of the original. Much better than just adding fried tofu as a bacon substitute.

Khmer Prahok Ktis - stunning dish, great interpretation. Reminds me a bit of the Barilla Calabrese Pesto.

Fish and chips - couldn't believe the remoulade / tartar sauce was vegan and the 'fish' was made from banana blossom and the texture was great and again a creative, new take on the conventional vegan substitutes. The fries could have been a little crispier.

Khmer Amok - mild and good

Khmer Korko- a very unusual taste for my palate, it was exciting to try something completely different, but it wasn't my favourite.

Bahn mi - delicious

Starters - Grilled Long Eggplant, Beet &Tomato Tartar, Crispy tofu stuff with sundry tomato also tasty but not exciting.

Desserts - Brownie and Penutbutter and Coconut Cake just ok, not spectacular. The ginger coconut ice cream is delicious and the frozen lime pie is a welcome change.

We tried all the homemade sodas and the sugar syrup comes with the drink, so you can sweeten it yourself. The tea is served in a nice pot and there is also an explanation from the staff.

In previous comments there was talk of rude & ignorant staff. All I can say is that we got wonderful service. It is a small restaurant and you should not come with time constraints. If anything I would say that some of the staff were a bit shy but by no means rude.

I have one negative point: the glass water bottles were of an Italian brand, which doesn't have to be. But you can get (local) water in a glass on request.

If you come for dinner, be sure to reserve a place in the beautiful...

overall, I had a pretty good experience! this place is in a beautiful spot, with a homegrown veggie patch, spacious/aesthetic/classy interior and such lovely, genuine staff! when it came to ordering, it turns out they didn’t have the banana flower salad or the coconut sticky rice dessert on the menu which I was planning on ordering, from looking at the menu on their website, so instead I ordered the vegan fish and chips, the stuffed tofu, and the veg curry. the vegan fish was unlike anything I’ve ever had! pretty good - I’d recommend it for the novelty and it hits the spot if that’s what you feel like. the stuffed tofu lacked flavour and seemed to be stuffed with crumbled tofu and a few mushrooms which in my opinion defeats the purpose of it being stuffed because there’s very little diversity in flavour or texture - it could have also been served with an interesting sauce rather than a small squirt of tomato ketchup that I had to ask for seconds of because I ran out! also be careful to not burn your mouth on the piping hot fried dishes like me (rookie mistake) - I was starving so couldn’t resist but it’s worth waiting 10 minutes so you can taste what you’re eating. the most flavourful dish was the veg curry which I’d recommend for sure - it arrived at the perfect temperature and the veggies were wonderfully fresh! once again, it could have come with more rice because I ran out. I’m sure they would‘ve given me more if I’d asked but by this point I was very full. Banlle has a lot of potential! It’s evident that a lot of love, care and passion has gone in to the place and I would love to see similar effort noticeably reflected in the food too. perhaps experimenting with more unique flavour combos and putting more focus on the Cambodian options on their menu (rather than sandwiches, pizza etc.) could wow customers! pair this with some ambient background music and I believe Banlle would be heading towards a 5...