Pou Restaurant and Bar — Restaurant in Siem Reap

Eaten there two nights in row. First night beet French fries with homemade ketchup (never know it wasn't potatoes) and the homemade ketchup was tasty and not awfully sweet, as is often the case. Also had river fish which was well prepared, but not my favorite kind of fish. Asked for lime juice, was served a half shot glass of fresh lime juice, and it made the fish taste delicious. Second night I had one of the best meals I have had in Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos....I've traveled a fair bit. For $6.50 the grilled beef was delicious. Not huge but not too small either. It came with delicious marinade and a side of dressing for the nice, simple, fresh salad. It was excellent, not sweet, not too much vinegar. Just a great essentially vinegar and oil dressing that was nicely spiced. (The dregs at the bottom of the little cup were very heavy on black pepper, so would not recommend emptying the whole cup. I dunked some of the beef in it....wonderful...and poured some on the salad. The rice was simple, no butter, no spice but truly delicious. I assume grown in Cambodia. Plain rice really can be delicious. The wait staff is attentive and very cheerful and professional, but very relaxed. On our way out I thanked the chef who had come down from the upstairs kitchen because it was closing time. He was very gracious in accepting my very generous and well deserved praise. A fellow who was within ear shot added in that he told had really enjoyed his meal and thought it was unusually good. Not sure what he ate. My companion is a vegetarian and had a kind of fritter that is Cambodian with a flair, including a garnish of sprouted somethings, and very tasty but he is not keen on spicy food, and it came out still a bit spicy for his very tender palate. So if your dish is spiced just be very clear that you want very little spice, and add more if you like when it arrives at your table. The restaurant is open to the street with enough table to sit probably 25 people. Our first night, they had reservations for a party of 12, no doubt based on a good gastronomical experience by one or more of the party. I was impressed that they could handle that many orders at once, and our waiter added that they had had a party of 17 the night before that. Our second night it was all couples and a couple of solos. Those diners who were alone got treated to special attention by the very engaging (young and attractive) waiters, so don't hesitate to go alone. It is unlikely it will be your only meal to eat there. They open at 11am and...

Amazing atmosphere, in a really nice garden. However the food was really tasteless … We were expecting way more as local food is really good and as we saw some articles about the chief (and we took one of his recommended plate). It is not really expensive compared to the “nice” restaurants of pub street so that is good. However we were really disappointed by the food, even the rice wasn’t really good… The “spicy boneless chicken” was plenty of bones and really tasteless… It’s the first time my partner and I don’t finish our plate because of the taste. We hope this is just a one time failure for the restaurant, as it has a lot of potential, but it really failed to deliver. (Also waiting time was the longest experienced in the town while we were only 2 couples in the restaurant) Last but not least, I would recommend some minimum training for basic English for the waiters (they were nice and kind but unable to understand basic restaurant vocabulary leading to confusing situations). Even if as visitors we should learn few words of Khmer, siem rep is highly touristic and I feel that it would make sense for them to be able to understand really basic English like other restaurants in the town. I hope this comment will help you understand areas of...

One of the restaurants I’d always wanted to try when I was in Siem Reap and I’m glad I went this time. The atmosphere outside looked very nice and moody, however, there were a lot of mosquitos, but that’s a given. The food was also pretty good! The beef salad was really yummy; it wasn’t too sour or too tangy, despite the mixture of lemongrass and chili, and it wasn’t too spicy either unless you bite into the birds eye chili. The beef was well cured with lime juice and the veggies were fresh and crunchy, which I like a lot! It’s just an amalgamation of flavors well-balanced for a Plear Sachko. I ordered a side of rice, just because, but I don’t even think you need to have it with rice because the portion of the salad is quite big. The Amaretto Sour I had was okay; it was a tad too sweet. And the Chek Ktis was also quite nice, light sweet and not too thick.

Overall, I like the food, service, and the atmos. I’d highly recommend and will definitely come again for other things...