Name: ARTillery Cafe
Address: Wat Bo Road, near St. 25
Telephone: 085 856 511
Opening hours: 08:00 - 17:00 (Pre-opening)
Cuisine: Healthy, smoothies, vegetarian
URL: https://www.facebook.com/artillerysiemreap?ref=br_rs
Reservation URL: https://www.facebook.com/artillerysiemreap?ref=br_rs
Rating: 3.5

Friends had been telling me how good and healthy this place was, and I do have an interest in wholesome food when not at the Garage Bar. Apparently, this is an offshoot of two existing restaurants in Phnom Penh.

Finding the place was a bit of a struggle at first as their Facebook page actually showed them to be in Phnom Penh, which is a little far to walk for a couple of carrot sticks. A few phone calls got that sorted and it turned out not to be too far from where I live.



I was half-expecting to find an incense-stick-smoke-filled den covered in Yoga mats, peopled by grim-looking, emaciated Barang ladies sipping Rooibos tea and constantly chanting “Ohm”. I was therefore pleasantly surprised to find a place halfway between Oslo and Lisbon, with lots of white and turquoise and just a cheerful atmosphere.



I got my menu in a rapid fashion and there was the first shock: no beer or any other kind of alcohol. Now I do understand that a “healthy” restaurant does not allow smoking, no restaurant should, but last time I checked, there was no such thing as second-hand alcohol. I can only take healthy so much and I would like to wash down my Tofu-Quinoa-Bulgur Burger with a cold brew. The second shock was the almost complete absence of meat on the menu. There were three meat dishes but they were all the same herbed chicken breast. I do not buy into this vegan, Paleo, Gluten-free shit; it is one big hoax to sell books to the gullible. We were born omnivores and whilst I am not saying that a triple cheeseburger is part of our diet, lean meat, fish, and poultry certainly are.



I liked the menu; I am no fan of humongous menus that are usually an indication of equally humongous fridges and freezers in the back. However, I am simple and stupid and do not need a menu that is overplaying the healthy card. One does not have to stick “green”, “power”, or “healthy” into every description but I guess it plays to the hip crowd.



I ordered myself a Hummus Dip as a starter. Crunchy, tasty vegetables but still a bit expensive at USD 4.50 for a dish that costs almost nothing. Admittedly, the olives were great but there were only a miserly 4 of them. With it, I had their “Mango Wellness” which is health geek speak for a Mango-Passion Smoothie. No complaints here, it was not stingy on either the Mango or the Passion.



I had specifically asked for the main course to come well after my starter but, as is so often the case in SE Asia, I was still chewing my cucumber sticks when the starter got whisked away and was replaced with my main course of Herbed Chicken Sandwich on multi-grain bread. More of a burger really as there was no whole-grain bread in sight, just a whole-wheat burger bun. It was excellent nevertheless, with a marinade that was almost pesto like. The meat was cooked to perfection but I would have liked some healthy carbs such as sweet potato fries with it. I had enough greens with my starter and could not face another mixed salad.



Why the 3.5 stars if the food was really good? For starters I do hope that they use their pre-opening period for staff training. Service was often disorganized, staff were checking their phones inside the restaurant, it took me forever to pay and I do think they need a reminder that their kitchen is open-plan. Do not mix salads with bare hands in front of your clients; after a few years here I do not believe that hands are constantly being washed.

http://i1366.photobucket.com/albums/r77 ... enqlcv.jpg

Look, the place will do just fine with the NGO/TEFL/I-want-to-do-good crowd and I will certainly be back. They have just opened and need to sort out a few bugs, but they are on the right track.

That chicken thingy looks actually o.k. Have past that restaurant many times, never went in though (they regularly displayed some strange NGO-like messages, and I'm not a great fan of such things).


From the outside the place looks attractive, but the picture above reminds me a bit to IKEA.

Advocatus Diaboli wrote:That chicken thingy looks actually o.k. Have past that restaurant many times, never went in though (they regularly displayed some strange NGO-like messages, and I'm not a great fan of such things).


From the outside the place looks attractive, but the picture above reminds me a bit to IKEA.

Thanks for reminding me: the chairs are uncomfortable. And yes, they are overdoing the NGO bit but that stuff gets you top rankings on Tripadvisor......

thanks for the menu,
one rests i can cross off my list,
I LOVE my meat
( breakfast , what ??? no bacon and eggs?) LOL