I'm a sucker for a good T-bone steak, so when I heard that the OC Beach Club on Otres beach (Sihanoukville) had NZ T-bone steaks, a friend and I went out there. The steak was $21.us, paper thin, tough and the service was terrible. This place is trying to be classy in the middle of backpacker heaven, and falls flat on its face. BTW/ My friend has a dog and took the bones for the dog and he wouldn't touch them, kind of sums up the whole adventure.

I've heard from a bunch of people that Monkey Mark's bar has killer Ribeye steaks for $12. so am headed there soon. As in my quest for a good NY Pizza in Snooky, everything so far has been less than acceptable.

If you're jones-ing try Snooky's or Grand Kampuchea. Nothing great, but Oz beef, & edible. $8 or so. Personally, I've given up on beef down here. Hell - fish, shellfish, & shrimp are almost free. I wait 'till I'm up in PP, there's a few places I know with good steaks - Armand's, Rahu, Metro, & Duck. ps: I forgot to mention Reef Resort. Most of their fare is pretty lackluster, but Tim put in a sous vide machine a couple years ago. The meat cooks in a water bath in plastic bags at low temp for hours and then they throw them on the grill at high temp to brown 'em up. The best in town I've had, but not as good as any of the joints in PP I mentioned.

I tried the steak at Snooky's twice and it was terrible and tough. The Reef Resort used to have good T-bone steaks/ribeyes, but the last two times I was there the meat (ribeye) was nasty and once it was grilled while still frozen and they have stopped offering T-bones. Everyone I've talked to has had good comments about Monkey Mark's, so I'll try there next.

BTW/ When in PP don't bother wasting your money at the Samba Brazilian Steakhouse, the steak was awful, it was expensive and the service couldn't even be called that. An overpriced meal, cold, not served properly, sterile atmosphere, and they even made me buy my water (no ice). Would it have hurt them to offer a cold glass of water with ice with their overprice food?

Water bath cooked steak in plastic? That sounds disgusting and not the way a T-bone should be cooked, I'm surprised a fellow American would do that. A thick slab of meat (with bone-in) charred on steel/iron grates over a hot flame (gas/charcoal/wood.)

When you're right - you're right. Just talking about the best of a bad lot. Sous Vide is all the rage these days because there is little meat shrinkage and it comes out juicy (too juicy for my tastes). Try Armand's on 108 next time up in PP.

For the best T-bone in town, try Martini's on the beach. Kiwi beef,good thick steaks. $16 from memory.

Sailorman wrote: Water bath cooked steak in plastic? That sounds disgusting and not the way a T-bone should be cooked, I'm surprised a fellow American would do that. A thick slab of meat (with bone-in) charred on steel/iron grates over a hot flame (gas/charcoal/wood.)

As Wackyjacky notes Sous Vide cooking is "all the rage" and it is very popular in US. Here's a pic of Harold Moores porterhous steak at Commerce NYC.



Personally I prefer to charcoal grill or pan sear steaks, but sous vide is great for fish and particularly chicken dishes IMO. A number of places in PP have used or experimented with this technique. The down side is there has been increasing tendency in the restaurant industry to use lower cooking temparatures (40-60 Celcius) which can cause the proliferation of harmful bacteria. A bit of info below on food safety for anyone who might be using or contemplating using this technique and not already aware.
The Nutrition, Food Safety, and Operational Benefits of Sous vide Technology for North American Restaurants
http://www.techne-calibration.com/admin ... mation.pdf
Sous vide Food safety precautions for restaurants - NSW Gov Australia
http://www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/_Do ... utions.pdf

You must have caught OC on a bad night. I ate there about a month ago and all four mains on our table were mind blowing.

I had the surf and turf hot plate. It was the best steak I've eaten in a very long time in terms of texture and flavour (local beef I believe), and that's quite a statement considering I'd eaten the wagyu steak at Topaz two days prior.

I would give it a second chance.

Bad night or not, there is no excuse for paper-thin steaks, minimal veg and having to tell the waiter that a potato comes with the meal, then having to ask for butter (we got two small pats.) Both of our steaks were the same, Total trash! Also it looks like the flooring on the beach side floor needs a lot of repair. Great view, but not worth the big money it cost us. We ordered the more expensive "prime" T-bone and got paper-thin old milk cow.

In my misspent youth having run kitchen's in major restaurants in the US, the key to success is a good product every time. I would never have my staff ever put out a meal I would not eat myself. My friend's dog wouldn't eat the bones, does that tell you something?

starkmonster wrote:You must have caught OC on a bad night. I ate there about a month ago and all four mains on our table were mind blowing.

I had the surf and turf hot plate. It was the best steak I've eaten in a very long time in terms of texture and flavour (local beef I believe), and that's quite a statement considering I'd eaten the wagyu steak at Topaz two days prior.

I would give it a second chance.

I'm in agreement here, we've never had bad food or service from them. Never had the T-Bone, but the ribeye (better cut anyway ) is about a half inch thick and the wife loves them.

Best dish on their menu in my opinion is the smoked salmon pasta with lemon creme sauce. Heavenly. I get it pretty much every time we go now, lol.

Curious what "paper thin" means (2mm?). And I have 1 dog that goes apeshit over bones, one that could give 2 shits about them... all dogs are different, so it tells me nothing.

Here's a picture of my last meal there, as you can see the steak I had was definitely not paper thin. That said a 200g steak is what it is, I'm not expecting half a cow on my plate.