Fridaywithmateo wrote: ↑Mon Nov 27, 2023 11:59 am Turkish cuisine is sooooo special … amazing salads … and anything goat meat … my favs. Thanks for this nice review, on my to do list now.

Tootsfriend wrote: ↑Mon Nov 27, 2023 1:34 pm

Fridaywithmateo wrote: ↑Mon Nov 27, 2023 11:59 am Turkish cuisine is sooooo special … amazing salads … and anything goat meat … my favs. Thanks for this nice review, on my to do list now.

If I could go back 10 years I'd be getting into farming goats in Cambodia.

hanno wrote: ↑Mon Nov 27, 2023 11:48 am Ta Sahin
Street 312, Phnom Penh
Always open (according to website)
Tel: 085 828 504

Food: 5/5
Service: 4/5
Value for money: 5/5
Ambience: 2/5



Much to my shame I must admit that I have never eaten Turkish food, apart from the omnipresent Doener Kebabs in Germany. Yesterday, for some unfathomable reason, I suddenly had to have Turkish food. A quick Google came up with 3-4 Turkish restaurants in Phnom Penh, but the one with the best ratings, and within walking distance, was Ta Sahin.


Quite a beer selection, even "Gunness".

We walked the empty streets, all roads were blocked because of the Water Festival, and headed to Street 312. Their Facebook page does not give an exact address, but Google Maps brought us the right way. The restaurant is not much to look at from the outside, or from the inside for that matter. Hole-in-the-wall springs to mind, but I was here for the grub, not for a romantic date.


Not much in the way of explanations.

The gentleman who came to great us is owner-chef-waiter all rolled in one. Very, very friendly but not exactly conversant in English. It made ordering a bit of a challenge for us noobs. When I asked “what is this” whilst pointing at the picture, the reply was always “very good!”. We took the plunge and pointed at a couple of random pictures. I ordered what was called “Hunkar Karuvma” on the menu. Turns out it is actually spelled “Kavurma”, which is roasted meat, and “huenkar”, an eggplant puree. My friend ordered “Karadize” Spaghetti, spaghetti with seafood.


"Kavurma huenkar", roasted meat with eggplant puree.

As mentioned earlier, the owner is also the Chef and, due to the water festival, did the service too. He disappeared in the kitchen for the next 30 minutes and if anyone had come in after us to eat, they would have been royally stuffed.

When the food came, it came with a mixed salad and “Pide” a Turkish bread. We couldn’t figure out if that was standard or came with either of our dishes, as we had not ordered it. The Pide was fantastic, warm, fluffy, and a little spicy. I could have eaten a ton of that, it was so good. The mixed salad had some pickled cabbage in it, which gave the whole thing an interesting twist.


"Pide". Too good.

I loved my Kavurma and Huenkar. The meat was a little tough, obviously local, but not so tough as to spoil the whole experience. It was well seasoned and a little spicy, unlike Middle eastern cuisine, which is often quite bland. The eggplant puree also had little in common with Lebanese Moutabel. I couldn’t figure out all the ingredients, but there was chili, garlic, and melted cheese. Very, very tasty indeed.


Seafood spaghetti.

My friend’s seafood spaghetti were cooked to perfection, both the pasta and the seafood. The prawns were not cooked to death, as is often the case when the Chef is lazy and dumps them in with everything else. The sauce was again a little spicy, which is just fine with me.

When the food first came out, I thought the portions were too small, but it turns out that was an optical illusion. I was well stuffed by the time I was done. I had eyed the desserts out earlier, but there just wasn’t any room anymore. An excellent feed and, at $14.00 for the two of us, including two lime juices, a very affordable feed as well. I will certainly be back for more.

Stravaiger wrote: ↑Tue Nov 28, 2023 8:19 am Serious question, but why when a can of Lao costs about 60 cents versus 50 cents for Anchor do bars and restos think they can get away with charging $1.50 more ?