I finally gave Deli Bistro a try after one too many lunches at the nearby Ferme De Bassac which ended up in the haute prix price range without being haute cuisine. I wish I had gone a lot earlier.
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Le+ ... ?entry=ttu

The set lunch menu is fairly comprehensive with 7 choices of starters, mains and desserts and is priced at $16 for 2 course and $18 for 3 courses. The 3rd course for an extra $2 is a steal.

The food is wonderful, beautifully cooked and presented and the portions are sufficient. The French seem to have this knack of managing to serve what appear to be small portions but are generally just enough. Could I have eaten twice what they served? Sure. But would I have been happier? No. It was just right.

Fresh warm bread flowed throughout - it must be baked on the premises - with individual unsalted butter portions which gives an excuse to add some of the Kampot salt. I didn't know they made salt in Kampot.

I'll try not to wax too lyrical, so I'll just say that this is probably the best food in this area for the price. In terms of food quality, seating and table presentation (ironed, brilliant white tablecloths), and perfect climate control, Deli Bistro is much better than Ferme, and a solid notch above Bouchon, both of which are much more expensive if you have 3 courses. Pepe Bistro (street 13) is probably equivalent in food quality, but I'm not sure if they offer a fixed-price lunch.

Here is the menu:


Starters of:

Country Pork and Foie Gras Terrine with toasts



Slow Cooked Salmon Cake (I have no idea why it was called a cake)
Very light and flavoursome with some sauces - one was a mayonnaise - and a well oiled salad. A more of that bread. A perfect starter for the rich beef main to follow.


Oh, that bread...


Mains of:
Duck Breast with Foie Gras sauce and Mash



Braised Beef and Carrots (it was like a super rich beef bourguignon - fantastic)
I was a bit surprised this was served without some form of potato. However, the abundance of fresh warm bread filled that void perfectly and I mopped up the lot!

Desserts of:

Apple Crumble
Ice cream was a nice surprise, the coulourful dots are berry coulis, crushed walnuts, sliced almonds and underneath the brittle crumble is the very sweet warm apple. The menu simply says Apple Crumble, but it was far from simple.



Brie Truffle
I think this has some truffle infused brie inserted into more brie.


I bit the bullet and agreed the $20 corkage. I had some of this wine indoors which I bought a while ago and have hardly touched it, so I consider it sunken costs. It actually costs about $10 a bottle.


No VAT or service charge which was a pleasant surprise, so we tipped privately.

Doc67 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 23, 2024 11:29 am

Fresh warm bread flowed throughout - it must be baked on the premises - with individual unsalted butter portions which gives an excuse to add some of the Kampot salt. I didn't know they made salt in Kampot.

They collect the tears of the people outraged about Kampot hostess bars every morning in a large bulktank and transport them southward out of town along the riverbank road a few KM where they are then pumped into large flat fields where the workers of the Salt Association of Kampot & Kep seperate the salt from the tears and package it for sale at a premium in European supermarches
upload pic

I walked in front of it about every saturday when heading from some waterhole on 172 to my favorite eatery at 178, it doesnt look very inviting from outside (you cant see inside at all, at la ferme you do). But the menu looks really nice, the Bavette with echalot-sauce i never saw outside of france. Will give it a try next time. Probably the lunch-sets are only served until certain time and not in the evening, or am i wrong ??

Bongmab69 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 23, 2024 3:38 pm I walked in front of it about every saturday when heading from some waterhole on 172 to my favorite eatery at 178, it doesnt look very inviting from outside (you cant see inside at all, at la ferme you do). But the menu looks really nice, the Bavette with echalot-sauce i never saw outside of france. Will give it a try next time. Probably the lunch-sets are only served until certain time and not in the evening, or am i wrong ??

This is a lunch only menu. On the reverse of the menu I have show is an alternative lunch/dinner set menu which had fewer choices and was priced at about $28 a head which seemed pointless to offer as a lunch menu alternative. Stick with the cheap one, you won't be disappointed.

The al la carte menu is at another price point altogether.

Exactly my expierence at Bassac,and yes agreed with deli.
Now i am 2-4 Times a week for Lunch at deli and sometimes for Dinner.
I know from what i speak,i am in the same Business for 40 years,the Food is really great.And to make Food in this quality in Cambodia,the Cook or owner have my biggest respect.

stevenjb wrote: ↑Sun Mar 24, 2024 5:16 am

Doc67 wrote:

Bongmab69 wrote: ↑Sat Mar 23, 2024 3:38 pm I walked in front of it about every saturday when heading from some waterhole on 172 to my favorite eatery at 178, it doesnt look very inviting from outside (you cant see inside at all, at la ferme you do). But the menu looks really nice, the Bavette with echalot-sauce i never saw outside of france. Will give it a try next time. Probably the lunch-sets are only served until certain time and not in the evening, or am i wrong ??

This is a lunch only menu. On the reverse of the menu I have show is an alternative lunch/dinner set menu which had fewer choices and was priced at about $28 a head which seemed pointless to offer as a lunch menu alternative. Stick with the cheap one, you won't be disappointed.

The al la carte menu is at another price point altogether.

How much was the wine per glass?

I can only go from what's on the internet - and this is from 2021* - but they started at $6 and up. I have had my gripe about French wine in French restaurants in other threads- the good stuff is so overpriced as to leave a bad aftertaste.

I have no pretence about French wine, I don't know anywhere near enough to make an educated choice on a bottle, and at $30 and upwards (for a $10 bottle at most), that's a bad bet. To be honest, I can't remember ever buying a cheap bottle of French Wine and really enjoying it, they just don't seem to make good wine cheap. If they do, I've never seen it. Maybe it never leaves France. I took my own and paid the $20 corkage. I think of it as insurance.

*https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Le+ ... ?entry=ttu

phuketrichard wrote: ↑Sun Mar 24, 2024 7:47 am how do u all eat and drink so much in the heat for lunch?
if i do that, all i want do is go back home and sleep

Well, that's why the restaurant's AC is important, especially this time of year. Secondly, the portions are small and the total volume of food is not that much. The average bowl of Green curry with rice would dwarf it by volume. So too a 12" pizza.

But, after 3 courses of very rich food and half a bottle of wine, an afternoon on the sofa would have been a good idea. Unfortunately, my mate was hell-bent on getting on the piss and so I was kept out until much later than I wanted.

These types of lunches are special occasions, I don't eat like this very often. And next time I will go home afterward.