The Lord Playboy Fine Dining Register: La Marmite
The Lord Playboy Fine Dining Register: La Marmite
French, with a hint of Italian and Asian. 80, Street 108 (Near Street 51) Phnom Penh. Open 08.00 to 22.00
I know in the past I may have made a few disparaging remarks about the French. It is true that they are cheese eating surrender monkeys; it is also true that the last battle the French Navy won was against Green-Peace.
However, all the time that they save by not fighting wars, or not bathing or not working gives them a lot of extra time to hang around in restaurants, cafes and wine bars.
This is the bit about France that I do like, the food and the wine (if only the Country was not populated by the French themselves). With this in mind, I was more than happy to accept an invitation to lunch at La Marmite from the editor of this august E-zine, even if I was wondering whether or not he was going to query my latest set of 440 expenses for Krug and Kettle Chips.
I was nearly put off eating here when I pulled up outside what looked like a grotty and run down flop house. Walking through the door with a slight sigh I was quite taken aback by the interior. The clean and warm interior was in complete contrast to the slum outside. Mustard and terracotta colours, dark hardwood tables, a typical Khmer tiled floor was partially hidden by several large rugs; yes warm was the right word for the feeling that this friendly little café presented. Reminiscent of several cafes I know in Normandy, provincial France.
As we were seated a young Khmer waitress came over and started speaking, jabbering, away to us in French, I replied in Khmer and it seemed strange to me when I realised that these days my Khmer was much better than my French – and I assume better than my Italian, Spanish or Latin, such is the difference between learning a language and living in a Country with that language) As well as their main menu of French, Italian and Asian dishes, they have a chalkboard listing the dish of the day – which in this case was poulet farci, pommes frites US$6.50 – along with nine other speciality dishes. Before perusing the menu I paid a little closer attention to the artwork on the walls that had caught my eye, it was Khmer artwork, of traditional subjects, Apsara dancers, various freezes from the bas-reliefs of Angkor Wat, et cetera, however, it was unquestionably of much higher quality than the majority of works you usually see around the Country.
Further investigation revealed that they were all by the same artist, a Mr. Chhim Sothy, and it was part of a permanent exhibition of his work at La Marmite, even though ‘tous les tableaux exposes sont en ventre’ – all paintings are for sale. After a couple of return visits by our waitress we finally turn serious attention back to the main menu.
The onglet a l’echelote, beef with shallots, US$7.50 sounded good; so did the various steak frite and sauce combinations that were available. In the end I opted for the escalope cordon bleu, tagliatelle sauce tomate US$6.50. The editor, ever cautious of his schoolboy figure (Billy Bunter) selected the Jambon braise au porto, pommes dauphine US$7.00– Braised ham with Port sauce and dauphine potatoes. With our orders placed the waitress retreated to her hovering station at the rear of the restaurant and I took the opportunity to observer, and eavesdrop a little, on our fellow diners.
A pair of ‘ladies wot lunch’ were on our neighbouring table, a young French woman was dining with a Khmer woman, both of them eating salads and gossiping light-heartedly. Behind us was a table of four Khmer men who, strangely enough, were also chatting away to each other in French. The meals arrived within 15 minutes, the escalope was very good, the chicken breast was tender and thin, stuffed with gruyere and ham and coated in breadcrumbs, the tagliatlle served al dente with a hearty portion of the homemade tomato sauce and a small basket of rustic style bread. The braised ham was two huge, thick, slices of country style ham, topped with a thick, strong and tangy Port sauce that really woke up our jaded taste buds. The dauphine potatoes were actually croquette potatoes, but they were so good, homemade, light and fluffy on the inside, with a crisp, slight crunch to the breaded exterior – I was more than happy to steal one while the editor was not looking.
With thirteen different desserts on the menu, not to mention several cheese options, it would have been churlish to not try one of them, but which one? Maybe the tarte au chocolat noir US$3, or the mousse au chocolat Belge US$3, or even the profiteroles US$3.50 ? No, I think only one dessert fitted the bill, the crème brulee US$3 was a more than generous portion; light and fluffy cream custard with a brittle, caramelised crust of brown sugar. A very good example of this simple, yet classic, French dessert (see post script).
All in all, a very enjoyable lunch for less than US$20 for the pair of us. Last week I had an exceptionally fine French meal at Restaurant 102 – after which I consumed far too much claret, cognac and cigars to remember to write a restaurant review! One thing I do know is that the food at 102 was superior to that at La Marmite, but it was around four to five times the price – was it four or five times the quality? Maybe, Almost. Bon Appétit !
Lord Playboy
Post Script:
Crème Brulee
Ingredients 3 cups of heavy cream About 10 tablespoons turbinado sugar (Sugar in the Raw) 8 large egg yolks 2 fresh vanilla pods Special equipment: 8 (4-oz) flameproof ramekins; a catering blowtorch Preparation
First, put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 325F. Pour the cream in a large, heavy, saucepan. Stir in 7 tablespoons of turbinado sugar and a pinch of salt. Drop in the vanilla pods Heat the mixture over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until almost boiling, then remove from heat. Lightly beat yolks in a bowl, then gradually whisk in the hot cream. Pour the custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a quart-size glass measure. Divide among ramekins. Arrange ramekins in a roasting pan and bake in a water bath until the custards are just set around edge but the centres wobble when pan is gently shaken, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool the custards in water bath 20 minutes, then remove from pan and chill, uncovered, at least 4 hours. (Custards will set completely as they chill.) Sprinkle about 1 teaspoon turbinado sugar evenly over each custard, then move blowtorch flame evenly back and forth close to the sugar until sugar is caramelised. Let stand until caramel is hardened, 3 to 5 minutes. Nota bene Custards can be chilled, covered with a sheet of plastic wrap after 4 hours, for up to 2 days. Very gently blot with paper towels before sprinkling with sugar and caramelising. Makes 8 portions
