Warung Bali Restaurant

Looking out onto the florid park grounds of the Cambodia National Museum, Warung Bali Indonesian restaurant has a humble and cozy atmosphere with checkered tablecloths on wooden table sets, several authentic displays of indigenous paintings from Bali and Sumatra, and attractive black laced umbrellas which line an upper loft that is lit by exotic traditional lanterns. Although the ambiance here is relatively basic, this place serves fine, authentic Indonesian dishes at a very affordable price relative to the quality.

The menu at Warung Bali is quite extensive for such a relatively small operation. It covers the full range of meats found in most Asian cuisines, with an especially generous offering of bean/tofu dishes and soups. Interesting selections include “Rendang Dagung” (Stewed Beef in [Red] Coconut Sauce (served with steamed rice – 12,000 riel ($3.00)) and Meuk Che Merik (Deep Fried Squid Sauteed with Garlic, Chili, and Pepper – 10,000 riel ($2.50)).

We start off with the traditional Indonesian “Soup Buntut (Oxtail Soup with Carrot and Potato – 8,000 riel ($2.00). The Tempe Mendoan (Deep Fried Soybean in Flour – 6,000 riel ($1.50)) immediately catches my eye. From the chicken section we can’t pass up on the “Sak Ayam Madura” (Grilled Chicken Fillets on Skewers with Peanut Sauce – 10,000 riel ($2.50)). Our craving for squid leads us to the Cumi Balado (Deep Fried Squid served with Chili Sauce – 10,000 riel ($2.50)). Finally, unable to pass on one of my absolute favorite vegetables we add an order of “Terong Kecop” (Deep Fried Eggplant with Sweet Soy Sauce – 6,000 riel ($1.50)).

As Mr. Kashmin, one of the mild-mannered and gracious owners, jots down our order I am struck by how strongly his facial features resemble those of the Khmer people. I ask him about this and he explains that the Indonesians and Khmers have a deeply connected history. The history books do, after all, tell us that the first kings of the Angkorian empire emigrated from Indonesia. So, the plot thickens. Mr. Kashmin heads off to the kitchen to do his magic as Michael and I begin getting to know each other better by discussing our experiences as long term foreigners living in Cambodia.

The longer I live in this foreign land the more I realize the complexity of the process of cultural assimilation. “Culture” is a term that people often throw around loosely. We boast of traveling to exotic world destinations in an effort to “explore cultures” which we often romanticize – looking for surface examples of novel ways in which foreign peoples’ behavior differs from ours. Real culture, however, reaches much deeper than this. It includes all aspects of a society – both positive and negative, productive and counter-productive. The daunting task of even beginning to approach an understanding of a culture requires great humility and the ability to learn through mistakes as well as positive experiences. In fact, to really reach deep insight into a culture is often more the result of the difficult experiences you have which allow you to see the darker elements of that society, which are just as significant – if not more-so – than the façade that a people create to maintain appearances. Societies, like individuals, reveal more directly their true nature through their vulnerabilities and dysfunctional characteristics. Culture is a mechanism which functions partially to gain control over these darker aspects of the human experience. It is essentially a coping mechanism which evolves over time as social groups deal with the challenges of living. Different cultures, of course, deal with these challenges in different ways.

Understanding a culture involves an acceptance of the ways that foreign people cope with the realities of everyday life. It involves empathizing with their struggles, and in the more advanced stages taking on some of those struggles as you become more consumed in the culture you are operating in. The culture becomes part of you and you become part of it. This is especially the case as you develop competence in the language, as language fluency allows the foreigner to communicate with the original inhabitants on a more equal and intimate level . Different languages reflect different ways of thinking about the world, and therefore a firm understanding of the language allows a foreign person to understand better how the native people think and express their experience of the world.

Understanding culture involves a great deal of honest self reflection upon the fact that we are also products of our own original cultures, and that our behaviors and thoughts have been shaped and conditioned on both conscious and subconscious levels which effect our behavior in ways which we are often not even aware of. By putting ourselves in a different cultural environment we are able to step outside of our cultural conditioning as we begin to see that our own behavior is merely one manifestation of the multitude of possible human modes of being, and that our own culture ultimately serves the same general purpose as all others – that is, to increase the ability of groups of people to cope with the universal experiences of human life in all of its facets.

There are many different kinds of foreigners who venture to live in Cambodia. There are those who work for international organizations, who generally have high incomes (even by western standards) and often spend their time and money in higher-end establishments which have been purposely catered to their demographic. These people rarely experience the real culture here, although this depends on the type of work they are doing, their area and level of education and how closely they interact with the local population as a result of their specific work.

A second major group of foreigners is the retiree expats, who have paid their dues in the western working world and have come to Cambodia to live out their days on the comfort of their life savings –which provides them the security to be able to avoid many of the frustrations which accompany the need to work here.

The final group of expats are the true adventurers. These are the foreigners who have come here with little money, often in an effort to escape what they believe is the nonsense, restrictiveness and competitiveness of the developed societies. They must therefore compete in the local economy in order to survive. They are the English teachers, the writers, photographers, and small business owners. These people struggle with the daily frustrations of earning and often meager living within a culture which is alien on many fronts. They endure the confusion of a social communication system which is based more heavily on relationships and the maintenance of social harmony than on aptitude with which a job gets done by the person who is most qualified. They struggle to tolerate a justice system in which money is the main determinant of who is in the right. They are forced to sell out some of their western values in order to survive in a system where corruption is a way of life, and viewed from a significantly different moral perspective than in the west. They are faced with the difficult dilemma of whether to adapt to a system which is in many ways in contradiction to their native system of values or to simply move on in objection. Yet where can they go? The “developed world” is generally no longer affordable for the working class person. At least in Cambodia there is an opportunity to carve out a niche for oneself in a newly evolving place while facing less of the obstructionism which exists in the industrial societies. Yet this is only possible for those who are able to adapt to the new culture – and this can big quite a demanding.task.
In the social science of anthropology there exists a fundamental concept referred to as “cultural relativism”. This is the idea that there is no one absolutely “correct” form of culture, but that different cultures must be viewed independently and in respect to how well the specific society fulfills the needs of its members.

So, how well does Cambodian culture fulfill the needs of its members? Sure there is a well presented façade of development which does an adequate job of convincing the populace that the society is progressing. Roads are being built. Large buildings are erected. Schools arise rampantly. The young generation brandishes stylish motorcycles, mobile phones and cutting edge fashion. The old moneyed generation brandishes opulent SUVs and lavish villas. However, if you are an acute working-class observer who can eventually see through the illusion it becomes quite clear that this society lies stagnant and in some ways is even again moving backwards towards another phase of chaos. It is a society being held together by an international welfare system funded primarily by western taxpayer’s income. The developed countries continue giving handouts as part of the grand guilt trip which has resulted from the Indochina wars which they didn’t start and were foolish for getting involved in due to the fact that they were unwinnable.

So what has resulted from this never ending guilt trip (whose real purpose, incidentally, is to thwart the motivations of China to secure influence over the whole of Asia, as was the case during the 20 th century communist revolution)? We now have a “nanny state” whose “elite” extort the multi-billion dollar “international guilt trip handout” and leverage it to maintain their power over the general population. We have development projects initiated by other Asian countries whose main goal is to export the profit of their efforts back into their own economies. We have an abominable education system which does little to prepare the nation’s youth for the realities of the working world. We have an arrogant, stubborn “aristocracy” which engages in obscene displays of ill-gotten wealth and then resorts to violence as the primary solution to maintaining their power.

Cultural relativism??? I say – BLAH! Cultural relativism only truly applies to cultures which operate under natural conditions. It doesn’t apply to societies which are artificially propped up by free money to the point that the people do not develop an appreciation of the value of that money. Without this fundamental appreciation of the value of money funds are not allocated properly and end up being used for frivolous pursuits by corrupt individuals with the goal of short term gain. Instead of building a strong government infrastructure which implements practical laws and policies which are intended to benefit the whole society in the long term, funds are wasted on private initiatives which do not benefit the general public. The result of all of this is a society which becomes dependent on the system and ultimately unable to stand on its own.

Ironically, this is a similar situation to what we now have in many developed countries. The ideal function of any welfare system is to help its recipients survive difficult times and support them as they figure out a way to become productive citizens who can contribute to society again. It is not intended to act as a permanent crutch by which to break people down into a state of learned helplessness and permanent dependence on the system. This is a major problem that is thwarting productivity in the developed nations. Over time, welfare recipients lose the motivation to reenter the economy. This is partly due to the fact that the distribution of wealth and income is becoming more and more polarized and as a result working class people are being forced into lower paying jobs which give them less motivation to work as they need to work harder for less pay. The welfare system thus becomes more attractive to them as they can collect a similar amount of income from the state without working as they would if they did work. As long as an exploitative class of citizens continue to accrue an increasing portion of the society’s wealth at the expense of the income level of the working class, without intervention from the government this situation will continue to worsen. In the end it creates a situation not much different from that of modern Cambodia.

All societies owe it to themselves to develop legislation which promotes productivity of the society as a whole. When specific groups unfairly monopolize the distribution of wealth it has the effect of dragging down the whole system. People drop out because they have little motivation to expend effort which will earn them little more than the welfare system can provide for free. Of course, the welfare supplied to Cambodia is fundamentally different than that of the developed nations because the society members who actually need it the most don’t actually get any!

The people of Cambodia owe it to themselves and to the maintenance of their dignity as a nation to wean themselves off of the international welfare system by developing a strong legislative system through which the international aid is distributed as it has been intended to benefit the public at large, and begin building a strong and fair judicial system which ensures that its citizens themselves contribute to the development of the foundational institutions which allow societies to survive and grow independently.

Human societies are like machines in which all of the interdependent parts must function adequately in order for the system as a whole to be productive. This should be the ultimate goal of all societies – both developed and developing.

All of this talk of political-economy has left us famished. Luckily, the food begins to arrive. The grilled chicken fillets on skewers are tender and tasty, most especially due to the quality of the thick, chunky peanut sauce.

In fact, the peanut sauce is so good and plentiful that I also dip the deep fried floured soybean squares into it. These are very nice, with a thick, pasty soybean filling covered in chewy flour coating. The taste of the soybean and the peanut based dip (which is also a kind of bean) harmonize well.

After these heavier appetizers we work on the lighter soup. The broth is fine as it has soaked up the juices of the oxtail. The oxtail meat itself melts off the bone and the carrots and potato add some nice texture to the mix. Michael has had this Indonesian specialty in other restaurants and comments that the one here is finely prepared. Next out is, in my opinion, the star of the show.

The tender deep fried eggplant slices are soaked in a succulent sweet soy sauce which is simply addictive – especially for those with a sweet tooth. A little white rice (2000 riel) eases the pungency of the sauce. Finally, the deep fried squid in chili sauce surprises us simply by its enormous portion size. The texture and taste are perfect.

By the time we finish our feast we have no room left for desert. That is unfortunate because the “Flambeed Banana Split” (6,000 riel ($1.50)) is a perfect crescendo to any meal here. I have had it on several other occasions. They also offer a unique and refreshing “Tamarind with Brown Sugar Juice” (4,000 riel ($1.00)) which is exceptional and I have never seen anywhere else.

Our very satiating experience has convinced me to add Warung Bali Indonesian restaurant to my list of favorite restaurants in Phnom Penh. Luckily the prices are within my poor slave English teacher budget range. There is enough variety of dishes on offer here to justify a weekly visit.

WARUNG BALI RESTAURANT
# 25 – Street 178
Phnom Penh , Cambodia

Frank James Lancieri

Photos by Michael Gillich