Refreshed and ready to go – we head out a little early to go to Mok Mony, a restaurant Ed has scoped out. It is in another part of town – actually close to our original hotel – and it takes the tuk tuk driver a minute or so to figure out where to go. But figure out he does, and we’re off into the Phnom Penh night.
The gardens all are light up and the monuments are beautiful at night. It will amaze us daily the number of people out and about, in the gardens, walking around, eating, dancing, what have you – day and night here. It is the weekend so it may be that it is busier than normal weekdays, but still. The mass humanity is amazing.
We arrive safely, and the driver says he will wait for us. We tell him he can if he wants, but we don’t know how long we will be (and we certainly aren’t paying him to wait!). So – we’ll see if he is there. We have no fears of finding someone else – not here in tuk tuk heaven.
We are the first ones in the restaurant, but it quickly fills up. And there is a reason why – this is a real find. Not only is the food creative – and excellent – the owner packages up all the left overs and food people don’t want and delivers it to the homeless every night. So wonderful!
And the owner is a hoot – he is just great. Very funny and irreverent. Just a great guy. And, beautiful intricate tattoos he got at a Wat done by a Monk of all things!
Dinner was as wonderful as our host. Grilled betel leaf stuffed with marinated beef and fried port wontons to start. Then a delicious dish of coffee deep fried pork ribs and Luk Lak for Ed. Really great food.
And the atmosphere was sweet and simply – this was a great origami heart make up of hundreds of origami butterflies that was attached to the window above our table. Nice.
Ready to go back to the hotel – we flag down what we thought was our tuk tuk driver only to find it was someone else. No worries! $3, a little instruction from me, and we are back in front of the Queen Grand Boutique hotel in a snap. We’re not ready to hit the hay just yet, so we go next door to the Khavi guesthouse where they have $1.50 wine and $1 Angkor draft beer. Done!
Great find too – the bartender there is fantastic, friendly and just a doll. Plus we meet a lovely lady from Calgary who is traveling SE Asia for 2 months. We had a great time chatting and comparing notes. In a fun setting, at the bar, with great music playing and the pool right behind us!
Jet Lag finally sets in, and we walk the few steps back to the Queen Grand to call it a night.
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