Rajabori Villas, Kratie, Cambodia

Look at those pineapple preserves on a French baguette.  Umm ... good!  Spellcheck removed some of the m's that I put on "umm".    This succulent serving is from the Rajabori Villas on the Isle du Roy across the Mekong River from Kratie, Cambodia.  This is a bed-n-breakfast resort which also serves other meals for an additional fee, but the expense is quite reasonable and the food great.

When you arrive in Kratie, you must find long-term parking for your vehicle unless you had a driver bring you.  Next you cross the river in a small ferry, and depending on the time of year, you may have to walk farther to the ferry.  This was the dry season, so the river was down and there was about four stories of steep brick steps without railings to walk down to get to the ferry, and several days later walk back up when leaving.

Men on motorbikes pick you and your luggage up on the other side to take you to the resort.  My grandkids loved the trip up and down the levy on the motorbikes.

The porter will take you to your room and tell you that the electricity comes on after 5 p.m.  Though there is no AC here, the winter months are quite comfortable, otherwise there is a 15-meter pool for visitors to cool off.  Oh, for you who are less adventuresome, don't go looking for the ice machine.



Breakfasts

Fried Noodles with Pork:

This is a traditional Cambodian breakfast in which the beef and veggies are stir fried.  Cooked noodles are added and stir fried as well.  This dish is served with a choice of fork or chop sticks.


Fried Eggs:

This is a more traditional French breakfast with baguettes.  How you want your eggs fried is communicated through a series of sign languages unless you speak Khmer.  Palm up means sunny side up, and I recommend that if you like your yolk runny.  Palm up and then turned down means over whatever, and mine came out over medium.  I'm very laid back in ordering in a country which I don't speak the language and expect there to be some degree of miscommunications.  That's part of the adventure!


Basic Omelet:

In Cambodia, the omelet has nothing inside of it.  It's basically a scrambled egg cooked like an omelet.  I like the consistency and flavor better with eggs cooked as omelets than scrambled.  Sorry, didn't get a photo of the scrambled eggs.


Baguettes: 

Every breakfast comes with baguettes, two for adults, and one for children.  But my grandchildren, Micah & Oran, gobbled up their parents second piece.  Kratie was originally a French plantation province ... so much of the culture is French including the bread.

Every breakfast serves baguettes with butter, some strawberry whatever in one of those tiny factory-sealed containers, and ... house made pineapple preserves.  Some people there thinly spread the preserves on the baguette, but not me!  No, I want to taste the pineapple!  The baguette is merely a good tasting spoon to feed me the preserves.


Bold Rich Coffee:

Had this same coffee in Cambodia and it had a good taste that I could not identify.  My daughter says the coffee bean has a similar flavor to chocolate.  Here they brew the coffee thicker (French style) and the taste was more obvious.  This was really rich stuff.  Note that this is the black hole of coffee:  I have already put a lot of cream into the cup, and its still dark.  This is one of the better cups of coffee that I have ever had anywhere.  And for all you Texas tea drinkers (thin coffee), this is not your cup of coffee, but it is mine.



Condiments:

In addition to pineapple preserves, the place serves salt and pepper in a petite bowl.  In many places in Cambodia, you have to ask for salt and pepper, and that is how it comes to you.  Actually it works better than a shaker ... just make sure you washed your hands first.  Yes, you pick it up with your fingers and spread it on your food like a sower seeds a field.   By the way, the pepper here is freshly ground.



Lunch & Dinner

Fish and Chips:

Fish and fries if you're French.  This place is laid back and will serve you just about any lunch or dinner item for breakfast.  Their fries are great as well as their fish, but that's the French.

Fried Ginger Fish:

This stuff is awesome!  The fish is pan fried and then sliced.  Next, the fish is stir fried with slivers of ginger and other spices.  WARNING: Because of the ginger, this is a hot-spicy dish for the pallet, but it is easy on the stomach.  Ginger may be the only hot spice that aides in digestion.


Beef Luk Lak:

To prepare this dish, chunks of beef are marinated in lime juice and later stir fried in soy sauce and unrefined sugar.  It is served with a fried egg and white rice.  This is really good stuff.

Pork Fried Rice:

I can't get enough fried rice when I'm in Cambodia.  For breakfast, I like to have fried rice with a runny fried egg on top.  That's a tradition in this neck of the woods.  Making fried rice is easier than one thinks.  In another post, I'll show you how to fry rice.


The Restaurant:

Cool afternoon, open air restaurant, good friends and relatives ... it doesn't get much better than that.  Oh, and did I say the food here is great.  Above is a photo of my son-in-law Derick, my daughter Michelle, and their friend Laurie enjoying late-morning coffee together.