6 great places to shop in Phnom Penh

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Bliss – a gorgeous shop and day spa on Phnom Penh’s Street 240

By Liz Ledden. Article first published on Travelwire Asia, 6 January 2012.

IF you haven’t visited Cambodia then shopping may not be one of the first things that spring to mind about this fascinating southeast Asian destination. However, Cambodian silk is stunning, high quality and often quite affordable, as is the silver jewellery. There’s a burgeoning fashion scene with both locals and expats producing innovative designs, a flourishing art scene and gorgeous homewares abound.

Ambre
Phnom Penh’s premier shopping destination for fashionistas, Ambre features stunning, colourful clothing by Cambodia’s best known fashion designer, Romyda Keth.  Situated in a French colonial era building, the shop is divided into colour coded rooms over two levels. In addition to evening dresses and stylish separates there’s a selection of menswear, childrenswear and more formal offerings for weddings and events. Romyda’s designs sell for much more in her overseas stores, so shopping for her designs on her home turf is a treat.
37 Street 178, Phnom Penh, tel: +855 (0)23 217 935, open 10am-7pm Tues-Sun

Bliss
Casual, cotton, cool clothing can be found at beautiful Bliss, a pitstop on Street 240 for stylish locals, expats and travellers for over 15 years now. Think floaty kaftans, breezy tops and light cotton sundresses with a focus on eclectic patterns, plus funky fabric bags, tropical chic quilts and cushions. If the gorgeous goods on offer weren’t enough, there’s an idyllic day spa onsite for a post shopping massage.
29 Street 240, Phnom Penh, tel: +855 (023) 215 754, open 9am-9pm Mon-Sun

Jasmine
Jasmine is another must-stop shop on Street 240’s strip of gorgeous boutiques. It features Cambodian silk and organza creations of the dressier variety, with beautiful silk shirt dresses in block colours a standout. It is highly priced for Cambodia with pieces in the US$100-$200 range, but for the workmanship and quality of materials used it offers good value by western standards.
73 Street 240, Phnom Penh, tel: +855 (0)23 223 103

Russian Market
An obligatory stop on any Phnom Penh site-seeing circuit, the Russian Market is a shopping stalwart for several good reasons. It is cheap as chips (even before bargaining), it features brand name clothing that has found its way to the market from the city’s many garment factories, it’s full of local character and colour and sells all manner of Cambodian trinkets, home décor, accessories and potential gifts. Look for local NGO Mith Samlanh’s ‘Too-It Too-it’ stall which sells funky objects made from things like newspapers and recycled rice bags.
Corner Street 163 and 444, Phnom Penh, open sunset to sundown 7 days

Kravan House
A one-stop shop for Cambodian made souvenirs, Kravan House has a little bit of everything stashed inside an ubiquitous narrow shophouse. There’s a cabinet of covetable silver jewellery, silk bedspreads, handbags, carvings, and a rainbow of silk, cotton and organza scarves woven in the Cambodian countryside. The staff are friendly and prices here are super cheap compared to some of the surrounding shops hawking similar wares.
13 Street 178, Phnom Penh, tel: +855 (0)23 990 195, open 8am-9pm 7 days

Chocolate by the Shop
Belgian chocolate made in Cambodia has to be the ultimate east-west fusion dessert, especially if it’s their delicious Kampot pepper variety. The pepper used is from Kampot province in Cambodia’s south, and is highly regarded for its fragrant, full flavour. In French colonial times it was coveted by Parisian chefs and is now being rediscovered by a new generation of travelling gourmands. Stop by this cute chocolate café to try some enveloped in dark chocolate, and be tempted by their other sweet offerings too.
35 Street 240, Phnom Penh, tel: +855 (0)23 998 638

Our Sydney staycation

Liz / / 2 Comments

The Christmas and New Year period feels like it’s fast becoming a fading memory of copious amounts of delicious food, wine, champers and catchups with family and friends from near and far. I think our holiday season this year was one of the best ever, perhaps made more special by the fact we stayed in Sydney and did the tourist thing, discovering more amazing places on our own doorstep instead of hightailing it elsewhere in search of adventure. Here are some highlights of our Sydney staycation:

Sydney’s Little Bay

The beach

Little Bay is officially my new favourite beach. Located in Sydney’s southeastern suburbs (think below Maroubra) it has a hideaway factor with few visitors and no roads directly surrounding it. You access Little Bay via a short walk through a golf course and down a steep staircase, where there’s conveniently a new looking bathroom and shower facility. The beach itself is actually a sheltered bay surrounded by dramatic cliffs and rock formations, with white sand and crystal clear, calm water. You definitely feel far removed from civilisation while swimming here.

The eats

A chance discovery and new favourite post-beach pitstop is Croquembouche Patisserie, a French-run patisserie and cafe in the unassuming location of Botany Road, Botany. We stopped here after swimming at Little Bay and were surpised to discover coffee and sweets rivalling the best of those found in cooler locales, with macarons to rival Zumbo’s. Highly recommended is the jaffa macaron and the luscious salted caramel variety. The coffee’s good too.

The daytrip

We decided to check out the Grand Pacific Drive, a picturesque stretch of road weaving south through the Royal National Park leading to a stunning ocean vista at Stanwell Tops. The road then hugs a curve of coastline enroute to the surfing villages between Sydney’s south and Wollongong, like Thirroul and Bulli (cue holiday house envy), and eventually ends in Nowra. To say it was beautiful was an understatement – think blue sky, sunshine and sparkly sea. Future staycation possibilities are endless… but the daytrip in particular gave us a newfound appreciation of living back in Australia, and the family fun that is ‘the roadtrip’ – our holiday style of choice at the next opportunity!

{Cafe Crush} Double Roasters, Marrickville

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Double Roasters is one of the latest cafes to grace the burgeoning Marrickville cafe scene, already home to SMH’s cafe of the year Coffee Alchemy, a Bourke Street Bakery outlet, kid friendly Post Cafe and a gazillion others.

Double Roasters has it’s own brand of coffee roasted on-site, and features exposed beams and industrial chic decor. The crowd is a typical inner-west mix of 20 to 40 something hipsters, students and families. On the plus side, the brunch and lunch offerings are simple and delicious and generally under $10, with most hitting the very purse friendly $7.50 mark. The coffee is delicious and smooth, albeit mild in flavour.

On the downside there are no highchairs for the hipster babies (though there are colouring books – tick) and the service can be a little erratic when they’re busy. All is forgiven though for luscious poached eggs and sauted mushrooms totally hitting the Sunday brunch-lusting spot. Bonus points for big bunches of hydrangeas and cool industrial light pendants – think Doug up on Bourke, with coffee and food.

Double Roasters, 199 Victoria Rd, Marrickville, tel: 02 9572 7711, www.doubleroasters.com

Double Roasters on Urbanspoon

{Sydney Eats} Restaurant Arras

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The destination:

The new incarnation of Restaurant Arras – the mod Brit turned modern European fine diner, which is on the site of the old Becasse, which was the old Edna’s Table, which is where we got engaged!

The vibe:
Luxuriously cool, with chairs upholstered in striped Paul Smith fabric; large, spaced out tables on two levels and a palette of cool icy whites with a splash of colour found in the wall mural. It’s decadent yet modern, and the atmosphere is that of special occasions – like date nights.

The eats:
A 9 course degustation menu of amazingly creative, colourful dishes, from nettle tartar with a quail egg (one of my favourite dishes of the meal) to pork belly with whey puree and crackling, a crab san choi bau, a deconstructed tuna nicoise, lamb with eggplant, scallop and squid, whiting with broad beans and some amazing desserts – white asparagus with goats cheese and white chocolate, and the visually playful cinematic souffle, featuring a popcorn souffle in a copper pot, popcorn icecream, a burst open bag of, you guessed it, popcorn, with a jug of caramel sauce to douse it all in. If that wasn’t enough to top off an amazing meal there was more to come – Arras’ famed hot pink perspex tray laden with chocolates, lollies, candies and other miniature sweets. Despite it being an all you can eat affair we could only muster the room for a few, sampling the honeycomb, mint chocolate and licorice lollipop.

The verdict: 
A perfect dining destination for great service, amazing wines and creative cuisine. We loved everything about our experience at Arras from the helpful and knowledgeable staff (who recommended a great Greek wine from Santorini – something we’d never think of ordering) to the ultimate indulgent dessert, the popcorn cinematic souffle, plus a whole lot of delicious eats in between. It’s a little wallet denting, but worth it for a splurgey meal (any excuse will do!).

P.S. Restaurant Arras was reviewed in this week’s SMH Good Living. If you missed it, it got a deservedly big thumbs up and earned 15/20.

Restaurant Arras, 204 Clarence Street, Sydney, tel: 02 9283 1922, www.restaurantarras.com.au

Restaurant Arras on Urbanspoon

 

Update: Arras is now closed.

{Cafe Crush} iberry Garden, Chiang Mai

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Inside iberry

On our holiday in Chiang Mai last month I had to check out icecream mecca and Thai hipster haunt iberry Garden, owned by Thai artist and comedian Udom and home to some quirky decorative drawcards.

I used to rattle on about my love for iberry in my old blog A Girl in Asia quite a bit. In case you missed it – iberry is a Thai ice-cream chain with the most amazing array of icecream and sorbet flavours, from the Asian inspired (mangosteen, tamarind, salted plum, rambutan, spicy green mango…) to more traditional but equally luscious numbers of the chocolate/hazelnut/caramel variety. And then there’s ‘banana and cheese’.

The dog statue dominating the garden

Another of iberry Garden’s quirky touches

The garden at the Chiang Mai branch houses an enormous yellow dog festooned with hanging colourful lanterns in the tree above, while on one side of the cafe is a cartoon like head. It supposedly resembles the owner and you can stick your head inside and pose in it for souveniry snaps. The usual array of iberry’s icecream flavours are there with some seasonal additions for good measure. This time I sampled pomegranate plus mocha almond fudge (not seasonal, just ridiculously lush).

Weirdly, we ran into someone my husband went to school with while there – what are the chances?! Have you ever randomly run into anyone you know while travelling?

iberry Garden, Siri Mangkalajarn Road, off Nimmanhaemin Rd Soi 17, Chiang Mai, Thailand, www.iberryhomemade.com
Open 10.30am until 10pm daily

{Shoptalk} The House, Chiang Mai

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The House is a cool cafe and shopping compound in Chiang Mai’s old city, crammed with colourful wares from melamine kitchenware in The House Shop, to covetable clothes in Ginger and gorgeous wooden furniture and artworks in Nomad.

After perusing, playing and purchasing there’s a beautiful cafe (Ginger & Kafe) for sweet treats and caffeinated goodness – a slice of lemon curd cake and an iced chai here totally hit the post-shopping spot. The House is for lovers of colour and contemporary Asian style, and maximalists in particular will be in shopping heaven.

The House, 199 Moonmuang Road, Chiang Mai, tel: +66 (0)53 419 011-12, www.thehousethailand.com

Image via The House

{Chiang Mai Eats} Huen Phen

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L to R: Jackfruit salad, Chiang Mai sausage, Northern Thai chicken curry

The culinary highlight of our recent Chiang Mai stay was definitely Huen Phen, which specialises in northern Thai or ‘Lanna’ cuisine.

By day, the front part of the restaurant serves up rustic yet tasty local fare like the area’s famed ‘khao soi’ chicken noodle curry dish, and by night, the kitschy Thai decor-packed back room opens. There’s an opulent teak daybed, hanging bells, red lacquered urns and much, much more bedecking every nook and cranny of the restaurant, like a rustic Thai market stall come to life.

After the initial distraction of the decidedly maximalist interior, our attention turned to the all important food. The menu helpfully points out the restaurant’s particular specialities and it’s all mouthwateringly enticing. We stick with the most regional sounding dishes on the menu – Chiang Mai sausage (pork with a delicious blend of fragrant Thai herbs and served with fried kaffir lime leaves – yum!), a northern Thai chicken curry (coconut milk free which is the northern style, but a bit heavy on the fish sauce), a jackfruit salad, sticky rice and a mindblowingly amazing spicy pork and chilli dip, accompanied by fresh green beans and cucumber sticks. Savoury, spicy perfection!

Pork and chilli dip – our favourite dish at Huen Phen

 

Huen Phen, 112 Rachamankha Road, Chiang Mai, tel: 66 53 277 103

Phnom Penh rising

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Early morning tai chi on the riverfront

It was so great to see Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh looking so lush, green, shiny and happy when we dropped in a few weeks ago. On our first morning (after waking for the day at 3am…ahem) we made our way down to the riverfront at dawn to be greeted with tai chi classes, dancing (dancercise?!) and joggers on the newly paved, landscaped and exercise equipment-bedecked public space fronting the swollen Tonle Sap river.

Beautiful morning on the full and fast flowing Tonle Sap

It was a happy sight and a far cry from the riverfront of old. In 2007 (in Phnom Penh years 2007 is really old news) I would return home filthy from early morning walks along the unpaved dirt, after dodging rubbish piles and bedraggled kids. In 2008/09 we’d weave in and out of the jumble of parked motorbikes on the footpath as the riverfront was cordoned off with a big billboard covered fence for maintenance. Finally, it’s been restored to a beautiful, practical and clean space Phnom Penh-ites can enjoy.

Riverfront makeover aside, the city looked newer, glossier, shinier – there were new businesses everywhere from cool new eating and drinking establishments (Brown, Yumi, Rahu et al) to the not so cool but inevitable encroachment of a KFC on what seemed like every block. The streets surrounding the Russian Market were almost unrecognisable, with a rash of new clothing stores cashing in on the brand name western clothing made in the city’s garment factories. The Central Market’s multi-million dollar renovation project is complete, and many existing businesses have expanded, been renovated, or opened multiple branches.

Inside the revamped Central Market

My old street (108) has new green spaces and far less rubbish. There are no longer homeless families literally living on my old doorstep. It’s so amazing and heartening to see Phnom Penh rise from the crumbling, poverty stricken, dangerous place of old to a thriving, creative, constantly improving mini-metropolis, still with loads of charm and a dose of edginess for good measure. I think I will always feel some kind of pull to Phnom Penh after spending a few years living there – an intense period of change, new experiences and new life direction for me.

This Bangkok Post piece is a great read on the new face of Phnom Penh but raises interesting points about the dark side of rapid change, like forced evictions. It will definitely be interesting to keep an eye on how the city continues to evolve.