Romdeng

where you can sit in the garden, in the middle of the city, and enjoy good food for good cause!

we had visitors in town - we were greeted by teachers and students at Romdeng, super polite and attentive. menu was brought over the second we sat down. weekly specials are always interesting to go through.

we love fish amok there - one of the best with the delicate flavour. i suppose the flavours of the food there may not be authentic and they cater more for tourists and expats - we dont mind that at all given that everything we ordered was very good.

there is a shop upstairs that definitely worth a visit and next to it was a spacious, clean kids playarea - certainly the most clean and the most inviting playarea in the restaurants I have seen.

Last time I gave Romdeng less than 10 but truly this time, I am not hesitate to give them 10 out of 10. My family and I had a fantastic lunch there today.

Adult menus were basically the same as last visit (I dont think they have ever changed the standard menus. however, given they have weekly specials and set lunch everyday anyway, that is OK for me). What they did more this time which I was particularly impressed with was the creative and interesting kids menu (main dishes, drinks and desserts). It is certainly not an usual kids menu that you just have it for the sake of it. It is cute and funny and a lot of interesting choices.

For us, we ordered braised duck with chinese cabbage from the weekly specials, spring rolls and beef masamun, fried vegetable. For our son, we went for crispy noodles with stir-fried pak choy and mushrooms (all kids' menus do not contain MSG!). Everything including the little one's dish was just delicious!

After the high chair was brought out, the cute kid's bowl and cutlery were brought out without having to ask. During the meal, staff was super attentive and helped straight away clearing up the mess little one made. 

Desserts, we had turmeric crepe with palm sugar sauce and caramalised banana served with ice cream. palm sugar sauce was so fragrant and delicious.

Not only Romdeng had recently opened the shop upstairs but also the kids' playarea - fantastic. It was spotless, a lot of toys and books and things to explore. I am impressed by the recent changes and seeing my family going there very often during the weekends!

We went there for late lunch and chose to sit outside. The ambience is very pleasant with small garden and swimming pool - a great place to come for long lunch over the weekend.

Both menu and weekly special sounded interesting. We ordered spring rolls, pomelo salad, pork ribs with watercress soup and grilled eggplants with shitake mushroom, fried tofu and were looking forward to the meal.

Food was slow but it was understandable - there was a big table with over 15 people next to us. After waiting patiently and hungrily, our food was served and we were slightly disappointed. Spring Rolls were not fried long enough to be crispy, Pork Ribs in the soup were really chewy, Few bits of grilled eggplants were undercooked. The pomelo salad was our highlight - nicely seasoned, pomelo was soft and prawns were fresh.

Service was pleasant - dishes were cleared quickly, we were ask promptly with a smile after finishing the meal whether we wanted dessert. 

I will recommend this place/and will go back - personally for pleasant garden outdoor seating, good service and hope the food will be better next time when they dont have a massive backlog in the kitchen.

In my opinion, Romdeng is not just a restaurant for good cause, it is a real professional restaurant. Nothing at all was disappointing. Menu has a mix range of interesting dishes and usual dishes that most palates would enjoy. Food was good and fast. Staff was attentive. Price was reasonable - what more you can expect?

There were 4 of us so we did order a lot of dishes to share.

Dish 1 : Taro spring rolls - they were crispy, sweet and highly recommended.

Dish 2 : Stir-fried aubergine and minced chicken - safe dish to order when you are with the others I suppose. It was alright, taste was mild.

Dish 3 : Stir-fried vegetable on crispy rice cakes - delicious and unusual. It is recommended dish from the restaurant and certainly I can see why. The small downside of the dish was only that towards the end of the meal, we could only eat the vegetable as the rice cakes became really chewy being soaked in the sauce.

Dish 4 : Pink pomelo salad, which is also recommended dish from the restaurant. I was a bit skeptical at first as I was told by a friend that pomelo season was supposed to be gone.  However, that was good, soft pomelo we got. The dish was refreshing and delicious.

Dish 5 : The highlighted dish for me  - beef masamun. The dish was on their weekly set menu when I first tried it and I really enjoyed it. It was really tasty although the meat cubes seemed to come in different sizes (from really small/flaky to literally big chunks). That made it a bit tricky when you were to share the curry bowl with other 3 people!

Drinks were delicious - I had guava and honey smoothie. The others had some beer - I could not comment much on. They also have some Khmer rice wine on the menu and also Romdeng daiquiri on the special menu for anybody that feeling a bit more adventurous maybe. 

Well done, Romdeng - we will go back!

Sitting in the garden of Romdeng next to the swimming pool, drinking their delicious banana and peanut smoothie and dining on deep fried tarantulas is one of the best ways to spend a lazy weekend in Phnom Penh.  The best thing is that you can feel entirely virtuous in your indulgence with the knowledge that you are supporting a good cause as the restaurant's raison d'etre is to train and give employment to young Cambodians who would otherwise not have the opportunity to develop skills or find good employment.  

The food is also worth going for.  The restaurant showcases Cambodian cuisine, but tailored for a more western palate.  The signature dish is the aforementioned tarantulas, which are a must try for any adventurous eater.  Once you get over the fact that you are eating a spider, they are just like any other deep fried snack.  The lime and black pepper accompaniment also helps disguise the taste for the squeamish.  

Other notable dishes are the Muslim beef curry which is a wonderful mildly spiced curry made with coconut milk and peanuts.  This is served with a big chunk of baguette to mop up all the sauces.  The fish with ginger is delicate, yet tasty.  My personal favourite is the pumpkin stirfry with basil, which uses the holy basil to give a spicy and firey taste to the dish.  Salads are also excellent and refreshing after the curry – pomelo salad with dried shrimps being my recommendation.

Desserts are worth a look in, although you need to have a seriously sweet tooth to really enjoy some of the carbs drenched in syrup options.

In my opinion, some of the dishes are better than others.  I personally don't like the beef with red tree ants (although I had to try it just to see what the ants tasted like...).  Some dishes are also slightly bland, or it could also be that they just appear so next to some of the other more flavorsome dishes on the menu.

My recommendation is to go to Romdeng on a weekend with a group so you can relax by the pool and order a whole table full of dishes you can all tuck in to.  This is certainly a good informal restaurant aimed at tourists and expats.  If you want the real authentic Cambodian experience – you won't find it here.  Nor should you come expecting silver service (in which case you should go to Malis).