I ordered Chocolate Milkshake and my friend ordered Strawberry Milkshake. It cost around $1.90 per cup which I think was quite affordable even for backpackers like me.

The chocolate milkshake reminded me of Wendy’s Frosty although I think I prefer the Frosty than this one. Nevertheless I enjoyed this drink while watching the traffic at Sisowath Quay.

It seems that more and more western food shops are opening up both in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.

Chocolate Shake and Strawberry Shake at Dairy Queen Phnom Penh is a post from: Banana Roti. You may also follow my travel adventures at FlipNomad. You may also get updates in Twitter and Facebook or get updates straight to your Email. Thanks!

Empedrat

This classic summer dish literally translates as “stoned” or “paved” and is a popular treat for a Barcelona summer day. This rough looking chunky salad is made up of white beans, olives, tomatoes, chunks of green onion and pieces of codfish. With white wine vinegar and olive oil drizzled over the top, this is a salad with a twist.

Allioli

This garlic sauce is an addiction for many Catalans. Made up of vinegar, lemon and lots of garlic, this is the perfect sauce for dunking in a fresh baguette or for firing onto just about anything. If enjoying a barbeque, a bit of grilled pork, chicken or beef with allioli is a match made in heaven.

Paella

Although technically originating from neighbouring Valencia, paella is one of Barcelona’s proudest dishes and they certainly use the fresh supply of seafood to make a good job of it.

With a base of rice boiled in white wine and then left to fry, paella can be what you want it to be. Seafood is the normal topping, but you’ll find various different seafoods making the cut depending on which restaurant you visit. And you’ll even find some meat paellas on offer in the city for those not too keen on their seafood.

Pa amb tomàquet

This means bread with tomato and this dish is basically as simple as that, yet it is the perfect compliment to any meal. To make this side dish simply rub some tomato sauce on sliced baguette and drizzle a little olive oil on the top along with some salt before sticking it in the oven until it’s lightly toasted. This is the cheapest side dish in most Barcelona restaurants, but is a tasty one and perfect for dipping into any sauces on your plate.

Crema Catalana

This is Barcelona’s most famous dessert and is essentially a crème brûlée with a difference. Made up of a citrus plus cinnamon flavoured custard which is caramelised with an iron boiler, this is the perfect pudding to your Catalan meal.

Now that you’re taste buds are tingling, get planning your trip to Barcelona now! The city has lots to see as well as eat. Oh-Barcelona is worth looking at as it has a range of self-catering apartments for rent, where you can have a go at cooking your own delicacies or try your hand at mastering the local treats!

Editor’s Note: This is a guest psot

Photo Credits: Paella by Gabriel GM, Crema Catalana by Jen SFO-BCN

Five Reasons your Taste Buds will Love Barcelona is a post from: Banana Roti. You may also follow my travel adventures at FlipNomad. You may also get updates in Twitter and Facebook or get updates straight to your Email. Thanks!

I’ve been to World Lounge Restaurant in my past visit in Siem Reap and had pizza and carbonara. I love their pizza because of the very thin crust which is almost as thin as a roti. The pasta was good but the serving was very small. So while checking out the menu, I suggested that we order a pizza together with a variety of dishes.

Here’s what we ordered:

Meatlover’s Pizza

The pizza is approximately 40cm in diameter (though we didn’t bother to measure it anymore LOL!). The crust is very thin and crunchy, topped with mozzarella cheese, ground meat, bacon, ham and some pepperoni I think. I love it although my friends didn’t like it as much as I did because they find it too “savory” for their taste. Maybe if the crust was a little bit thicker, they might have liked it more. But for me, I really like it. (Cost: Approx $9)

Bacon Cheeseburger

I didn’t bother to taste anymore since there seems to have more cucumber than meat.

Porkchops with Mushroom Sauce

I love this one too. The porkchop was cooked well but the serving was too small though compare to the porkchops of Viva Mexico. But the sauce, d@mn! the sauce taste so good. I think they added some cheese on the mushroom sauce though I’m not really sure but I tasted some hint of cheese. It complimented well the porkchops! (Cost: Approx $5.5)

Italian Baked Fish

This one is really good! I love how it tasted but again I wish that the portion of fish is bigger. (Cost: Approx $4.5)

World Lounge is located at Pubstreet just beside the newly opeend F.O.S. (clothing shop). Check it out when you visit Siem Reap, Cambodia.

Dinner at World Lounge Restaurant Siem Reap is a post from: Banana Roti. You may also follow my travel adventures at FlipNomad. You may also get updates in Twitter and Facebook or get updates straight to your Email. Thanks!

You can this store at the Lucky Angkor Market or at the new market near Pubstreet.

Please excuse my blurry picture as I used my phone for this one.

Gelato at Lucky Ice Cream is a post from: Banana Roti. You may also follow my travel adventures at FlipNomad. You may also get updates in Twitter and Facebook or get updates straight to your Email. Thanks!

The first time I have eaten there was a year ago I think when I ordered porkchops. Their porkchop dish cost $5 and consists of a small serving of rice, salad and two medium slabs of porkchops (grilled).

Another favorite of mine is the Breakfast Burrito which is actually available for the whole day. It has scrambled eggs, mashed potato and mozarella cheese wrapped in a burrito wrapper with salsa dip. It’s like a Mexican breakfast on the go don’t you think. I love it and it’s also not expensive, it’s just $2 per serving. It’s quite filling and tasty as well.

And to complete one’s meal, I always eat sweets after a meal. The last time I was there I ordered chocolate ice cream shake (cost $2.25)which is nice too.

In case you’re wondering where to find this restaurant, it’s located near the Old Market.

Burritos, Chocolate Shake and Pork Chops is a post from: Banana Roti. You may also follow my travel adventures at FlipNomad. You may also get updates in Twitter and Facebook or get updates straight to your Email. Thanks!

Last year I went on a cruise around the Mediterranean, which was absolutely divine in terms of culinary experience. I mean, it was fantastic all round, but the food was really exquisite. There’s usually a choice of times when it comes to dining, so you should have a think before you go about when you’d like to eat. Maybe you prefer the early slot so you can enjoy the evening’s entertainment. Or if you’re hoping to fit in a lot of sightseeing during your port calls, a later dinner might be better so you don’t have to worry about missing a meal. From my experience I’d probably recommend avoiding the buffet on offer; not because there’s anything particularly wrong with it, I just found the food in the restaurant to be of a higher standard.

Truffles

On board the ship we were offered traditional restaurant fare, but the nice thing about changing location every day is that you can sample food from several different places within the space of your journey. Our Mediterranean adventure meant that we stopped off in France, Spain and Italy amongst others. Italy was a personal highlight for me. I tried truffles for the first time here, over carpaccio with olive oil. I thought I might die of delicious. Fortunately I didn’t, so now I can recommend it to you! Affogato was also a very decadent treat – gelato immersed in coffee. It may sound a bit odd, but I really enjoyed this little treat.

Our stop in France gave me the chance to try something I’d been curious about for a while; Le cuisses de grenouilles. Any guesses? Frogs legs! And the rumours are true; they really do taste like grilled chicken! Be careful in France if you’re watching your weight though; everything is very indulgent – lots of butter and cheese and few vegetables. But you’re on holiday, so why not go wild for a day?

Frog Legs

In Spain I had a fantastic Tortilla Espanola, which, in plain terms is a Spanish omelette. The basic recipe consists of egg, potato and onion, and from what I can tell, they vary from restaurant to restaurant in terms of texture and thickness. You’ll really be spoilt for choice wherever you end up. I’m sure your taste buds just won’t know what to do with themselves!

Spanish Tortilla

Photo Credits (Flickr Creative Commons): Frog Legs by metaxin, Truffles by qwrrty, Tortilla by E Vön Zita

Cruising Cuisine is a post from: Banana Roti. You may also follow my travel adventures at FlipNomad. You may also get updates in Twitter and Facebook or get updates straight to your Email. Thanks!

I was surprised when I saw Cashew Nut Shake on the menu and immediately ordered one.

After a few minutes I got a full glass of cashew nut shake and immediately took a sip. And I was blown away, roasted cashew blended with milk sugar and ice is like magic. It tasted so refreshing, sweet but not that much just perfect for my taste. I highly recommend that you give it a try.

Have you tasted a Cashew Nut Shake before? Feel free to share your tips and recommendations.

Cashew Nut Shake at Bon Cafe Siem Reap is a post from: Banana Roti. You may also follow my travel adventures at FlipNomad. You may also get updates in Twitter and Facebook or get updates straight to your Email. Thanks!

One of my latest discoveries was the Cambodian Street Iced Coffee.

The Cambodian Iced Coffee is made with a thick coffee syrup and sweetened with condense milk. The entire mixture only fills up almost just a third of the plastic cup and then the vendor fills the cup with ice. If you take a sip immediately, you’ll definitely notice that it borders the taste with dark chocolate for some reason and it’s indeed strong. If you’re not use with Vietnamese, Lao and Cambodian coffee, I highly suggest that you let the ice melts for a few minutes and stir it to dilute the mixture and weaken the possibly strong effect of coffee on your stomach.

The best thing about this is it’s only $0.50. Fifty cents it is! The flavor and aroma is comparable to other iced coffee I’ve drank in some popular coffee shops in various places.

Give it a try when you see a cart selling iced coffee.

By the way, you don’t have to wake up early just to buy one as they’re available for the whole day, you just have to look for the vendors though as they’re constantly moving. Around late in the afternoon, you might see some of them waiting for some customers near the old market.

Have you tried drinking Cambodian Street Iced Coffee before? Feel free to share your tips and recommendation.

Cambodian Street Iced Coffee is a post from: Banana Roti. You may also follow my travel adventures at FlipNomad. You may also get updates in Twitter and Facebook or get updates straight to your Email. Thanks!

Another friend who has been there before recommended that we visit Battambang to get a glimpse of rural Cambodia. Even though it’s declared as a city, Battambang has been able to maintain it’s rural charm and the development is just around the city center.

There are many things to do in Battambang for tourist like taking a ride at the Bamboo Train, visiting Banan Temple and Phnom Sempeau, exploring the main city and marvel at the well preserved colonial houses and a lot more. One of the activities that we did when we went to Battambang was a short visit at a local vineyard, Prasat Phnom Banan.

I have never been to a vineyard before and didn’t know what to expect. We went straight to vineyard after our tour to Banan Temple and it was just like a mid-sized garden maintained by a local couple. I have never seen a grapevine before and grapes still on their stem, it was such a novelty for me. It could have been such a wonderful experience if it was a huge sprawling farm just like the ones they have in Tuscany, Napa Valley or other wine growing places that I would like to visit in the future.

The local vineyard in Battambang also has a sampler set of their products being offered for only $2. The set includes a red wine, a shot of whisky, grape juice and ginger lemon juice.

I’m not a wine drinker and never grew fond of it but it tasted fine. The whisky is too string for my liking but would definitely be popular for those who oves whisky. I love the grape juice as it was really refreshing. And the most memorable among the set is the giner lemon juice. It was my first time to have drank such mixture and it was a bit “spicy” and at the same time sweet.

It was a nice and surprising experience and definitely worth a visit for those who haven’t been to a vineyard before.

Be sure to check it out when you visit Battambang!

Vineyard in Battambang is a post from: Banana Roti. You may also follow my travel adventures at FlipNomad. You may also get updates in Twitter and Facebook or get updates straight to your Email. Thanks!

Sugarcane is technically a grass that grows a bit tall ad thick (looks a bit similar to bamboo) and is the main source of sugar and ethanol. There are many sugarcane plantations back in my home country and I remember seeing some vendors selling chopped up sugarcane on the streets. When I was a kid I used to buy one every chance. Although I’ve seen vendors selling sugarcanes back home, i never had the chance to see one selling sugarcane juice (not until I flew out to other countries).

This year, I find myself drinking sugarcane juice every chance I got and have learned to appreciate its taste. Luckily, there are so many vendors selling fresh sugarcane juice in Cambodia. It seems that it’s also a popular drink among locals here.

They usually add some lemon juice on it (maybe or perhaps other citrus) on the sugarcane juice which gives it a more refreshing flavor. It’s also not expensive, as of the time of writing it cost 1500 Riel for a small cup, 2000 Riel for a large one and just 500 Riel for a small plastic bag (yeah, they put it in very small plastic bags too).

If you haven’t tried it yet, I highly recommend that you give it a try. Make sure that it’s icy cold though as it seems to highlight the taste of the juice.

Sugarcane Juice Vendor at Pubstreet

Squeezing the juice out using this machine

Perfect refreshments to beat the hot Cambodian summer!!!

Fresh Sugarcane Juice in Cambodia is a post from: Banana Roti. You may also follow my travel adventures at FlipNomad. You may also get updates in Twitter and Facebook or get updates straight to your Email. Thanks!