Off the main tourist drag of Siem Reab, this funky cocktail bar / restaurant is hidden from the road.

Inside is a wonderland of inspired, innovative decor and a great vibe. Recently opened (June 2008), this truly is a family run place where brothers and cousins assist the most charming pair of English speaking sisters who also help with the cooking.

A couple of western style and height tables and chairs are in the main space, which also has a few well upholstered divans piled with cushions, and an inserted glass plate for dining and drinking. More comfortable cushions are adjacent to an internal fish pond, with gauzy curtains strung up Bedouin tent style and the most wonderful organic light fittings, some, it seems, made from the varnished slices of some fruit or vegetable.

After delighting in the decor, what about the food?

Ah, the food.

Admittedly, the menu is limited, but that shouldn't cause any difficulty. We were hungry on our visit and ordered a Khmer Lemon Soup(USD$1.50), Green Mango Salad ($2.50), Grilled Fish with Mango ($4) and Fireworks Beef ($3), all to share with steamed rice. The presentation of everything, from the soda with a sprig of mint and lime, to that of the dishes was exceptional and would tempt even the most jaded palate.

From the first mouthful, we savoured the complexity and the freshness of the flavour of each dish. Soon the next dish encouraged the same response, and we didn't know which one was better. The music was a terrific mix of world, blues standards and modern which perfectly suited the mood of the space and of us.

Complimentary fruit came with our modest bill and we were pleased to know that we would be back in Siem Reab for a couple of nights when we returned from Battambang.

Our next visit gave us the chance to try the Smoked Fish Salad ($3.50), Khmer Hot nd Sour Soup with Tofu ($2), Pork with Eggplant ($3)and the Seim Reab speciality, Amok Fish($4). Once again it seemed that each dish was the best we had ever eaten, and wanted to take this place home with us to eat at, always.

One more night, and one more meal, this time adding the Khmer style golden curry , Char Kheung Fish (stir fried with coconut milk) and some fresh spring rolls to a soup and salad. Since returning, we made a point of not eating lunch and cycling 60+ kilometres to ensure that we could have a great meal at night.

We weren't disappointed.

There are some interesting restaurants around Pub Street and the nearby laneways, but nothing can compare to the Silk Lounge and it's spectacular ambiance and food.

The GPS co-ordinates are 13.3611 North, 103.8535 East. The Street address is a little more complicated, on Taphul street next door to the Auberge Mont Royal D'Angkor Hotel. Just head one block east at the Central Market (past the service station) and then turn north and you will be there.

Make the effort, it's worth the trip.

Theme: Local
Comparison: less expensive than average
Prices: less than US$10 »
Address: Taphul Road, Siem Reab
Directions: The GPS co-ordinates are 13.3611 N, 103.8535 E. The Street address is a little more complicated, on Taphul street next door to the Auberge Mont Royal D'Angkor Hotel. Just head one block east at the Central Market (past the service station) then turn north

Bob and I flew down to Siem Reab in Cambodia last Sunday (17 August). We had a Free & Easy deal with Vietnam Airlines which included 2 nights accommodation. On arrival at the airport, we were not the only ones stunned with the beauty of the airport, and despite laughing at the Japanese and Korean tourists taking photos of airport, until Bob finally relinquished and took a shot too. We really were fortunate with the hotel, the Allson Angkor Paradise Hotel, a four star hotel with great amenities and the usual SE Asian surfeit of staff.

We hadn't expected the smiling bowing friendliness of the Khmer people, reminiscent of the Buddhist peacefulness of the Laotians. It wasn't early when we arrived, and after a bit of a wander around the township settled on a local hole in the wall which looked popular with the locals. We were handed a menu which included English which should have caused us some cause for concern . . . we settled on a plate of white noodles with vegetables and yellow vegetables with pork. It was pretty ordinary food, and we didn't hold out much hope for Cambodian food.

On Monday we headed a few hundred metres down the road to rent some bicycles for the day. Bob spent far too long looking for a couple of mountain bikes, finally settling on a couple of department store quality machines, many years old and worse for wear. Before we headed off the national route 6 to cycle to Angkor Wat, we soon found out that gears did not work and the brakes were a bit iffy at best.

After getting our passes for the whole week at a cost of USD$60 each, we parked our bikes opposite the entrance to Angkor Wat and ran the gauntlet of young teenage girls trying to sell us anything and ingratiate themselves with us. Escaping their clutches, we headed across the moat into the great temple compound. We weren't prepared for what confronted us in this mass of stone and bricks 800 years old.

Having had a few forays away from Hanoi, Bob and I are about to embark on our next journey on Sunday heading to Siem Riep and the temples in Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Leaving on Sunday, we carefully planned our departure to be after the Red River Runners 5k Time Trial on Saturday.

Now, I don't expect to breaking any records other than the slowest run in the history of the event, but I am really looking forward to having a hit out. It's at the United Nations International School, in "Ciputra International City" - a rather obscene enclave of expats and the rich, who live in the gated community of high rise buildings and sterilised boulevards.

Held at 5pm for a handicap start, Bob did one time trial in June, before the monthly event was suspended for the worst of the summer heat in July, and found it flat as flat, very hot and exposed and humid. If I can complete the event in 35 minutes, I'll be happy.

Bob and I flew down to the coastal town of Nha Trang, where the Miss Universe pageant was just held on Monday. After staying in a cheap motel ("The Perfume Grass Inn") overnight, we hired motor scooters and wandered up the mountains to Da Lat in the Highlands of Central South Viet Nam.

After travelling along the river flatlands for forty or 50 kilometres, we began to ascend sharply up the mountain on a brand spanking new road which was just a delight! With my backpack strapped on the back of the bike, and computer bag slung around the front between my legs, I must have looked quite a sight, and received lots of cheery greetings as we motored along through villages and past fields and paddies.

Once we travelled 50 kilometres the fun really started though, with the steep ascent from the coastal fringe giving way to a sharp incline on a new road which ate it's way into the mountain with spectacular views across the valleys which grew ever steeper as we climbed.

It was spectacular, virgin country, the road carved into impossible mountain sides and unfinished, it had still been subject to multiple landslides taking out huge swathes of road and barriers, proving that the retaining walls were not capable of retaining sufficiently.

It was frontier territory, even in this heavily populated and cultivated land, this are had proved too difficult. Now, once the pass had been crossed, shacks had been constructed of paperbark trunks and tarpaulins, or, further up the mountain in new frontier villages, planks of wood from local timber, swept dirt floors and shuttered, glass-less windows to keep the chilly mle-high mountain wind and rain out.