Good Sandwich at Jave Cafe

Java Cafe

56 Sihanouk Blvd,
Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Java Cafe, a combination art gallery and cafe along Sihanouk Boulevard in Phnom Penh, is a bit of an institution. It's been using the art and chick-food combination successfully for eleven years, and is one of the most recognizable and oft-utilized meet up spots in town.



Walking into the place on a rainy evening, it was difficult for me to believe that I was not in Northern California. Jazz on the speakers, contemporary art on the walls, funky yet tasteful furniture, twee table settings, organic smoothie selection - is this some sort of perverse dream? No, just Java. My boyfriend remains skeptical but I'm glad to have Java. Also, they make good sandwiches.


Like this ham, mushroom, and mozzarella "pizza" panini on herb foccacia, served with home-made potato chips and garden salad. Anything meant to simulate pizza that is not actually pizza fills me with suspicion and revulsion, but this was delicious. Lots of oozy, melting cheese, and a nice, authentically pizza-like flavor. The availability of good bread in Phnom Penh amazes me even now. I should also add that home-made potato chips are always a good idea.

My boyfriend ordered pancakes, which he deemed good. They're not the French style pancakes, which are actually crepes and should be labeled as such on the menu to avoid insurrection, or at least complaints. Java also has a pretty good chicken kebab salad with beetroot and yogurt sauce - sounds weird, is actually excellent. I've heard baked goods are hit and miss, but they make a good cup of coffee.

And you can look at nice contemporary Cambodian art on the walls while listening to Mingus and pretend for a bit that you're living a more sophisticated lifestyle then the one you actually lead (featuring: daily grinds, motorbike accidents, persistent tropical parasites) which is sometimes what you need.

Scallops with Balsamic Port Reduction Sauce

I was sitting at home thinking of scallops, which is something that I often do. Scallops are, I believe, one of God's more perfect foods: voloptuous, delicately marine, meaty and tender at approximately the same time, and (best of all) delightfully, astonishingly versatile. I had considered doing what I mostly do with scallops, which is to cook them in some sort of vaguely Asian way, but then decided that I'd attempt to replicate a popular restaurant dish.

Voila: Scallops with Balsamic-Port reduction sauce! Easier then it looks, tastes super delicious. Your friends and family will consider you a hero.

Obtain some good, large scallops - I generally do about four or five healthy sized specimens a person. But I am greedy.

Balsamic-Port Reduction Ingredients:

2 cups of balsamic vinegar.
2 cups of decent Port wine. (Don't use crap.)
I cup of brown sugar.



Get a small sauce pot and combine all the ingredients. Turn on a low flame, stir until the sugar is dissolved, then simmer until the liquid is reduced by about 3/4 - this should take around 15 minutes. Be sure to keep a close eye on it and taste often. When the consistency gets thick and the flavor gets super intense and profoundly delicious, you're good to go.



Next, sear the scallops to your desired level of doneness -I like em' just a little bit rare, but your mileage may vary. Serve the scallops with the sauce drizzled over them, with the bowl at the table to apply at will. This dish goes beautifully with fresh polenta, spinach, or simple sauteed broccoli, as well as a light green salad.



I also made some sauteed wild mushrooms with garlic. Saute the mushrooms until they start to sweat a little with some finely chopped garlic and shallot, then toss in just a bit of sherry for flavor at the end. Yum.

Roman Restaurants: Ristorante Clemente

Ristorante Clemente
# Piazza della Maddalena 4
Rome, Italy
(06) 683-3633

The restaurant is apparently helmed by a female chef, and has a nice salubrious location on a square right off the Pantheon. The menu isn't terribly long and has a nice focus on fresh seafood - always a plus for me. It's a good bistro choice near the Pantheon and has some interesting and unusual entrees - a change from the occasionally too traditional cuisine of Rome.



We began with a salad of squid, octopus, mixed greens, and grapefruit, which was quite nice. The squid was cooked perfectly and did not turn into vaguely seafood flavored rubber as it is wont to do. I also enjoyed the acidic turn of the grapefruit. Could have been prettier but not looking a gift horse in the mouth, so to speak.



For my entree, I selected the grilled tuna with tomatoes, caper, and vinegar - a very simple dish. This was well executed, though I had been expecting something perhaps a little flashier. It was simple, light, and not over-done.



My dad had a pasta with octopus and tomato. The pasta was nicely al-dente, and the sauce had a good marine flavor, with tender bits of invertebrate included.

Roman Restaurants: Enoteca Antica

Enoteca Antica
Via della Croce, 76
00187 Roma (Latium), Italy
+39 066 790896

For lunch, I decided to return to a place I'd been with the Tulane group. Enoteca Antica is a very pleasant wine bar and eatery on Via della Croce, close to the Spanish Steps and in a delightfully atmospheric alley. (You will hear accordians, be solicited to purchase pizza, and witness Italian women with dynamite boob jobs during your time here, consider it a culture experience.) The restaurant itself is pleasant both inside and out, and is a good place to cool off from a smack-yo-mama hot Rome afternoon. The menu is extensive and features excellent antipasto platters, thin-crust and wood fired pizzas, pastas, and some interesting meat dishes. Put it on your lunch list.


I had a salad with the usual excellent European tuna fish, mozarella, egg, potato, and tomato. Do not know why potato is considered a bizarre and nightmarish thing to put on a salad in the USA, unless it is a warm potato salad, but that is the nature of human existence.


My dad had the Eggplant Parmesan, which was a nice specimen of the genre: good marinara sauce, roasted instead of deep fried, a reasonable quantity of cheese. Eggplant parmesan is usually a horror show in the USA but may be safely ordered most places in Rome.