Tuesday, August 14, 2012

The Blue Pumpkin


The Blue Pumpkin is one of the few Cambodian founded cafĂ© chains in Phnom Penh, the founders is a couple from France and Thailand. They started as a small bakery in Siem Reap and have later turned in to a chain that is both a bakery and a restaurant.  Today they have outlets both in Siem Reap and Phnom Penh. In Phnom Penh you will find them on Riverside and on the first floor of Monument Books

The Blue Pumpkin on Riverside is a really popular place among both locals and tourists, and some expats. Some expats tends to think it is a little crowed and noisy.  
I normally go to The Blue Pumpkin to buy bread or cakes, but some weeks ago I went there to have dinner. I had the Chicken Satay ($5) and my friend tried the Goat cheese and pumpkin dumplings ($6.75). The Satay was ok but far from the best one I have tried. The dumplings were a bit disappointing, the combination of too much dumpling dough, pumpkin and cheese became a little mushy. 

Since I really like their pastries and cakes, I decided to give them one more chance when it came to their food. So last week I went for lunch at Blue Pumpkin in Monument Books. It was the perfect place to have lunch alone, there was almost no one there and I could sit work without getting disturbed by screaming children or loud conversations. I tried the Vegetarian Quiche ($2.75)this time but I’m sorry to say I was disappointed again, it was dry and had almost no vegetables just a lot of quiche. 

I can really recommend their cakes and some of the bread and even their breakfast but their food has not impressed me so far. 










Food: + +
Service: + + +
Atmosphere: + + +
(Scale 1-5, 1 is really bad and 5 is excellent)
Price: $ $ $
(Scale 1-5, 1 is really cheap and 5 is very expensive)