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Chantelle, fried rice and a pretty village

July 12, 2015 by Sam Walker 2 Comments

I would love to tell you all about Chantelle. She looks like someone with a story.

Unfortunately her lack of English and my lack of French and Khmer mean our communication is very limited.

Chantelle

But what I can tell you is that she has a beautiful, warm personality and a bubbly persona. She laughs a lot. She is delighted when customers arrive at the tiny restaurant set up on the front porch of her home. She is even more delighted when customers can speak French. Her whole face lights up.

Chantelle lives in a village about 20 kilometres west of Siem Reap. Her restaurant is spotless. The menu is not expansive but she does an amazing fried rice with egg. She said rice with omelette but it came out with a runny fried egg instead. She has made it previously with omelette but I don’t know how to express the difference with our language barriers.

Fried rice with egg

The first time I ate here was with a group of people and she also made a beautiful big bowl of fresh green salad, the likes of which are hard to find in Cambodia. The second time I had a communication mishap, asking for a citron juice, thinking I would get a fresh lemon or lime juice. Alas, it was a canned concoction, not really juice at all.

Her restaurant is called Juliette’s. I’ve been told it is named after her daughter. I haven’t been able to confirm for myself. I’ve also been told her father was a French professor, which accounts for her fluency in French.

Chantelle also runs a lovely nursery. Her garden is essentially a mass of potted plants in many shades of green, specked with vibrant colours. You will find many herbs as well as heliconias, frangipanis, palms and orchids, among others.

Orchid-8243

It is a lovely surrounding for a meal. And the price is hard to beat – $1 for a plate of fried rice and an egg.

We went for a cruise along the country roads surrounding Chantelle’s and the landscape was stunning. Little red roads and tracks, winding through lime green fields of rice. Dark brown wooden Khmer houses raised high and cows and buffalo along the roads and wallowing in shallow water.

water buffalo

I love getting out into the countryside and sometimes attempting to overcome the language barrier is half the fun and adventure.

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Filed Under: Food, Meeting people, Real People

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Comments

  1. Ruthie says

    October 19, 2015 at 8:38 am

    I love how you tell stories about people on your blog! It’s so fascinating to hear about people from all over the world.

    Reply
    • Sam Walker says

      October 19, 2015 at 9:08 pm

      Hallo Ruthie. Thanks for having a read. I love that you love our stories. I wish I had the time to produce more because there are just so many to tell!

      Reply

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Welcome

Hi there! Thanks for stopping by.
We are Sam (the Journo) and Steve (the Joker). We have taken the plunge and opted out of the 9-5 routine in search of more - and less. We are living the expat life in Cambodia and enjoying slow travel through the region and after just a few months our lives are richer.
Please join us on the journey. Laugh and cry with us, learn from our mistakes and experiences and share your own experiences. Read More…

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