Only You @ Siem Reap, Cambodia

Only You is located at Street 22 in Siem Reap town (GPS: 13.35604,103.85945). Street 22 is a long stretch of street and the restaurant is located toward Siem Reap river, six streets away and north from Hard Rock. We walked from from our Cafe Lodge Boutique Hotel to the premise after returning from temple hopping and taking a shower. As a first timer, the hidden gem is slightly difficulty to find as there is no street signboard along the way. An easier way is to open up an online map. The easiest way is to call for Tuk Tuk, of course.

After walking half a mile, we found the restaurant. It was around 5pm and not many customers were there except some locals laying lazily on hammock. We picked our Tatami seats. Unlike restaurants in tourist area, the crew members here usually don’t speak English but luckily an English menu was provided and we just pointed on the items we would like to order. Also, prices are shown in Riel instead of USD (we were told that locals usually use their local currency for transaction) so make sure you have some Riel cash on hand.

The restaurant is specialized in both Cambodian and BBQ cuisine. At first, we were a bit reluctant to try BBQ food under the hot weather but after trying Grilled Pork (2,000 Riel/RM 2 per stick), we couldn’t help ourselves but to order another two sticks along with other BBQ dishes. Coated with homemade chili paste, the skewers were simply tender, juicy and scrumptious to enjoy.

Grilled Meat Ball coated with homemade chili and served with marinated salad is another signature skewer. Compared to Grilled Pork, it was a bit dry to our liking.

Grilled Tofu (1,500 Riel/stick). How they grill Tofu with soft content? It turned out that it was fish cake with texture similar to Korean fish cake. Not bad at all.

We almost tried all the grilled items in the menu with the last one being aromatic Grilled Egg (1,500 Riel). Taste and texture-wises, it was like a beaten egg slow-fried on a non-sticky pan. Our top pick was still Grilled Pork.

As it was approaching dinner hour, we decided to go for some main course as well. The first one being Sweet & Sour Chicken (8,000 Riel) fried with pineapple (no pen, please) and tomato. Each main course came with a plate of rice.

Thinking of trying Cambodian’s version of Tom Yam, we ordered one (8,000 Riel). The Cambodian’s version is similar to northern Thai version in which the soup is less spicier compared to southern Thai, except Cambodian version has long coriander added. A recommended dish for herb lover. By the way, can you get a RM8 Tom Yam with prawns and squids in Malaysia? No way!

With so many spicy food, we definitely needed “fire extinguishers”. Each table was provided with some canned/bottled drinks and a bucket of ice upon arrival but for us, we preferred to go for homemade drinks such as Green Tea with Sweet Milk (2,500 Riel) and Fresh Passion (3,000 Riel).

Only You is perhaps the first restaurant we’ve ever visited having multiple mixture on passion fruit drinks such as Passion Red Tea, Green Tea, and Milk. Each is priced at 3,000 Riel.

As a whole, if you are looking for an authentic Cambodian restaurant patronized by locals in Siem Reap town, Only You is perhaps the only restaurant you should visit.