One of Cambodia’s most storied hotels, Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor, has written yet another chapter with the unveiling of its new fine-dining restaurant, 1932.
Named after the Raffles Grand Hotel d’ Angkor‘s year of opening, restaurant 1932 is located on the ground floor of the hotel’s Heritage Wing, and offers business travellers an elegant setting at which to conduct their affairs.
The new restaurant inherits the honour of being one of only two establishments in the country that is permitted to serve Royal Khmer Cuisine, the other being its sister Raffles Hotel Le Royal in Phnom Penh. These recipes were passed on by royal decree to the hotels from the King’s own kitchen.
The Royal Khmer Menu brings together an array of textures and tantalizing treats, such as mango and prawn salad, spicy and sour lobster consommé, grilled lamb chops in ginger sauce, red chicken curry in coconut, and for dessert, pumpkin custard.
Raffles Grand Hotel d’ Angkor’s executive chef Angela Brown, originally from Brisbane, Australia, earned her chef stripes in a number of Sofitel kitchens around the world, including in London and Bangkok. Having lived in Siem Reap for nearly three years, Brown has a deep appreciation for local culinary techniques. Chef Angela aims to craft traditional Khmer recipes with a modern approach, with specialities including melt-in-your-mouth beef cheek, served with a local aromatic herb known as ma-om and quail egg curry; and Chateaubriand-style lok lak, a Wagyu beef striploin with grape puree.
A selection of intriguing condiments accompanies each meal, including duka, a grainy mix of cashew nut, sesame, coriander seed and salt that’s popular in Australia and which traces its roots from the Middle East. A local seed called chombok – similar to almond – pervades the rye bread, while la-voch is a Khmer herb and wheat chapati. Overseen by 1932’s wine expert Sum Socheata, guests can look forward to wine pairings with each of the five courses of the Royal Khmer meal. Raffles achieved its fame as home to the Singapore Sling, and keeping to tradition, a Cambodian version, the Grand Hotel d’Angkor Sling with a twist of galangal and ginger, is available as an aperitif.
Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor reopened on October 1, 2019, following six months of restoration works. Designed in the late 1920s by architect Ernest Hébrard in French colonial style, the hotel’s interior combines Khmer art and furnishings with Art Deco influences.
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