Will Cambodia cut the mustard?

Photo by: SOVAN PHILONG
With a plethora of top-class restaurants in Cambodia, such as Le Wok in Phnom Penh, it will be interesting to see how many make it into The Miele Guide.

The Phnom Penh Post
Tuesday, 08 September 2009 15:00 Peter Olszewski

The second annual edition of The Miele Guide, featuring reviews of leading restaurants in Asia, including Cambodia, will be launched in Singapore on September 30 at a gala dinner at The Fullerton Hotel.

"We are very much looking forward to unveiling our second edition," said Pauline Ooi, the guide's associate publisher.

"Over the past year, from the moment the inaugural edition was launched, we have resolutely worked towards making The Miele Guide an even more credible and independent system through which restaurants throughout Asia are evaluated.

"This second edition is a strong and diverse showcase of our region's top chefs and restaurateurs, and it is an honest, practical guide to the best of dining in Asia."

As well as featuring 450 restaurants from 16 Asian countries, the new 2009-10 guide rates Asia's top 25 restaurants - last year's rating included only the top 20 Asian restaurants.

This year there will also be a listing of the top five restaurants in each country, with the exception of those with only a very small number of entries under them.

Readers, diners and culinary experts were asked to vote for their top Asian restaurants via a Web site for inclusion in this year's guide.

The Miele Guide Web site was made available in English, traditional Chinese, simplified Chinese, Japanese and Korean to reach a wider pool of Asian voters. Voters came from 98 countries this year, up from 40 last year, with over 19,000 registered voters casting over 98,000 votes.

Last year, no Cambodian restaurant made it into the top 20 rankings, but three Cambodian restaurants were listed: FCC Phnom Penh Kitchen, FCC Angkor Kitchen in Siem Reap, and Hotel de la Paix's Meric restaurant in Siem Reap.

The Miele Guide is published by Ate Media and sponsored by Miele, a German manufacturer of home appliances.

In a statement, Ate Media said: "As an independent guide, The Miele Guide does not accept any advertising, sponsorship or free meals from the restaurants reviewed."

The statement added that while Miele is a sponsor of the guide, it "does not exert any influence over the selection and judging process that determines which restaurants appear" in the guide.