There are plenty of good and also inexpensive eateries in Siem Reap. Interestingly, the well-known international fast food chains have yet to invade this part of the world.

One very special culinary attraction with a political touch is the restaurant “Pyongyang” located on the main road to the airport and, therefore, hard to miss. Not only are their dishes and drinks “Made in the DPRK” (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea). Some of the waitresses also hail from that North East Asian country.

“Pyongyang is much better than here,” said the beautiful young lady in broken English as she served my friend and me on a late Saturday night. After that, she joined her female colleagues and sang karaoke while a group of noisy and obvioulsy drunken South Korean customers pretended to dance.

Having spent some six years in (South) Korea, I developed a special liking for (most) Korean food. While the grub we were served at Pyongyang was nothing to go crazy about, the North Korean ambiente and the rather bizzare atmosphere make the restaurant well worth a visit.

This restaurant has not only attracted uncounted South Korean tourist groups. When it first opened up, it also became a journalistic attraction of sorts. Meanwhile, the North Korean owner has expanded and added a branch in the capital Phnom Penh. There, a huge DPRK embassy symbolizes the close diplomatic relations between Cambodia and North Korea. These reach back to the 1970ies, when the late Kim Il-sung offerend political asylum to Cambodia’s former King Norodom Sihanouk.