Penny and Fred

Ribs & Beer! What more could you want in life?

Using an appropriate cultural translation,

Thank Buddha it’s Friday…

After a crazy week of building on fundraising ideas, producing documents and countless hours spent on the internet trying to learn how to write a sexy marketing campaign, Friday has arrived just in time and what better way to celebrate the occassion than with ribs and beers and the company of good friends.

You may be wondering why I am expressing so much excitement over the humble rib and cool crisp glass of larger?  Well, these luxuries, of worthy raving quality, are often in short supply in our adopted city of Phnom Penh.  So when Fred and I stumbled onto an Australian owned and run pub/cafe (Aussie XL) that serve up heaping portions of ribs, accompanied by a mammoth portion of potatoes prepared to your liking, chips, baked, mash and don’t forget the salad, we realised we were onto a winner… 

Our first introduction to Aussie XL was several months ago, when we paid a visit to the establishment not long after it had opened its doors, with a couple of New Zealand friends who were raving about the big salads.  Yes they were big, or should I say XL, but there was something lacking from that dining experience that I have never been able to put my finger on.  So we didn’t return until recently to watch the AFL Grandfinal (the sequel).  On that not,

GO THE MIGHTLY MAGPIES!!

Anyway, back to my story…  The previous week Fred and I had watched the AFL Grandfinal (the warm-up) at another establishment, not to be named.  We had gone their a number of times previously to watch the footy and a few games of the World Cup, but found that it lacked that, ‘juno se qua’ , plus the owner is a bit a a surly bastard.  So when the rematch was announced, Fred suggested a new venue to watch the game and Aussie XL it was…

We arrived early, picked prime seats right in front of the big screen, and ordered coffees and bacon and egg burgers to start the day.  Readers need to remember that we are 3 hours behind you and it didn’t seem fitting to start downing beers at 10am, although I know some of you may disagree.

Our food arrived and we were pleasantly surprised to find a burger heaping with bacon and 3 fried eggs, proving that everything is XL at Aussie XL, all for the bargain basement price of USD$3.50, Christmas had come early.  Needless to say that pretty much took up my food quota for the day and when Fred ordered a BBQ plate late in the 4th quarter I was surprised that he had made room in stomach for more food.  But in reality I was the one that missed out…

The BBQ plate was the size of a small child and I’m convinced that it weighted almost the same, piled high with a variety of BBQed meats and fresh salads.  The staff must have noticed my eyes light up and my heart break all at the same time when the food arrived because they quickly rushed inside to get me a bread plate and set of cutlery of my own.

Not feeling in any way inspired to tackle the whole plate, Fred made me a mini sampler plate of all the tasty treats and I promptly went straight to the ribs.  They were absolute heaven…  I should digress back a few months and update you all on when our love affair with ribs began.  In short, Czech Republic, when Fred ordered a heaping plate of ribs and I sadly suffered from one of my worst episodes of food envy in my life.  So when we reach Poland, I was determined to not let it happen again.  So, one night while walking around the back streets of Krakow, we stumbled across a small traditional polish restuarant and went inside to sample the local cuisine.  While I tucked into ribs, Fred took on a half kilo pork knuckle, both arriving with lashings of fresh horseradish and a variety of mustards.  Not surprisingly, the salad bar remained relatively untouched.  From that moment on, we have been in love (with pork ribs and knuckles) and have been on a never ending quest to find a rib in Phnom Penh that is worthy of comparison and now we have.

So readers, I’m wishing you all a festive Friday and hoping that you too will find the pork rib you are looking for…

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