Best Pizza in Kratie you say? It’s always nice when you discover not only a nice hidden gem, but that humanity actually exists. I introduce Sorya Restaurant Kratie.
Table of Contents
- What the Kratie?
- Tourism in Kratie
- Sorya Restaurant Kratie
- The Best Pizza and Pasta in Kratie
- The Sorya Menu AKA Best Pizza in Kratie
What the Kratie?
Kratie is a town about 5 hours from Phnom Penh. It is one of the many towns that litter the Mekong. Under usual circumstances there would not be anything that special about the town, but they have dolphins. People come to Kratie to see pink dolphins. It is on the Mekong Trail , and reminded me a bit of Stung Treng. Everything in the town is about dolphins. You will see the creatures everywhere and most hotels have dolphin in the title. I stayed at River Dolphin Hotel.
You can read about Stung Treng here .
Tourism is not exactly booming in Kratie
I’ll do Kratie it’s own guide at some point, but tourism is far from booming here. There are officially 17 restaurants according to Trip Advisor . Sadly the “best” Le Tonle was closed. Red Sun Falling a backpacker sounding type place had also closed. There was always street food (of course), but that had been done the night before.
For Christmas Dinner something more substantial was required. I liked the look of Sorya Guesthouse and Restaurant, and it held the “official” ranking of 3rd. What was there to lose?
Sorya Restaurant Kratie
Sorya is located on the riverfront of Kratie. Well everything is located on the riverfront of Kratie, so again as you’d expect. It is also a guesthouse and a kayaking place in normal times. Again these are not normal times.
The restaurant is located on the third floor. After climbing the stairs it was obvious that they were having a private Christmas party. Not ideal. I was expecting to be booted out, but instead was graciously told to site down and that the food would be free, so long as I ordered drinks.
In fact they even brought the food to the table. Christmas dinner thus consisted of pizza, pasta and spring rolls. Nothing that fancy, but hey they pretty much saved Christmas. The pizza though was extremely good.
And for drinks I had a Kratie Gin Fizz (they add extra sugar) and a Long Island Iced Tea. Both were amazing, and the service was simply impeccable.
The Best Pizza and Pasta in Kratie
Following the initial trip it was inevitable that we would return when it was fully open to see how things were i normal times, or at least the current “normal”.
On return I begun chatting the colorful owner, a Khmer with a heavy Kiwi accent. A room was arranged to bridge the gap between getting the night (sleeper) bus and food was thus ordered.
Sorya previously existed as Pete’s Cafe and it still says that on the menu. If you look for the best pizza, or pasta in Kratie you will often see Pete’s/Sorya used interchangeably. To avoid any confusion Pete’s and Sorya are one and the same in Kratie.
The Sorya Menu AKA Best Pizza in Kratie
They sell pizza, pasta, toasties and a few other dishes. They do 3 cocktails, the Kratie Fizz, Long Island Iced Tea and a mojito. The pizzas and pasta dishes are all around $5, with there being 6-7 varieties. Pasta, they do a bolognese and penne.
The food was outstanding, and even with drinks and paying for a “short term room” I was left with change from a 20.
Be realistic with your expectations
Of course there is better pizza and pasta and places like Phnom Penh. Kratie is a rural town. All the other western places have closed. These guys though not only soldiered on , but do it with impeccable service. It’s literally just really nice to be here.
And yes Sorya has the best western food in Kratie. Sorya has the best pizza in Kratie, the best pasta and the best cocktails. They can’t guarantee a perfect sunset, but they are at least on the riverside of Kratie, which is half the battle.
It’s going to take the world a long time to get back to normal, but I truly hope Sorya Restaurant Kratie not only survives, but thrives.
