kampuchea

After two rounds of delicious cocktails at Milk & Honey, Zoe, Johan, Lucie and I went to Kampuchea for a bite and a nightcap. I'd been wanting to try Kampuchea for awhile since I've had some amazing sandwiches at Num Pang. Kampuchea is, of course, Chef Ratha Chau's establishment which preceded Num Pang. It turned out though that the dish of the night was not the Kampuchea Num Pang that I had but the delicious grilled corn on the cob that our waitress guaranteed would "change your life."

That was some truly scrumptious corn (so awesome I forgot to take the brutalized lime wedge off the plate for the pic, sorry). I am one of those strange souls that do not like mayonnaise, but I was over the moon with the chili mayo, coconut flakes and chili powder topping the lightly grilled sweet corn. I love how the corn was not grilled too much. The light char gave the corn flavor but didn't overpower its natural sweetness. Very yummy. Very worth $6. (By the way, yes that's a San Miguel beer you see by my corn. And no, it's nowhere near as good as the San Miguel beer in the Philippines. *sigh*)

My Kampuchea Num Pang consisted of housemade pork pate and headcheese terrine with coriander, carrots, cucumbers all tucked into a toasted baguette. It was nice but not as fantastic as what I've had at Num Pang before.

That said, I am dying to go back to Kampuchea to try all the other yumminess on its menu. The party beside us ordered some tamarind baby back ribs that smelled like heaven. Kampuchea does 1/2 priced bottles of wine on Sunday evenings, and I am definitely down with a chill evening of ribs and vino. But I think next time I'll beg for a table by the windows, far from the stifling heat of that open kitchen.

Kampuchea is located at 78 Rivington Street (corner of Allen Street), New York, NY. Tel. (212) 529-3901