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Kampuchea Restaurant
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Hours
Mon, 5:30pm-10:30pm; Tue-Thu, 5:30pm-11pm; Fri-Sat, noon-4pm and 5:30pm-midnight; Sun, noon-4pm and 5:30pm-10:30pm
Nearby Subway Stops
F at Delancey St.; J, M, Z at Essex St.
Prices
$15-$18
Payment Methods
American Express, Diners Club, MasterCard, Visa
Special Features
- Lunch
- Take-Out
Alcohol
- Full Bar
Reservations
Not Accepted
Profile
Whenever a newfangled Asian restaurant opens in this town, the dismissive foodie temptation is to compare it first with the inevitably cheaper and arguably more authentic competition in Chinatown, and then with the beloved and original Momofuku. Neither comparison is truly apt for this handsome communal-tabled noodle bar, where chef-owner Ratha Chau offers his fresh, flavorful, and well-spiced interpretations of Cambodian street food. He swaddles grilled corn in coconut-chile mayo, garnishes cold egg noodles with a chicken-and-egg omelette and an incendiary red-pepper sauce, and even has the audacity to concoct such vegetarian-friendly fare as a Cambodian-style crêpe with shiitakes, soybeans, and butternut squash. Does a plantain num pang (the Cambodian version of bánh mì) even exist on the streets of Phnom Penh? Well, it does here, and with its pickled red cabbage and pungent ground peppercorns, it makes a delicious case for inauthenticity.
NoteReservations accepted only for parties of 6 or more.
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