Mar

27

Suvarnabhumi Kiri

Filed Under restaurants 



empty picture frames, originally uploaded by hyperoptera.

Months after scoping the place and wondering why I never saw anyone through the window, I finally made it to Suvarnabhumi Kiri for dinner. The service was fast and exceedingly polite, the music and decorating ambiance were well above average but it was hard to get over the fact that the pace was completely empty. As though everyone else in town knows about the ongoing health code violations / cannibalism accusations roiling in the back kitchen.


The menu at Suvarnabhumi Kiri is a mix of Thai, Cambodian and sushi. What we ordered (masaman tofu curry and chicken cashew) was moderately flavored and spicy, though the root vegetables in the former weren’t particularly fresh or vibrant). Clearly though (per visual evidence to the left) the chef is erring the side of excess cooking oil for some reason. Halfway through the meal I had the gnawing feeling that I needed to wash my hands, my face or just take a whole shower to rid myself of the creeping oil coat emanating from my plate. That hard part is to refrain from comparing S.K. with the Les around the corner which is invariably excellent and fresh (and crowded). Regardless, my unsophisticated palate isn’t material, let’s check the internet experts (who are unfailingly infallible in their collective judgment).

Caai likes the place-

Make sure you try parhok (sic) katee ($12.95), a sweet and spicy, sloppy Joe-looking blend of ground pork, coconut milk and prahok, fermented fish paste. You use it as a dip with raw vegetables - green beans, peppers, cabbage, cucumbers and Thai eggplant.

And MC Slim JB concurs on the signature entree -

But the real showstopper is prahok katee ($12.95): ground pork, chilies, and prahok, the fermented fish paste whose stinky charms are often lost on non-Cambodians. The dish looks like a bowl of Coney Island hot-dog sauce served with crudités for dipping: carrots, cukes, sweet peppers, broccoli, celery, green beans, and Thai and Japanese eggplant slices. Here at last are the uniquely Khmer flavors I crave: pungent, coconut-milk-rich, and fiery, with just enough prahok to give it otherworldliness.

I’ll give some anonymous commenter on KI Media the last word on fermented fish paste.

If Cambodian people have refrigeration and there would be no prokhok!

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