Khmer for Cambodian

Khmerization's comment: At long last Cambodian food is on the map. Cambodian food has always been ignored by diners due to the popularity of Thai and Chinese and other Asian food. Suvarnabhumi Kiri could be Cambodian restaurant to be reckoned with and could act as a gateway for Cambodian food to enter the diners' world.

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By Mat Schaffer
Suvarnabhumi Kiri : B

If I could eat in only one Boston neighborhood, it would be Allston.
No other ’hood in town rivals its diversity - and affordability. Within a few blocks, you can sample Brazilian, Chinese, Colombian, Greek, Indian, Italian, Korean, Lebanese, Malaysian, Mexican, Pakistani, Thai and Vietnamese fare. Not to mention barbecue, American pub grub and Slavic takeout from Berezka International Food Store, an awesome Russian market.
Now add Cambodian to that appetizing mix. The newly opened Suvarnabhumi Kiri restaurant specializes in Thai, sushi and Cambodian.
It’s always surprised me that there are dozens of Thai establishments in the Hub but only a few Cambodian. You’d think that, given the popularity of Thai and the similarity of the two cuisines, there’d be a ready-made clientele.
So go explore the Cambodian section of the Suvarnabhumi Kiri menu. The food is balanced, herbal and fresh.
If you like Vietnamese goi cuon salad rolls, try the Phnom Penh fresh roll ($6.95), a melange of shrimp, rice vermicelli, carrot,lettuce, cucumber and minty Thai basil, wrapped in rice paper that you dip into spiced hoisin or rice vinegar-fish sauces.
Skewers of saiko ang ($7.95) - marinated and grilled beef - are virtually indistinguishable from Thai satay. But instead of peanut sauce, they’re served with garlicky cucumber pickles. Cambodian spring rolls ($5.95) are crispy cigars of cellophane noodles, ground pork, carrots and onion that you dunk into spicy-sweet chili sauce. To my palate, they’re almost identical to Thai spring rolls. Perhaps only native Thai and Khmer patrons can differentiate the subtleties.
Do as they do in Thailand and Cambodia and order an assortment of appetizers and entrees, all served at once and meant to be shared.
The kitchen here makes excellent lok lac ($11.95), the famed Khmer dish of caramelized beef with a tart, pungent sauce of lime juice and black pepper. 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.
For a true prahok fix, get saiko tukprahok ($13.95), grilled slices of overcooked steak with a bowl of prahok sauce - salty, stinky and pungent - alongside. It’s not for the squeamish.
There’s delicate sweetness to lort cha ($8.95) - thick udonlike noodles, tossed with pork, bean sprouts, egg, scallions, garlic and soy. It’s customary to use chopsticks with the noodles; for everything else, use a spoon and fork.
In both Thailand and Cambodia, soup is an essential part of the meal. At Suvarnabhumi Kiri, they offer three. S’nao namgnou ($4.25) is a citrusy chicken and rice soup, flavored with kaffir lime and sprinkled with cilantro. It’s reminiscent of Thailand’s tom ka gai but minus coconut milk. S’nao mouan ($4.25) is pretty much the same as s’nao namgnou, but with Thai basil and lemongrass.
Samlor machu yuon ($10.95) is one of those entree-sized soups common to the Khmer table. It’s a delectable, tamarind-scented, sweet and sour broth studded with shrimp, lotus root, pineapple, tomato and lots of Thai basil. It will remind you of Vietnamese canh chua.
Soupy samlor kako ($12.95) features pork and fresh veggies - string beans, peppers, butternut squash and cabbage - in curried broth that’s assertively smoky thanks to toasted rice powder. There’s coconut-milk sweetness to samlor katee ($12.95) - chicken, eggplant, green beans, bamboo shoots and basil in mild, “homemade” green curry. “Spicy” lemongrass tofu ($11.95) is defiantly spicy and dry-fried with poblanos, green beans, lemongrass, ginger and kaffir lime leaves.
Suvarnabhumi Kiri has a small, serviceable wine and sake list, but I think the best complement for this cuisine is a hoppy Chang or Singha ($4.25) Thai lager. The wait staff is friendly but easily overwhelmed.
The restaurant itself is pretty, painted in sage and mustard colors with quarry-tile floors, Chinese-style lanterns hanging from the ceiling and many potted plants. It can get chilly, so dress accordingly.