Food Fridays: Cuisine Wat Damnak in Siem Reap

A refined version of a street eat–nom banh chok–is an example of Chef Riviere’s aim to serve modernized and creative Cambodian cuisine. Kaylene Hong/The Wall Street Journal

July 27, 2012
By Kaylene Hong
The Wall Street Journal

Be prepared to be surprised at Cuisine Wat Damnak, a contemporary Cambodian restaurant in Siem Reap that has entirely transformed native dishes seen on the streets into haute cuisine.

Having earlier eaten nom banh chok—a Cambodian dish of rice noodles with a thin curry gravy ladled onto it—at a local market after trooping through muddy walkways displaying squirming, bloody fish, the nom banh chok at Cuisine Wat Damnak was almost unrecognizable.

It had a different and rather elaborate description on the menu: “Mekong langoustine in light curry and coconut broth, fresh rice vermicelli and local crudités.” Essentially it was a sophisticated version of nom banh chok—with the broth tasting richly of shrimps, and the dish topped with expertly-seared mini lobsters and a borrowed French element, crudités, or sliced raw vegetables. Decadent, but delicious.

The dish was a showcase of how Cuisine Wat Damnak has created a distinctive identity for itself. Native Cambodian ingredients are used in an entirely different way, some staple dishes are given a fresh spin, and everything is served progressively in courses.

“I like to see the food I am serving as Cambodian food with a modern French sensitivity,” chef Joannes Riviere says.

The restaurant doesn’t offer a fixed menu—it only lists two degustation menus, one with five courses (US$17) and the other with six (US$24), which change every week. On the day of this reporter’s visit, the Mekong langoustine with rice noodles was the fourth dish in the six-course tasting menu.

Mr. Riviere says the restaurant is set up around the idea of showcasing Cambodian produce, which is “nowadays a very common thing in restaurants in France and all over the world.”

The former executive chef of acclaimed Hotel de la Paix’s Meric restaurant, who first came to Cambodia as a volunteer cooking teacher in 2003 and ended up staying in the country, decided to set up Cuisine Wat Damnak in 2011. He chose to focus on Cambodian cuisine after he noted that Western produce in Cambodia is often of very average quality.

“On the other hand there are plenty of excellent fishes, amazing aromatic plants and unseen vegetables just outside of Siem Reap, waiting to be used. Cambodian cuisine naturally became an obvious choice,” he says.

Among the several dishes served during this reporter’s visit, a starter of seared beef tenderloin stood out for its seemingly random mix of ingredients. Pinkish beef slices were plated with a surprising addition of beef jerky that was grilled with—and tasted strongly of—fish sauce, tendrils of young morning glory, wild mango kernel seeds and drizzled with “oyster sauce.” The dish boasted a burst of flavors that showed how Mr. Riviere’s French culinary influence has fused comfortably with the Cambodian ingredients, though it was a pity that the star of the dish—the beef—was overwhelmed by the supporting elements.

One of the mains—black sticky rice porridge with quail and fish fillet—was similar to a risotto, another dish that displayed a masterful blend of traditional Cambodian ingredients presented in a Western way.

Another main—braised pork—looked absolutely unassuming. But it turned out to be the best dish of the night. The star anise and caramelized palm sugar used in the fragrant dark braising liquid had seeped into the tender pork and lotus root pieces, and a piece of deep-fried crispy pork shank topped the dish, adding a crunchy texture.

And with its focus on showcasing produce, Cuisine Wat Damnak is an exclusive to Siem Reap. Mr. Riviere is adamant that his restaurant simply can’t be replicated elsewhere.

“I think we are successful because of the quality of the ingredients,” he says. “Without that our food would be very ordinary. If we move overseas then it would not work anymore.”

Cuisine Wat Damnak is located between Psa Dey Hoy market and Angkor High School, Wat Damnak village, Sala Kamrek Commune in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Open Tuesday to Saturday from 6.30 p.m. till 9.45 p.m. (last order). For reservations, call +855 (0)63 965 491 / +855 (0)77 347 762 or email info@cuisinewatdamnak.com.