Gem of a little authentic Cambodian restaurant, new to Annecy, which also has dishes from…read moreneighboring Vietnam and Thailand. Friendly, delicious and great ingredients--the prices are higher than the average Asian restaurant, but justified by the difference in quality.
I hadn't had Cambodian food before, and really enjoyed tasting food that was new, but also familiar, as it is has a lot in common the cuisines of neighboring Vietnam and Thailand. And also (if I remember correctly what the waiter said), the chef's wife is Vietnamese...and the restaurant has a Bo Bun (noodle bowl) on the menu.
I didn't try that for my first visit....instead I ordered the special of the day, for 22 euros. I chose the special because it had three different dishes, so I'd get to try a mix of things. The chef delivered the meal himself, and told me it was like a home cooked meal in Cambodia. Apparently it's common there, when time and money permit, to eat a mix of different dishes rather than just one large portion of the same thing. Lots of fun when you're a gourmande like me!
The quality of the ingredients and the preparation was excellent--a far cry from the pre-made nems reheated in a microwave so typical of Asian traiteurs in France.
My favorite of the three dishes was tender chicken chunks and vegetables in a savory coconut broth, which reminded me of a Thai Tom Yum soup. The coconut broth was absolutely delicious. The chef brought me a Nuoc Mam (fermented fish sauce) with spicy red peppers as an optional addition to this. The fish sauce was spicy and strong and wonderful (the kind of thing you'll love, if you like that sort of thing, and I do), but the coconut sauce was so good by itself I ended up not using much of the Nuoc Mam.
The other two dishes were a tender carmelized porc dish, shredded in a brown sauce with quartered hard-boiled eggs, and an amazing bowl of rice. It was labeled "Cantonese rice" but it had nothing in common with the typical peas and egg concoction typically found in France. The flavor was a very mild aromatic spice flavor (not sure what but it was *good*) with a small amount (just right) of Chinese sausage, barbecue pork and scrambled egg mixed in.
Some reviews on another site talk of long waits here for your food. I came early on a Sunday night, and I didn't wait long at all. However, the waiter told me the wait for food can be significant when there's a crowd (particularly on Friday and Saturday nights) because everything is made to order, and the kitchen is small, with just the chef and no assistants. So basically, if you're in a hurry, don't come here when it's busy!
Sam' Angkor has been around for a while as a "Traiteur" or take-out place in La Roche Sur Foron. The Annecy restaurant location opened (I believe) in May.
I plan to come back and try the Pad Thai (apparently it's the Thai dish as it would be eaten in Cambodia...) and the Bo Bun, so I'll update after I've tried those!
