La Petite Mangue

Courtesy of restaurant-montreal (forgot to take a pic!)

So, I was invited to try this Cambodian restaurant a couple weeks ago through my blog's facebook page and was quite excited! The menu looked so darn tootin good! Plus, when do I get to eat Cambodian food? NEVER!

I got there with my partner in crime, Val, and waited. And then, we waited some more. AND some more. Oh, and then the busboy came to see us and I tried to explain that I got invited because I have a blog and what have you and he seemed highly confused. Man, this wasn't going to be easy. Finally, the waiter (who was busy serving around 50 people!!!) came around and sat us at the most romantic spot in the restaurant. Hahaha. Yep, this was going to be quite romantic indeed! NOT! Anyhoot, I had to show him my fb with the invite! I think both parties were embarrassed by this. Point is, he got it. He suggested some items on the menu and the table d'hôte. Ps: you will find the best, cheapest, wine in town there. A bottle worth 16$ at the SAQ is being sold 24$ there. HELLO! 

The place itself doesn't seem to have the best set up: you enter and BAM, tables everywhere, some, cafeteria style with 3 or 4 tables stuck together. The decor is nothing to write home about and I have to stress, again, that that poor waiter had the whole restaurant to himself that night.

And now, let's talk food, shall we? We ordered two table d'hôte + a salad. We also ordered a bottle of white wine that, and I'll say it again, only cost us 24$!!!!

Siem Reap: curry soup with vermicelli, iceberg lettuce, onion and lemon wedge. A tad spicy and a lot lemony, with great flavours! This was a hit for sure! Loved all of it!

 

Your basic spring roll with mint, carrots, and what have you. Wasn't the best in town but still tasted good. The sauce was good without being too spicy.

Imperial rolls: obviously we had the pork ones (we love our pork!) and they were good but not great. Again, the sauce was lovely and not that spicy.

A bad picture. I mean, the papaya salad. Very spicy! I mean, we could definitely handle it but some might not. The green beans added just the crunch that was needed. The tomatoes... didn't really have a reason to be there, we found. the lemon added the my-mouth-is-on-fire-I-need-something-to-calm-it-down part :)

Amok: a Cambodian specialty! Fish bathed in coconut milk and infused with a lemongrass blend. You had me at coconut! Wait, no, you had me at lemongrass. The fish was spicy and moist but the broth was a tad too salty. The coconut was very present and the lemongrass as well. Great mix of flavours! An overall great dish. We hadn't even ordered it but the waiter thought we should try it. GREAT idea dude, great idea.

Kroeung: traditional Cambodian sauté with onions, peppers and infused lemongrass and peanut sauce. The beef was a bit on the cold side but the spices made it damn good! the veggies were well seasoned and were crunchy, which gave a nice texture to the dish.

Savory sweet pork with crispy bamboo shoots. It was good but not as good as the beef. The rice that accompanied it wasn't nearly as good as it should have been. I mean, the whole was good, just not the best.

And now, the service. The busboy turned out to be very entertaining. At one point, we were cracking up about something and he came to our table and started cracking up too. Twas very cute! The dishes didn't come as fast as we would have liked but I blame the fact that the other waiter was probably out sick for the evening.

And now, the scooooores!

Food: 8.5
Service: 7

This was a hit! I'll totally go back at some point and try their other dishes!

ps: with our food being free and our wine (we had a bottle and a half) being something like 30% off, we ended up only paying something like 12 dollars each plus a hefty tip. Good deal? Hells YA!