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| - As a Verdunois born and raised, it is such a pleasure to see a restaurant such as Les Street Monkeys open on Wellington. The perfect place to go and to share dishes and discover Cambodian cuisine.
It should be noted that the restaurant does accept reservations and in fact recommends them, as it gets quite busy.
DECOR:
The restaurant replaces an graffiti-ridden empty space on the edge of the commercial part of Wellington with a mix of urban street elements, industrial decor and clean elements. A long wooden bar runs along the somewhat narrow space from the entrance through the bar to the open kitchen. A pipe and lightbulb chandelier and light strips integrated to the ceiling and a decently sized front window give the space a good amount of light, and illuminate the mural that runs along the wall across from the bar. The atmosphere is lively as there are no empty seats in this restaurant; the music is at a reasonable level.
SERVICE:
The service at the restaurant was excellent, with a small hang up in service (which is to be expected in any new restaurant) was quickly corrected. The dishes we ordered were brought out at a good pace.
DRINKS:
We ordered 2 drinks, their twist on a Moscow Mule called "Je Kampote", and "Le Vieux Verdun", a cognac cocktail based on an Old Fashioned. Both were well-made, delicious and of generous size. Though their signature cocktails are probably what most people will go for, they have a decent wine and beer offering, as well as a fully-stocked bar.
FOOD:
On recommendation of our waitress, we got 5 dishes to share for 2 people: the papaya salad, the pan-seared trout with tomato salsa, the wasabi shrimp ceviche, sachko tuk prahok (rare beef slices in a fermented fish sauce) and grilled squid. All the dishes were excellent, well-balanced, with the strong flavours of fish sauce, lime, garlic and lemongrass perfectly balanced. The stand-out dish was by far the pan-seated trout, which was one of the most flavourful pieces of fish I've ever had. For dessert, we shared the dessert of the day (only dessert option), warm sticky rice in a coconut lemongrass sauce, with toasted coconut flakes and mango.
OVERALL: at 95$ +tip for 2 people with 2 drinks and dessert, this restaurant is a must-try!
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