the elephant walk

Last weekend I headed out to a friend's birthday party at The Elephant Walk, a Cambodian-French restaurant with 3 locations in the Boston area. Never having experienced Cambodian food, but obviously a huge fan of French food, I went in with an open mind but minimal expectations, and was blown away by the amount of flavor packaged in these dishes. This is also one of the most accommodating restaurants I have been to, with a massive menu including both Cambodian, French, vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free options, this is a great place to take a large group.

T started with the nataing; ground pork simmered in coconut milk with sliced garlic, peanuts and chili pods served with crispy rice (which felt & tasted just like unsweetened rice crispies).

I started with the rouleaux; crispy Cambodian spring rolls filled with mushrooms, peanut, noodles, carrot and onion with tuk trey for dipping. I shared only 2 of the 5...mmm.
 

Next T went with the crepe au canard et champignons; a warm crepe filled with duck braised in soy-ginger and tamaring juices, with mushroom and scallion. I had half and kept sneaking more...I don't even like duck but this was amaaaazing!

Although you reeeeally can't see it very well, for his entree T went with the dish I forced him to order (as I wanted half): loc lac; cubed beef tenderloin lightly caramalized in black pepper, garlic, and mushroom soy witt a lime dipping sauce. It was good, it didn't blow me away, and I was glad I ordered mine..which was the best dish of the night...

A dish of braised boneless short ribs with a gravy-like sauce, asparagus, and garlicky mashed potatoes...unbelievably tasty. One bite of the beef and my whole mouth was overwhelmingly filled with a whole bowl of beef stew. This dish is definitely in my top 5 last-meal requests.

For dessert T & I split the le peche au chocolate; a rich, creamy, chocolate truffle cake paired with a raspberry sauce. Tasty but extremely rich & filling, I would not recommend getting this on your own! 
 

My only complaint is the fact that dinner took about 3 hours, with terribly slow service I was given 2 cocktails within the 3 hours...soooo sloooowwww. If the food wasn't amazing, I definitely would not go back...but it was...and I will be back when I have the time to spend waiting! 

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