Cambodia is as famous for the horrors of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge as it is for its verdant jungles and the wondrous city of Angkor. Perhaps we should have taken that as an omen…
Bohpa Devi
2 Rakaia Way, Docklands
Bopha Devi is in the heart of the Docklands. Why anyone ever thought the Docklands would be a good idea is a mystery, as is where to park when you get there. The few carparks that are there come at a premium - if you can be in an out in under two hours it’s a mere $14, but don’t linger over dessert.
Not that you’d necessarily want to. Bopha Devi’s décor was a mixture of the bland (beige walls) and the gauche (an absurd chandelier), and the backless chairs were uncomfortable and crammed together far too tight. There was nothing recognisably Cambodian in the room, except for a solitary Buddha looking lost on the bar. Even the waiter was a European tourist with a frail grasp on English.
Nonetheless, four of our intrepid diners – Caroline, Nick, Naomi and Sai – subjected themselves to the underwhelming Docklands ambience in the name of international cuisine. The menus proved hard to find, being easily confused for placemats (the staff who might have pointed this out being easily confused in general), but did appear to offer a range of regional specialties emphasising lighter flavours like lemongrass, lime and turmeric. At this stage we were still hopeful that the night would not be a complete disaster.
Entrée
K’dom – chicken and crab meat rolled in crispy fried bread
Salad
Pleah Saiko – lime-marinated beed with bean sprouts, mint, basil leaves, lemongrass and crushed nuts.
Soup
Somlah Machou Kroeung – tamarind-based soup with water spinach, flavoured with lemongrass, turmeric and kaffir lime leaves.
Mains
Saramann – “protein of choice” (we chose chicken) served with coconut cream, onions, brocoli, five-spice, lemongrass, turmeric, lime leaves and crushed peanuts.
Mouan Ang – chargrilled chicken and onions meatballs with vermicelli, lettuce, mint, cucumber, crushed nuts and fish sauce.
Entrée
K’dom might, in Cambodia, be some kind of variant on a spring roll. What we got served were basically deep fried seafood sticks. Ugh.
Mains
When we read on the menu that the curries came with “protein of your choice” we thought it was quaint use of English. Actually “protein” is about the best description of what was served – to call it “beef” or “chicken” or anything else would be to imply texture and flavour that simply weren’t there.
The beef salad comprised strips of beef and bean shoots that tasted only of the crushed peanut topping and a bit of vinegar. Apart from sounding like something from Lord of the Rings, the Saramann Chicken was entirely forgettable. We declined the second dish of it they brought out because our order for “rice for two” was misunderstood. The meatballs were deeply ordinary and served with hot rice vermicelli that had the consistency of Clag glue and the taste to match. In fact, the only thing that had any flavour was the tamarind soup, which was so overpowering one hapless diner described it as “like drinking straight from a sauce bottle.”
Dessert
The bland finale of the night was the complimentary mini Mentos mint served with the bill. Most diners agreed that this was in fact the highlight of the meal, closely seconded by the tea.
Overall
Inept service, difficult location, horrible décor and disgusting food: what’s not to hate? $22 each later we still had no idea what real Cambodian food would actually taste like. Here is a photo of us having a good time at Max Brenner’s in the city afterwards.
Max Brenner’s good. Bopha Devi bad.
Do YOU know a good Cambodian restaurant in Melbourne? If you do, please tell us about it.
