Falling In Love with Cambodia in Paris!

Written By: Shelly Travis
Edited by: Briana Hill

In Paris, instead of gravitating towards some acclaimed Parisian foods like baguettes, croissants or escargot, I fell in love with a small Cambodian restaurant in the1st arrondissement. This Cambodian restaurant was named, Phnom Penh Saigon. Initially my sister-in-law, who lives is Paris, and I planned to eat at one of her favorite Japanese restaurants. Instead, as we were walking we passed up this Cambodian restaurant and decided to try it out. My sister-in-law, who is part Cambodian, has always been leery of trying Cambodian food other than what her father cooks; when she does she is always disappointed, but we proceeded to go in anyways. When we walked in she noted, “oh I see a Cambodian grandmother in the kitchen, this is going to be good.” One of my favorite foods is Thai, but this meal surpassed anything I had ever eaten!  We both ordered Nom “Bantchok Samiâ Namya”, which is like a rich curry sauce with noodles, ginger, basil and fresh fish. It was all so fresh and so delicious! We also had shrimp dumplings that were amazing! It was so good that I wanted to take one to go, but I decide that I will be back before my time is up here. So far, I have gone two times, and plan to make it back at least one more time. I will definitely be dreaming about this dish when I get back to the States. Phnom Penh Saigon will be one of my first stops when I return to Paris this summer!