When, as in our case, the petite waitress welcomes you to Khmai and offers explanations on the restaurant’s extensive menu, she’ll also provide a brief history of how the now “it” eatery in Rogers Park came into being. As riveting as the restaurant’s food is delicious, the story of how a family escaped mass slaughter in Cambodia to build a life and a future around their love and skill with food could rival anything in the Mission Impossible franchise.
If you’re lucky, you might catch a glimpse of the two women who manage to be both survivors and conquering entrepreneurs when they slip out of the kitchen to check in with the floor staff or the bar. Mona Sang and her mother Sarom Sieng share a consuming love for their native cuisine and are now well accustomed to working side by side as culinary ambassadors and fiercely accomplished chefs. From selling food out of their home kitchen, to catering, to pop ups and now with their own brick and mortar restaurant, they’re offering Chicagoans what all diners universally crave, splendid food that happens to be fairly priced.
If the unfamiliar is intimidating, the menu at Khmai might scare you to death. At least until you get past the names of the items offered. Their descriptions are much more approachable and enticing. They conjure up pleasingly adventurous possibilities and ignite the imagination. Spices from the region lean toward the pungent and can be assertive. Inquisitive pallets can look forward to a field day of new discoveries at Khmai. But others who simply want to enjoy tastes and textures they’ve loved all of their lives will be just as pleased. The familiar will just be presented in deliciously different ways.
That truth may explain why Sach Koh Ang is such a runaway favorite for many of the restaurant’s visitors. Mildly infused with lemongrass and seasoned with Khmer spices and chili peppers, beef skewers are given the couture treatment. Topped with fresh basil, pickled papaya and what looked to be shaved purple cabbage, the beef is luxuriously succulent and wonderfully flavorful. Considered a “small bite” or appetizer, the six well packed skewers comprise a very generous serving because at Khmai everything is meant to be shared. Anyone who’s not ravenous or has the appetite of a sumo wrestler should order carefully. Divided into four sections that include Salads and Dips, Entrees and Traditional Khmai Dishes, in addition to the first course, ordering from each category might prove over-zealous. Although there were several tables diving far and wide in the entire menu, the waitstaff will likely advise that you order just one option from three of the four categories. Your satisfaction barometer will lead you from there.
Khmai’s four standard entrees skew light but are still amazingly filling. A noodle dish mad with irresistible peekaboo flavors, Cha Mee Katang is sink back and indulge wonderful. Composed of wide pan-fried noodles rendered soft and pliant in a subtly complex broth dense with bean sprouts, green onions, roasted peanuts and fresh herbs, you choose the protein to complement the medley. With its pleasant chew and wonderful texture, tofu proved a most satisfying option. For richness and a completely different profile, Bai Sach Chrouk offers a new slant on delectable. Marinated in chili fish sauce, sweet soy, ginger, garlic and “ginger’s more citrusy cousin”, galanga, pork shoulder is grilled and topped with green onions, crispy garlic and fresh herbs. Additional fish sauce stands at the ready for dipping.
A raging tempest outside and very cool temperatures inside made a big bowl of comfort sound perfect when our waitress described one of the restaurant’s popular curry dishes, Somlar Kari Sach Morn. Packed with the sustaining nutrition of potatoes, carrots and marinated chicken, it reminds you of a superb posole or an extremely satisfying and very hearty Midwestern stew. Marination and the right selection of spices count as the dual pronged secret behind all of the items in the traditional menu. The salmon dish, Trei Amok, chills in spices commonly used in Cambodia before being braised in a coconut milk curry broth. Both the short ribs and steak dishes get their own customized accents that render them exceptional.
Spare, immaculate and casually spacious, Khmai’s quietly refined dining room is a welcoming space for making discoveries. From the bread service to dessert, the restaurant honors the endless possibilities of wonderfully prepared food and highlights the rich gastronomic contributions of immigrant populations.
Khmai
Tues – Sat
3:30pm – 9:00pm
Opentable
2043 W. Howard Street
Chicago, IL 60645
312-626-7710
![PrideArts [title of show] Raining Gold](https://rowgseat1.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/a53939222075_ceaf585bae_k.jpg)
