The concept of Cuisine Wat Damnak is simple – to source only the very best local seasonal produce in order to create innovative tasting menus of delicious Cambodian food.

Cambodia is home not only to indigenous Khmers but to a diverse population including Cham, Vietnamese, Chinese and smaller ethnic minorities. Likewise, Cambodian food seeks to acknowledge and embrace the wider ethnic culinary influences found throughout the kingdom.

At Cuisine Wat Damnak, you won’t find traditional Khmer food such as amok on the menu. Rather, it is our aim to introduce you to unique, locally sourced, often rare ingredients that you may never even have heard of before, let alone tasted. You might try fruits such as ambarella, Java feronilla and kuy fruit; eat local fish and shellfish unique to the Mekong and Tonle Sap lake; and sample fresh lotus seeds, wild lily stems and edible flowers to name but a few.

The vast majority of our ingredients are bought daily, fresh from the local markets and through a local womens’ cooperative. After many years spent trialling and sourcing produce in the area, Joannès knows exactly where to go to obtain the very best quality and flavoursome ingredients.

In addition to using cultivated produce, we also make the most of hand-picked wild ingredients, such as mushrooms, wild mangosteen, and tromong leaves. Not content with always using the same ingredients, we are constantly on the look out for new produce to offer to our customers in order to keep our menu interesting and varied.

Back in the restaurant kitchen, Joannès gives the carefully-sourced, new and exciting foodstuffs special treatment, transforming them into delicious, beautifully presented dishes in his own modern interpretation of Cambodian cuisine. The well thought-out and imaginative dégustation menus, which change every week to take into account the variation in seasonal produce, are specifically designed to encourage customers to sample an array of local specialties that they may not otherwise even think of ordering.

Whether you visit our restaurant only once in your lifetime, or you return time and time again; come, dive in and immerse yourself in a fabulous gourmet Cambodian culinary experience you are unlikely to forget.