As coffee shops spawn in the Wat Lanka area (even international coffee company Costa Coffee finally got the memo) and a plethora of bars spring up between the already densely populated Riverside and Street 51, it seems that the Russian Market is beginning to develop a specialty all its own. For small, independently owned cafes, bars and restaurants, you need to head to the south of the city.
In December last year, Russian Market locals welcomed the opening of Sesame Noodle Bar: a small restaurant whose culinary forte is a dish widely available in Cambodia. Noodles are not widely available like this, though. Set apart from the oftentimes warm, bordering on sauna-like covered market’s food stalls and the expensive Riverside hotspots is this little hideaway, located on street 460 amid private houses and a few beer gardens.
The building itself hasn’t been changed from its original layout. The Chinese-Cambodian-style ground floor still stretches out beneath the balcony of the first floor but the exposed light-bulbs and retro toys bespeak trendy London/New York drinking spots, and the posters which adorn the back wall, American canteen.
The hybrid of styles evinced in the decor is mirrored in the cooking, which takes inspiration from Japanese and Chinese cuisine and, like the restaurant, the menu is small but unique. Underscoring the whole is, unsurprisingly, noodles. The choice for the main meal is between one of two dishes, each of which contain pork. Vegetarians and observant Hebrews need not despair, however. The list of side dishes offers two vegetarian options and sesame chicken.
Sesame Noodle Bar is a great example of simple food, done to perfection. “If the menu can’t fit on an A5 paper, it’s too big,” exclaim the owners (via their well-maintained website, sesamenoodlebar.com). Ordering one of three lunch specials, the Pork Buns with Sesame House Noodle, proves that pork can be the highlight of a meal, twice. Tender, sweet and tangy, the meat reinvigorates an otherwise simple vegetarian noodle dish.
The driving concept behind Sesame Noodle Bar is to create food for the climate. Unlike larger restaurant and cafe chains, the owners of Sesame Noodle Bar allow the location to define what’s served. Noodles are served chilled and the side dishes are light. In fact, one diner likened her experience of the Mighty Thor Buns to “eating little clouds”.
Not to make Sesame Noodle Bar appear too distant from its counterparts, the owners have also taken inspiration from their neighbours, who have been serving nom banh chop in the Russian Market for decades. Food is prepared behind a high counter, but in the same space as the customers. It is fast, but it is also fresh.
A word of warning: the decision to maintain the original architecture means that seating space is limited, but the open-plan bar/kitchen/restaurant lends a sense of intimacy rather than claustrophobia, and solitary diners wouldn’t feel awkward sitting at the bar with a book (or a copy of The Advisor). Go with a friend or go alone, but go, if only to play with the toys which sit atop the bar.
Sesame Noodle Bar, ‘The Real’ #9, Street 460 (just east of the Russian Market)