Notable numbers of restaurateurs have been migrating to Phnom Penh from around the world to take a bite of what looks to be a boom in the fine dining market. One such restaurateur is Dah Lee, whose 30 years worth of experience in the industry has been put to practice on Sothearos Boulevard.
Dah Lee’s three-week-old enterprise, The Duck, sits opposite the White Building, an endangered living space which many of Phnom Penh’s dancers and public sector workers call home. The glass façade means that diners can look onto the distinctive building – and the building’s residents right into The Duck.
A surreal moment: two potential customers saunter past the window, stop to look at the menu and discuss their options. Where did they come from? How did they come by The Duck, as if by accident? Where would they go if they didn’t go here? It’s as though a piece of London or New York, including the pavement, has been cut and pasted into Phnom Penh.
That said, The Duck does not seem out of place. Simplicity, Lee remarks, is the start and end point. The décor is muted, the music cool and the staff quick-witted (don’t ask them why duck isn’t on the menu unless you don’t mind being embarrassed in front of your date).
The menu follows the same standard. “Three things on a plate is enough,” says Lee. “The casual fine dining experience is about the ingredients: where they come from, what the animal is fed on.” What the animal is fed on is right: Wagyu Scotch fillet steak is a delicacy one would hardly expect to come across in Phnom Penh and tops out at $39, although the tenderloin, $20, comes up beautifully too. In fact, meat lovers are in their element in The Duck, especially those who enjoy lamb and beef.
Lee arrived in Phnom Penh with 1,000 bottles of wine in his trunk. The wine list is pleasingly long: about double the length of the food menu. His choices are exquisite and his knowledge broad. You can pay as little as $4.50 for a Chenin Blanc, or $12 for Champagne. Whatever you drink, rest assured it will be a treat.
The backbone of the menu is French cuisine, but Lee is keen to stress his dedicated awareness of the major chefs of the time, where they work, what they are cooking, how they are presenting it. The main thrust: to be contemporary, to make a space in Phnom Penh which would be equally at home in Singapore, London or LA.
So does that mean Lee envisages The Duck as a flexible concept, which might change over time? The menu, he says, will always maintain reverence for the classic dishes. Although there is something to be said for a seasonal menu in some climates, Lee is keen to be consistent, to be timeless.
The Duck, Sothearos Blvd (next to Trunkh, south of Sihanouk Blvd).