Friday, February 25, 2011

Battambang Cambodian, Cabramatta (Secret Sydney)


Battambang restaurant in Cabramatta is on the eastern side of town (sometimes even called Khmer side).  It's  much quieter and sleepier, most people don't even notice this side of town it's so discreet.  Dong Vu, Won Kee (although it's Chinese-Cambodian), Dong Son and even the relatively new Bayon are all on the western side of town and have much greater awareness and visibility.  Don't confuse this with the sister Battambang restaurant on the western side of Cabramatta, that one is off John Street.



Battambang restaurant in Cabramatta is named after the second largest city in Cambodia, known as the leading rice producer of the country and a commercial hub attracting Thais, Laos, Chinese and of course Cambodian traders.

Many have heard of Phnom Penh noodles and that's the dish that I love here - the 'dry' version where the soup comes separately.  As you can see in the video and photo above the lovely glutinous rice noodles come out dry with many types of meat and offal and congealed blood (you get alot of it in many south east Asian food).  The noodles are flavoured by a nice, salty dark sauce and the meat is also saltier than usual - it should be this way because dry noodles do not get the benefit of flavour that comes from the soup.


Speaking of soup, that comes in a separate bowl, it's clear with some coriander and shallots as garnish.  You can take a mouthful of the noodles at the same time a mouthful of soup.  Or you can take them in separate mouthfuls.  I prefer the latter because you can fully appreciate the dry noodles and meat.

This is another Secret Sydney post. Secret Sydney is a new noodlies Sydney food blog project to uncover authentic, diverse food and culture all around Sydney.

Battambang Cambodian Restaurant
Shop 4, 156-158 Cabramatta Rd, CABRAMATTA
Phone: (02) 9724 7307

PS: In the video, the fried breadsticks brought out is an optional extra, not a complimentary side dish.

13 comments:

  1. Never heard of dry noodles weird idea how does it taste?

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  2. Yeah, it's pretty common and delicious, Tan Viet does a very good egg noodle in Cabra as well

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  3. Great idea Thang! I just read about a publisher putting out a book on the secret spots of Melbourne!

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  4. thanks for the tip Lorraine... though I reckon online is the way to go, these places change or close too often for a book version.

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  5. I've been going there ever since I was 7 and its still the best hu tieu I ever had ♥
    I only tried the dry one last year and omg I can't believe I was missing out on all this deliciousness!!
    how do you think their soup compares to the other restaurants at cabra?

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  6. Actually the dry hu tieu at Battambang is my fav in Cabra, and I've eaten at pretty much all of them - even the Battambang off John St that is own by the sister of the owner here.

    Like you I fell over the first time I had it here, utterly delicious.

    Went to Cambodia for the first time in Dec last year, loved it... thinking of going back end of this year.

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  7. this place looks interesting. i cannot eat blood jelly though ><

    Ive never tried cambondian cuisine. I guess its just not out there.

    I guess i know where im going next :)

    End of this year. Im so envious, i want to go travelling this year. Just depends on my annual leave and parents :(

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  8. I'm sure you've had cambodian stuff.. or something similar. At the moment I'm trying to get up a trip to either south east Asia (Cambodia, Thailand, VN, Laos) or Korean and Japan... either would be fun!

    Promise we'll have dinner soon.. just that I'm a tad busy next few weeks!

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  9. Cool and Delicious its recipe. Interesting this post and Testy its food. very good Idea for recipe and very nice look.thanks

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  10. Ooh, haven't been to this one before - have only tried the Battambang off John Street, but I love the hu tieu noodle. Chewy wonderful goodness! That looks like my perfect noodle soup! Great project!

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  11. Thx Trina, you have to try this place it does well with the local crowd, but not many others know about it.

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  12. I do love 'dry' noodles. The flavour is more intense. Another good find.

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  13. Have to thank you for doing a post uncovering Cambodian restaurants - I can't seem to find them around. Any uniquely Cambodian dishes you recommend? I'd probably consider hu tieu more Chinese-Cambodian considering it arrived with Chinese migrants.

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