Have a Look Inside Verdun’s New Cambodian Restaurant Les Street Monkeys

At last, Montreal can boast a new Cambodian restaurant to its diverse catalog of restaurants. Les Street Monkeys, a street food-inspired endeavour spun from the minds of co-owner Tota Oung, William Kit, and Sihour Kong, opened softly earlier this month with a grand opening slated to occur this Thursday, June 22nd.

The interior displays gnarly elements of alleyways, from its mural that runs the length of the restaurant to the strings of neon and exposed filament bulb lighting above the bar, as well as the industry of hardwood and exposed ductwork:

Grid View

• Storefront Randall Brodeur
• Interior Randall Brodeur
• Interior Randall Brodeur
• The line Randall Brodeur
• The menu Randall Brodeur
• Wall mural Randall Brodeur
• The bar Randall Brodeur
• Seating Randall Brodeur
• The bar Randall Brodeur
• Lighting Randall Brodeur
• Lighting Randall Brodeur

“People in Verdun are very excited that something so different is opening up in their neighbourhood. They are glad that they don’t have to go to downtown to have some good Asian food,” Oung tells Eater, noting that Cambodians in the city are embracing the fresh expression of culture. “They are glad to see people from so many backgrounds come together and enjoy Cambodian food. Not many Cambodian-owned businesses are in the spotlight these days.”

Alongside other dishes such as amok and thin-sliced beef mentioned in a past anticipatory interview, the eatery also promises items such as trout pan-fried in clarified butter, shrimp ceviche, mee siam (a thin rice vermicelli dish) in a spiced soybean and crabmeat sauce, grilled eggplant and papaya salads, and ‘mom’s imperial rolls’ — a mix of ground pork, onion, taro, salt, sugar and Cambodian kampot pepper.

“The only thing on the menu that is made by my mom are the spring rolls, because no matter how hard I try I can’t make them as well as she does,” says Oung. It only seems to add to the heartfelt work of the chef. “(People) are aware that some dishes are not 100% authentic, but they tell us that the taste is completely authentic,” Oung notes. “One guy told us that it was better than his mom’s food, which is what we are aiming for.”

STATUS — Les Street Monkeys is open at 3625 Wellington this Thursday for a two-hour service that begins at 5 p.m. with music by DJs Jericho and Randy Thong.

• Les Street Monkeys [Facebook]
• Les Street Monkeys Gets Ready to Bring Cambodian Eats to Verdun [EMTL]