(This venue is closed.) This hip corner restaurant offers communal seating, a sometimes intruding soundtrack, and a "tribute to street food" from Cambodia and its neighbors. (No amok, alas.) Grilled baby cuttlefish (top photo; $8) were paired with a slaw of bell peppers and spicy cabbage; exquisitely tender, and nicely sweetened by soy sauce. A slightly spicy green papaya salad ($7) seemed tired; long beans provided a nice crunch, but baby shrimp added little more than color.
An open-faced crepe of Berkshire pork and chives (bottom photo; $9) — accompanied by bean sprouts, mint, cilantro, and the Cambodian fish sauce called tuk trey, all for loading into Boston lettuce bindles — was a pleasantly messy assemble-it-yourself production. Could use some basil, a more tangy tuk trey, and perhaps a lighter touch with the ground peanuts.
Kampuchea Noodle Bar
78 Rivington St. (at Allen St.)
212-529-3901
