Kampuchea Restaurant

if only good intentions were enough. the staff here is super-sweet and well-intentioned, but to say that the food is lackluster is generous. i agree with the other reviewer that the veggie stew was honestly pretty bad- i mean, my fiance will seriously eat just about anything, particularly if it costs $14, but still only managed to get a few bites down (unprecedented in the 4 years i've known him). As for me, i don't mind paying extra for a fancy bowl of pho (filet mignon was nice and tender), but it definitely was not worth $16!!!! This is from someone whe NEVER complains about the cost of food or portion size. i mean seriously, i'll settle for the $4 chinatown version any day. In all fairness, the staff really is gracious and took the veggie stew off the check even though we didn't complain or ask them not to charge us (they just noticed we hadn't eaten it). As for my order of pho, I ate every last tiny morsel, plus the bowl and chopsticks because i was still hungry, therefore, i cannot fault them for charging me the full $16. Pros: nice atmosphere (though cramped), well-intentioned staff Cons: mediocre food, overpriced more

This restaraunt must make a choice to change its food quality to price ratio. Either dramatically improve the tastiness and ingredients quality or lower prices. While the apps were good (grilled corn was memorable, shrimp crepes delicious), and the atmosphere was nice, the main courses were unacceptable and mispriced to boot. My wife had the sole veggie noodle offering, which was a stew that for all intents and purposes was gruel, akin to the stuff served at Rikers Island I would imagine. Moreover, they served her grilled bread on the side rather than noodles! And this veggie gruel dish was $16 - for vegetables? And I had the chicken noodle soup which tasted like Asian food you'd get in the Midwest with muted flavors, in part because the base derived its flavor from chicken stock rather than pork (like Momo) which is quite frankly the more important white meat. And there were so many bean sprouts, I felt like I was in a health food store. There are just way too many other compelling options in NYC more deserving of the stomache space more