Perth Voice Interactive

I had never tried Cambodian cuisine before, so I was keen to check out Royal Cambodia in East Perth.

Situated on Eastbrook Terrace in Claisebrook Cove, the restaurant has a lovely waterfront alfresco overlooking the picturesque inlet and swanky condos.

On a sunny summer’s day, it looked gorgeous with the light reflecting off the gently lapping water.

The Voice reported last week that Perth council are considering a $31million repair package for the area (“Cove clean-up”), so hopefully that will go ahead and it will look even better.

The interior of Royal Cambodia was classy, atmospheric and quite dark, but in a cosy way, providing respite from the heat outside.

Hats off to the restaurant for being open for lunch earlier in the week, when many at the Cove, out with the brunch places, are closed.

Royal’s menu had a large range of classic Cambodian dishes and other asian cuisine like green curry, laksa, nasi goreng, sweet and sour, and mei fun.

There was also a discounted lunch menu and an extensive range of vegetarian mains, soups and starters, so they had a lot of bases covered.

I wanted to try some of the Cambodian dishes, so I ordered the Lok Lak ($24.90).

Perched on the summit of the dish was a fried egg, an interesting and unexpected garnish.

Underneath was a mound of beef strips with lettuce, sliced tomato and onions.

It was a bit like the filling for a gourmet kebab.

The tender beef had a slightly peppery kick and a generous punch of garlic. 

When combined with the egg, it was a tasty and very enjoyable main, if not super memorable.

Across the table my wife “Special K” was busy tucking into her Ginger Chicken ($22.90).

“It’s a very fresh and light dish with lots of shredded ginger,” she noted.

“It’s almost like a soup with a very thin sauce and lots of broccoli, cauliflower and bok choy.

“There’s heaps of chicken and it’s nice and tender.”

We both shared a steamed jasmine rice ($5) which was fragrant and fluffy.

My wife had previously been to the restaurant as a civilian and reported the fish amok – a traditional Cambodian curry with kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, palm sugar and fresh basil with coconut cream sauce – was delicious.

A few of the Cambodian dishes like Khmer Spicy included lemongrass, and they seemed to favour “clean” and refreshing flavours.

My young kids Bamm-Bamm and Pebbles shared a pad Thai ($19.90). It easily fed both of them and had a nice mix of chicken, spring onions, beansprouts and crushed nuts.

My daughter really enjoyed the noodles but said the chicken was slightly on the tough side.

At under $20 it was good value and there was lots of chook.

I enjoyed my visit to the Royal Cambodia – the dishes were clean and light with plenty of flavour, and were well-priced with good portions.

Next time, I’ll try their signature fish amok curry which sounds more on the decadent side of things.

Royal Cambodia Restaurant
8 Eastbrook Terrace, East Perth

by STEPHEN POLLOCK