2 weeks Ago
Loc Lac at Oun Lido’s. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer Four months after opening Oun Lido’s, chef/co-owner Bounahcree Kim is just getting started. Since debuting his modern Cambodian restaurant in the Old Port this May, Kim has discovered just how much potential his already-dynamite business really holds.
And spotting opportunities, he is eager to take advantage of them. Right now, Oun Lido’s offers only takeout, delivery and counter-service meals that can be taken upstairs to the in-progress dining room. But plans are underway for more in the tri-level, former Pat’s Pizza space.
Much, much more. “We finally got in some tables and chairs so folks can order food and go sit upstairs, but that’s just the beginning,” he said. “We are taking it floor by floor.
We’re applying for a liquor license and are going to use part of the dining room as a bar. On the second floor, we’re going to have more of an event space with karaoke and dancing. But sooner than that, in the next couple of months, we are going to start offering full table-service dinners.
” I’m going to make a prediction and a suggestion. By the time the new year rolls around, it will be tough to score a table at Oun Lido’s. Hence my suggestion: Don’t let the multi-chambered, ground-level dining room, with its sparse furnishings and black ceilings dissuade you.
Go now, while you can. Because while the restaurant looks unfinished and is still evolving into its final form, you can stroll in, descend a half-flight of stairs and order creative, comforting dishes that blend traditional Cambodian cooking with Chinese inspirations. The dining room at Oun Lido’s in Portland.
Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer I anticipate that chef Kim (an alum of Pai Men Miyake who prefers to be called “Bones”) and his business partner, James Beard Award finalist Vien Dobui of Cong Tu Bot, are going to be a huge success in this admittedly bizarrely laid-out space. The food is exceptional already. Start with gluten-free banh chao fresh rolls ($12).
These appear to be mostly classic rice-paper parcels of glass noodles, shiso and cilantro, along with delicate matchsticks of pickled carrot and daikon. But tucked into the wiggly, translucent wrapper is a savory egg crepe (banh chao) made with coconut milk, rice flour and scallions. Kim explained, “I wanted to do something a little different.
You can get spring rolls anywhere, but I was thinking about doing banh chao also, so I thought I’d go ahead and combine the two. They’re both kind of wraps, so why not?” No argument here. Neorm salad at Oun Lido’s.
Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer In the larger-format neorm ($14), a vibrant salad of shredded cabbage, mung bean noodles, green beans and mint, Kim updates the Cambodian classic with a nuanced, cautiously sweetened fish-sauce dressing that murmurs in the background rather than bellows. This version also includes a deep-fried treat for eating your veggies: one of the restaurant’s appealing ground chicken, wood-ear mushroom egg rolls (nam chien, also offered a la carte at $10 for three). These fit into the context of a salad surprisingly well, thanks to bright, aromatic lemon zest folded into the chicken filling.
Another chicken dish, the hot lemon chicken appetizer ($12) is less successful. I enjoyed the crisp, turmeric-golden crust on each of the twice deep-fried cubes of chicken thigh meat quite a bit, but several pieces were overcooked. Not even the fiery citrus caramel sauce could make up for tough nuggets.
Pork Pot Stickers at Oun Lido’s. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer According to Kim, much of the inspiration for Oun Lido’s comes from the lush Wong Kar Wai film, “In the Mood for Love,” a food-focused, Chinese-language picture in which marital infidelities are revealed through bites of steak dipped into spicy mustard. You can see the movie’s influence in street-food dishes that echo bites eaten on screen, like pork potstickers ($12) fried with a lacey, crispy cornstarch-and-vinegar “skirt” around each dumpling recalling a scene where the main character scarfs wontons in a single bite.
In keeping with the film’s signature scene, there’s a scene-stealer of a main dish featuring shaved sirloin: loc lac ($23). In place of spicy mustard: a garlicky glaze to bathe the tender slices of steak and a puckery lime-pepper sauce that cuts through gooey yolk from a single, perfect sunny-side-up egg. Kim and Dobui also mine nostalgia for creative sparks, chiseling out evocative culinary memories and transforming them into noteworthy dishes.
Take the kathew cha ($23), a saucy chicken and shrimp dish prepared with square-cut rice noodles (think spaghetti chitarra), bean sprouts, peanuts and cilantro. It might remind you of pad thai, but this plate interrupts comparisons with galloping, palate-tickling umami delivered by a tarry, fish-sauce caramel. “Our menu is a little beef heavy, so we wanted to do something with chicken, but make it satisfying, (something that) draws you in with umami,” Kim told me.
“I grew up with those noodles as a kid. At parties or at a wedding, it was something easy for the aunties to make a big batch of, but it’s usually just (dressed with) sweet soy and fish sauce. Don’t get me wrong: Noodles like that are very good, but I wanted more.
I wanted to spruce it up so that it feels like it’ll comfort you with umami and satiate the palate.” Jaime Cerullo, left, and Arielle Walrath eat lunch at a window seat overlooking Market Street at Oun Lido’s. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer Retooling personal taste memories of a Portland-raised, half-Cambodian, half-Chinese chef also seems like a great on-ramp to Cambodian cooking – a cuisine that remains unfamiliar to many people.
To this end, Kim is also not afraid to take risks with classic dishes, emphasizing context over convention, while still remaining “always respectful to the culture.” Case in point: smoothies. Oun Lido offers two.
The coconut lime ($6) version unites the water, purée, meat and milk of a coconut along with a non-traditional, toned-down sweetness that’s ideal for pairing with food. More exciting (and one of my favorite menu items) is the Flower Kiss smoothie ($6), which Kim refashioned from a nagging memory of a plum-flavored hard candy he ate as a child. “When I was figuring it out, I had to go back and try a bunch of these sugarplum candies with a really beautiful painting of a flower on each one,” he said.
Once extrapolated into slushy beverage territory, however, plum didn’t quite work. Kim focused instead on color, pilfering muted reds and oranges from guava and apricot juices, and bringing the flavors together with pear juice and sweetened condensed milk. “It’s right, but it’s so funny to me that there’s actually no plum in it,” he added with a laugh.
Another childhood favorite pops up on the slow-to-evolve dessert menu (which often displays as unavailable if you place an order online, so call the restaurant). Here you’ll find a cool, creamy treat, cha houy teuk ($6) that defies description. Perhaps think of it as a Kermit-green dessert soup – a mashup of fruit cocktail, bubble tea, Filipino halo halo and a Jell-O parfait.
Pandan-infused coconut milk forms the broth, with wobbly agar agar jellies, sliced lychee and jackfruit submerged throughout. It’s nutty, refreshing and not-too-sweet. “It’s an easy dish to let me play around with juices, jellies and seasonal fruits.
There are so many different elements you could add, so it will change with the seasons. It’s so interchangeable, so look out!” Kim said. “Like with a lot of things here, there’s so much more we are going to do.
” Sesame White Rabbit Candy Cookies at Oun Lido’s. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer RATING: **** WHERE: 30 Market St., Portland.
207-554-3111 ounlidos.com SERVING: 11 a.m.
– 8 p.m., Tuesday to Sunday PRICE RANGE: Appetizers & smoothies: $3.
50-$12, Salads & entrees: $14-$24 NOISE LEVEL: Pre-performance mic check VEGETARIAN: Many dishes RESERVATIONS : Yes BAR: None yet WHEELCHAIR ACCESS: No BOTTOM LINE: The “Oun” in the name of chef/co-owner Bounahcree Kim’s restaurant is a term of endearment: an affectionate honorific you might use for a younger sibling or a sweetheart. Paired with “Lido’s”– the moniker of an inclusive San Jose dance club that co-owner (and Cong Tu Bot chef) Vien Dobui remembers fondly – the combination becomes romantic, even a little poetic. In two words, it transmits a message of welcome and kindness.
With his menu, chef Kim does much the same, borrowing deeply personal food memories and transforming them into sophisticated, yet comforting Cambodian and Cambodian-Chinese dishes. Among the most exciting plates are neorm, a crunchy, herby noodle salad with a bonus egg roll; kathew cha, an umami-bathed, stir-fried noodle dish; and loc lac, a complete meal of rice, sunny-side-up egg, shaved sirloin strips and a chromatic salad of cucumber and heirloom cherry tomatoes. Plans are underway for a bar and karaoke space over the next several months, but don’t let the current lack of booze put you off – Oun Lido’s smoothies dial back sweetness so they match up gorgeously with a meal.
The nearly savory coconut lime version is a great start, but don’t neglect the tart, guava-and-apricot Flower Kiss smoothie. For dessert, go for pandan-infused coconut milk cha houy teuk or one of the sesame cookies ($2.50) that taste remarkably like soft-batch peanut butter thumbprint cookies.
(Bonus tip: Those cookies are terrific now, but when the kitchen starts folding nuggets of White Rabbit milk candy into the batter this month, they’re likely to be even better.) The Flower Kiss smoothie with basil seeds at Oun Lido’s. Gregory Rec/Staff Photographer Ratings follow this scale and take into consideration food, atmosphere, service, value and type of restaurant (a casual bistro will be judged as a casual bistro, an expensive upscale restaurant as such): * Poor ** Fair *** Good **** Excellent ***** Extraordinary The Maine Sunday Telegram visits each restaurant once; if the first meal was unsatisfactory, the reviewer returns for a second.
The reviewer makes every attempt to dine anonymously and never accepts free food or drink. Andrew Ross has written about food and dining in New York and the United Kingdom. He and his work have been featured on Martha Stewart Living Radio and in The New York Times.
He is the recipient of seven recent Critic’s Awards from the Maine Press Association. Contact him at: andrewross.maine@gmail.
com Twitter: @AndrewRossME Meet the Kim brothers, 2 young chefs ascendant in the Old Port We invite you to add your comments, and we encourage a thoughtful, open and lively exchange of ideas and information on this website. By joining the conversation, you are agreeing to our commenting policy and terms of use . You can also read our FAQs .
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