Review: I Heart Cambodia, under new management, is emblematic of Cambodia Town

Posted on a coffee shop window on South Seventh Street just north of Moyamensing is a letter to Councilman Mark Squilla requesting a meeting to discuss the possibility of forming Cambodia Town within the boundaries of Fifth to Eighth streets from Porter Street to Snyder Avenue. Official recognition for this small slice of Southeast Asia in South Philly would be great for this community, but as far as development goes, Seventh Street is already bustling with businesses whose awnings boast curly Khmer signage for everything from bridal and jewelry shops to video-rental stores, travel agencies, produce markets and pharmacies.

This past winter a new restaurant, I Heart Cambodia, emerged along this stretch. But a few months later the space went dark. In mid-September it reopened under new management, with a refreshed menu showcasing the fare of a nation sandwiched between Thailand and Vietnam.

The cuisines of Cambodia and its neighboring nations share some elements: vibrant leaves of basil and mint, steaming bowls of noodle soup, bright lemongrass and fermented fish sauce. But once plates of food arrive and their aromas hit olfactory sensors, it's clear something entirely different is happening here.

Sadao salad — a tangle of julienned cucumber, rounds of jalapeño and thinly sliced pork topped with roasted peanuts — possesses a bracingly bitter backbone that comes from the tender shoots of a type of mahogany tree. More commonly known as neem, this tree's products have been used in ayurvedic medicine for everything from contraceptives to sedatives. Here, the sprigs, which resemble Lilliputian broccoli, lend an astringency that can challenge the most die-hard of bitter boosters, even when tempered with a sweet tamarind sauce.

Decidedly less palate-pounding is cha kroeung. It's a stir-fry of velvety beef with healthy hunks of sweet and hot peppers, bias-cut celery and fingers of long beans in a turmeric-tinted sauce. A layer of intrigue enters by way of little bouquets of curry leaves that appear in every other bite.
Cambodia's predilection for produce-forward cooking pervades the menu (and the dining room; the staff one evening carries bags full of vegetables from the curb to the kitchen). A bowl of brothy samlor korko brims with gumball-sized green eggplants, chunks of Creamsicle-colored sweet pumpkin, papaya, cabbage and enough herbal greenery to make the bone-in pieces of pork almost an afterthought.

Adventurousness is key here since the order-by-number menu doesn't delve into explanations, and when it comes to recommend­ations, the eager-to-please staff will most likely tell you that every­thing from 15 to 27 is a sol­id bet. But with a full liquor license and $2.50 Heinekens, the new incarnation of I Heart Cambodia is the perfect jump­ing-off point for digging into Philly's burgeoning Cambodia Town.