Review: Mamapen, Soho

Right in the middle of Soho is apparently the only place doing Cambodian food in London: Mamapen at The Sun & 13 Cantons pub. I’m not sure how long that statement will stay true? I’ve only spent a few days in Cambodia and didn’t search out a lot of local food (indeed, the only street food I ate gave me a two-day love affair with toilets), but it seems to me that it may not have enough unique elements to pull it out from the melange of SE Asian cuisines around it. Time will tell!

And I don’t know how typically Cambodian the food at Mamapen is either. Not that this matters, if it’s good eats! Our first dish was “pork toast” with a fried egg on top. Inside the nice crispy panko was a good amount of savoury minced pork on a piece of toast. This was a good, filthy snack with a perfectly cooked egg atop and a generous wallop of crispy chilli oil. Next we had “tofu knots” which turned out to be pieces of tofu skin tied into sturdy knots, dressed heavily with lots more crispy chilli oil and crispy onion bits. To me these knots were just a little uninteresting in themselves, and the dressing thuggish.

A skewer of shiitake mushrooms, very beautifully charred off the grill with a tangy dressing, was much better. Should have ordered another couple of skewers. The main that we shared – sour pineapple curry – was very good indeed. Unashamedly big chunks of pineapple, char-grilled a little first, came with roast squash and pickled unripe mango in a cheery bowl of highly distinctive curry. Definitely on the sour side, fermented almost, with flavours I couldn’t entirely identify. No heat to speak of, heavy on the coconut milk instead, but a lovely flavour.

Glancing down the menu of “hash browns” and “fried chicken bun” will show you that this is all meant to be food full of cheerful, easy pleasures. It definitely hits that spot if you pick the right dishes (I wouldn’t order tofu knots again!) and for the middle of Soho it’s very decently priced indeed: £30 each will give you a good meal, before drinks.