Tacoma's melting pot has a new culinary adjective: Khmer, the indigenous food of Cambodia
Chim
BBQ rides out storm in Olympia
ED MURRIETA; ed.mu...@thenewstribune.com
Published: February 8th, 2008
Tacoma's melting pot has a new culinary adjective: Khmer, the
indigenous food of Cambodia.
"It's between Chinese and Thai food," said Sovanna Eang, who, with her
husband, Tharath "Bro" Eang, opened Mitapeap Khmer Restaurant on Dec.
21 in a former Vietnamese eatery in the K-mart shopping center at the
corner of East 72nd Street and Portland Avenue in Tacoma.
Sovanna Eang said her 40-seat restaurant is "the first true Khmer-
owned restaurant in Tacoma." It's the first restaurant for both
Sovanna and Bro Eang, both natives of Cambodia, both of whom share the
cooking.
As I encountered the Eangs' home-style cooking, chewy Chinese-style
flat noodles and leafy Chinese broccoli stood out in mee katang stir-
fry ($7.95). Familiar Southeast Asian ingredients such as lime leaf,
galanga and lemon grass anchored samlah kako ($8.95), a smooth and
mild green curry soup textured by seeds of bulbous Thai eggplant and
accented with prhoc, the Cambodian fermented fish paste. I ordered my
soup with sweet and tender pork ribs (fish and chicken are other
options); green papaya, green beans and pumpkin filled out the bowl.
Star anise, a seed used in both Chinese and Thai cuisine, added sultry
depth to beef stew ($6.95, on the specials board). This was a
fantastic bowl of stew. Beef short ribs were spoon-tender, meaty and
flavorful in deep-brown broth thickened with potatoes and chopped
peanuts. Melt-in-my-mouth beef tendon was the stew's tastiest
surprise. Get the toasted baguette to soak up all the stew.
Whole fried tilapia ($10.95) was crispy outside, moist and flaky
inside. Noodle soups, papaya, mango and seafood salads, deep-fried hot
wings, and fresh spring rolls round out the menu.
MITAPEAP KHMER RESTAURANT
1314 72nd St. E; Suite A3, Tacoma; 253-414-2262. Hours: 10:30 a.m.-9
p.m. Mondays-Saturdays; 10:30 a.m.-7 p.m. Sundays.
RANCH HOUSE CHECKS IN
After being displaced by a devastating mudslide in December, Ranch
House BBQ checked into downtown Olympia's Governor Hotel. Actually, it
was invited to take up rent-free residence until the restaurant got on
its feet.
After opening its new location Jan. 4 (and closing the takeout
restaurant it had opened down the street last summer) Ranch House is
finding its footing.
"We'll probably be negotiating a lease to stay here," Ranch House co-
owner Melanie Tapia said this week.
As for the original Ranch House location off Highway 8, Tapia said,
"It's questionable whether we'll rebuild."
There's no question about this: Ranch House's barbecue - apple-and-
cherry-smoked brisket, pulled pork and pork ribs - was as good this
week as it was when I gave the restaurant a four-star review in May.
Ordered on the sampler platter ($21.99), slow-smoked brisket was
alternately tender and chewy. Pork was sweet and moist. Ribs were pink
and meaty. Smoked sausage was kissed with fennel.
Ranch House has beefed up its menu with more steaks - hence the new,
augmented moniker, Ranch House BBQ and Steakhouse. New steaks include
a bacon-wrapped filet, a rib-eye and a porterhouse. I recently went
for the 20-ounce porterhouse ($32.99); it was a few flames past the
medium-rare I'd ordered but it was as big and tender as the price
requires.
Ranch House's new 60-seat location - the hotel restaurant was most
recently occupied by Southern Kitchen soul food restaurant - is
comfortable and colorful, with a partially submerged view Capitol Way.
Ranch House's plethora of awards survived the mudslide and have found
an attractive home in the dark wood shelves that line the dining
room.
A full bar awaits, pending liquor license approval.
While the December mudslide wiped out the location that Ranch House
had inhabited for four years, it didn't wipe out the restaurant's
sense of humor: The Mudslide, an ice cream-and-Oreo dessert,
commemorates the event of Dec. 3, 2007.
RANCH HOUSE BBQ AND STEAKHOUSE
621 Capital Way S., Olympia; 360-866-8704. Hours: 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
Mondays-Tuesdays; 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Wednesdays-Sundays.
Ed Murrieta: 253-597-8678