Alive & Kicking

The ever-evolving seafood game is alive and well – flipping, pinching, and flapping all the way to the bank.

On the menu are live lobsters, gianttiger prawns, glistening oysters, fresh Norwegian salmon, and fine Russian caviar. These revitalizing guests arrive via new shipping routes, with proper handling procedures and quality storage facilities. If you’re more for food grown on turf, and arguably the best bona fide burger with culinary aspirations in town, check out Larry’s Bar on St. 110.

Game Changers In

Phnom Penh, it used to be that ice quality was questioned and sushi was never on the menu. Now, flashy sushi joints open every month, and a virtual fish estuary has taken shape the last two years for the fresh and lively seafood market, using well-kept live tanks with backup power and insulated refrigeration containers.

Now lobsters in their tanks greet and wave at you with claws the size of your hand. When served fresh, they blush to a deep, vermillion red, same as their crayfish cousins, and taste like buttery ambrosia from the sea.

 

International Standards

Kampot Seafoods processes Kampot crab from their HACCP-certified supplier, the first in Cambodia. HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point, and certifies food safety good practices to the international standard. Tim Squires of Ostra Fine Foods is optimistic for the prime seafood market to take off. “All that room for growth,” he says in his newly expanded Phnom Penh facility near the new NagaWorld 2.

Pampered Pets

In France, Fines de Claire oysters are given a knee-deep spa treatment in a salt bath to receive a refined taste and bluish tint from microscopic algae before being shipped off to your local premiere seafood purveyor in sealed wooden boxes packed with ice. Well-kept, live lobsters from Canada to Cambodia, ochre and stone grey in color, and swim laps with fettered crabs from Kampot or Kep in temperature controlled tanks with bubbles.

Who Will Reign? 

Competition and selection is on the rise as cooling technologies and tank systems become more and more affordable. Access to fine caviar, fresh oysters, and live fish stock is almost commonplace. You can find live lobster and chilled, enlivening seafood at Topaz, La Coupole at the Sofitel, and other fine

Larry’s Turf

Larry’s 110 St. Bar & Grill near the Riverside is a meet and munch venue for accomplished, colorful characters. People come for his burgers and stay for the service, and he serves up a thick, juicy burger with gusto. Larry’s burger is a well-seasoned middleweight natural, oozing charisma, sporting both a bright red mouth guard and a buttery smooth glide. Thick and juicy, it’s a super savory 200g burger ground from 60% Australian rib eye (boneless tender cut) and 40% US chuck eye roll, a slash of bright red tomatoes, and fat finger steak fries. Buns have a lingering buttery goodness. Just $7.50, with mozzarella cheese or bacon extra. Larry doesn’t stop there. For his carbonara sauce, he adds crunchy pepper-crusted pork jowl for a jawdropping burst of flavor. Also, ask about his lamburger or veal scallopini specials he makes on order.

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