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| All photo credit goes to Cathy Lam |
Restaurant Name: Num Pang
Location: 21 E12th St, New York, NY
Price Range: $30 (for 2) - Cash only
JCL Rating: 8/10
JCL's Choice: Peppercorn catfish, pulled Duroc pork, corn on a cob
My first Cambodian food experience is in Num Pang, a gourmet sandwich shop opened by Chef Ratha Chaupoly and Ben Daitz. Accompanied by Cathy, we traveled all the way to Union Square to look for this unique sandwich shop. All of the gourmet sandwiches are served on a freshly toasted semolina flour baguette and are made a la minute. You pick up your order and have the choice of take out or go up stairs for the first-come-first-serve seating.
What exactly is "num pang?" Num pang is the Cambodian term for bread or sandwich. Aside from exceptional food, they have a very interesting concept going on. Every month they will feature a chef in the "Guest Chefs Give Back" program to design their signature sandwich. 6$ of each of the featured sandwiches sold will be donated to charities. For the month of June 12 - July 12, the guest chefs are Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Dan Kluger (Chef de cuisine of ABC Kitchen) creating the ABC Num Pang (poached chicken salad with crispy chicken skin).
All their sandwiches are served with cucumber, pickled carrots, cilantro and chili mayo (which we think is spicy mayonnaise). This set up is extremely similar to Vietnamese sandwiches. Anyways, I had the peppercorn catfish, Cathy had the pulled Duroc pork, and we both got the corn on a cob.
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| Catfish sandwich |
Aside from the perfect combination of the sandwich foundations in Num Pang, the peppercorn catfish was seasoned and cooked perfectly. The house made sweet soy sauce on the catfish brings out the natural sweet flavors of the catfish and at the same time it hides the earthy taste. This is a fish sandwich to the finest. Every bite is succulent. A must try in my books!
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| Pulled pork w/ blood orange lemonade |
Duroc is a breed of American pig. This pulled Duroc pork sandwich that is dressed in the spiced honey gives the pulled pork the moistness that it needs. A touch of the chili mayo combined with the spiced honey forms an incredible duet of flavors after flavors in your mouth. The cucumber, pickled carrots and cilantro then acts as a refreshing agent to get your mouth for the next bite! The balance of flavors profiles is pure genius.
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| corn on cob w/ coconut flakes |
Their signature side dish, corn on a cob that is drenched in chili mayo and topped with sweet coconut flakes is as good as it gets. With this grilled corn, you are expected to get dirty with it. The chili mayo will be smeared all around your lips and you won't want to stop and wipe your mouth until you have completely devoured this poor corn.
All in all, this sandwich shop is amazing. I highly recommend it. This has got to be some of the best sandwiches I have ever tasted.
