Phantom Gourmet: The Elephant Walk In Boston's South End

BOSTON - Some of the finest French food in Greater Boston and some of the tastiest Cambodian cuisine in Greater Boston are all served up under one roof. The Elephant Walk in the South End is certainly unlike anything else you can experience in the city. Executive Chef Nadsa De Monteiro explains the history of this rather interesting culinary mashup.

"It started in 1991 when my parents came from France. They had a restaurant in the south of France after the fall of Cambodia in 1975. After running the restaurant there for 10 years they decided they wanted to move here, and we decided to start a restaurant here."

There have been a few different locations over the years, but this new South End store stands out for the brick walls, bright paintings, a big bar, and windows that open up to Washington Street.

The main attraction to the Elephant Walk is, and always has been, the food; especially the earthy, exotic, complex, and completely delicious Cambodian food, from Caramelized Beef to Coconut Shrimp.

"Cambodian food is nice bright flavor, crispy, lots of texture, good for you," said Nadsa. "We use a lot of herbs such as lemongrass, galangal, kafir lime, tumeric. These herbs are good for your body. And we also like a lot of contrast of texture, of sweet and sours, spicy. The Cambodians love to do that."

The most popular way to start a meal at the Elephant Walk is with some of their signature Spring Rolls.

"It has nice thin rice paper, so it's very different from the Chinese Spring Rolls. And the wonderful part of it is that you wrap it up like a little bundle, with mint and basil and bean sprouts in romaine heart lettuce and you dip it in this wonderful sauce that's tangy. So what's not to love? It's nice and crispy. It's bursting with flavor."

For a more modern twist, check out the Japanese inspired spring rolls stuffed with sushi-grade tuna, avocado, rice, and more.

"That is mixed with some French mint and garlic and shallot, and then rolled and deep fried. The inside is actually still raw. It has a nice texture. It's very savory," described Nadsa. "It's actually really good and people really love it."

In nature, elephants are herbivores, and many dishes here can accommodate vegetarians. But if you don't eat meat here, you're missing out on some of the best stuff. There's a spicy-sweet beef tenderloin mixed with green tomatoes and honeydew melon. Tender braised short ribs are served with a side of buttery garlic noodles and topped with tangy cucumber pickles. The grilled New Zealand lamb chops are marinated with lemongrass and served over jasmine rice. And then there's the ultra-popular Steak Loc Lac.

"Luscious beef tenderloin caramelized with black pepper, garlic, sugar and mushroom soy. This dish is spicy but it's spiced with black pepper not with chilies, so it's a very different spice. And we serve that with romaine hearts, with rice of course, but also dip in a lime juice," Nadsa said. "So you take the beef, which is caramelized which is sweet, and you dip in the very sour sauce, and you have it with your rice."

Before we get to dessert, which is extraordinary by the way, there are two more dishes you need to know: one French, one Cambodian.

On the French side, there's a pan roasted Filet Mignon that's cooked with red wine vinegar and white wine, and wrapped in bacon.

From the Cambodian side comes a much lighter, but no less flavorful dish, made with black tiger shrimp and fresh vegetables.

"Crevettes Kep Sur Mer is an original dish created by my mother," Nadsa explained. "It's a coconut sauce which is fragrant and light, laced with coconut milk, with a little bit of tamarind and a little bit of the lemongrass paste."

Now to that dessert course. There's a gorgeously layered Chocolate Caramel Cake served with Madagascar bourbon vanilla ice cream. But for true chocolate-lovers, this is the one you need to remember:

"Le Peche au Chocolat, which is our signature dish. We've had this forever. It's basically a flourless chocolate cake. And it's rich, and it's decadent. We use very high quality chocolate, and it has chunks of white chocolate in there also. So it's nice and rich and creamy; just pure chocolate. I won't say orgasm, but yeah, it is," Nadsa laughed.

This is food that's fun, flavorful, and definitely a little different, and that's why the Elephant Walk stands out from the crowd.

"The Elephant Walk is not a gimmicky thing. It is who we are," Nadsa stated. "We love what we do. We love what we do and we love what we serve."

You can find The Elephant Walk at 1415 Washington Street in Boston, and online at elephantwalk.com.

Watch Phantom Gourmet on Saturdays and Sundays at 10:30 and 11 a.m. on myTV38.