Walk Really Fast to the Elephant Walk

Bostonist always forgets about Restaurant Week until the day it begins and by then, we’ve missed out on booking a table. But this year, Bostonist gave you all a reminder a few weeks back to make your reservations ahead of time. (It also helped that Restaurant Week now features over 100 restaurants to choose from, making reservations more plentiful.) We decided to try a place that we’ve always talked about going to (but never actually got there). We decided on The Elephant Walk, a restaurant with both a Cambodian menu and French menu, this past Monday night and had a truly fabulous meal.

While some have been getting less than stellar service and feeling rushed to eat at certain places this dining week, Bostonist had a nice, well-paced meal, where we opted to pick off the special fixed price menu of $30.05. Some participating establishments only offer one to two choices per course, but The Elephant Walk offers four appetizers, six entrees, and two dessert choices, making it ever the more difficult to actually make a decision. Add to this the question of whether you desire a French or Cambodian dish, and you’re in a dilemma. Bostonist decided on the Vermont goat cheese and baby greens salad, which came with enough cheese to share with three friends as we slathered it on dinner rolls, of course. Then came the main entrée of “Chilled Spiced Shrimp and Baby Bok Choy” which had lots of shrimp marinated in some Cambodian goodness, displayed over some green vegetables, one of which could be identified as bok choy. (Note: Bostonist’s dinner friend opted for the “Khar Saiko Kroeung” which was simply an amazing dish of braised beef short ribs. These are no Redbones’ ribs; these are the classy ones you eat with a knife.)

Bostonist finished it all off with the “Le Peche au Chocolat,” a white and dark chocolate truffle with raspberry sauce, which was so enjoyable it is still haunting us today. The service was very helpful, suggesting the short ribs over the chicken dish, and kept the breadbasket full, despite the fact that we should have been cut-off after two refills. The ambience is soothing with orange hued walls and tiny elephants displayed on the fireplace’s mantle. Oh, and with two bottles of wine split between four and a $30.05 dinner, it came to an affordable price of $51.00 each (tip included and yes, we left 20 percent).

We know The Elephant Walk is no “hot spot” when compared to Icarus or No. 9 Park , which are both sold out this Restaurant Week 2005; it was named one of the “Best New Restaurants” by Esquire Magazine way back in 1992. But it is delectable and definitely worth the trip to either of the two locations (on the Boston/Brookline line or Cambridge).