Groupon Awesomeness

Elephant Walk

November 11th, 2012

Waltham, MA

Abstract

I had never been to Elephant Walk, although Tara had a couple times.  Neither of us had been to this location in Waltham.  We had a party in town later, a Groupon and no reservation.   We ended up sitting and eating at the bar but had a great time.

Elephant walk is Cambodian and French cuisine.  Many dishes may be labeled one or the other but usually the influences cross path.  Our food was great, with amazing flavor usage of fruit and spices.  I get for sure why Tara likes this place.  I felt every dish was well balanced, and if you like south-asian style food this is a must check for you.

Not that we needed it but they have Vegan and Gluten free menu choices as well, about a third of the menu actually.

Elephant Walk

While my co-worker insists Elephant Walk is a dirty euphemism, their story is more of a brainstorming of names, and a recollection of a restaurant of their youth with elephants inside the archway of the entrance.  The company has 3 locations, 2 in Boston and 1 in Waltham.  They have slightly different menus but for the most part alot of things are the same.  The cuisine is a French-Cambodian hybrid.  

Their menus actually will have sub sections sections such as Traditional or Original Cambodian/French.  It seems like original is more home cooking style and traditional is more culinary.  The family who started it all were raised in the french protectorate of cambodia, if you were wondering why the two cultures come together, but without as much fusion as you might expect.  I think there are a few nods to one another cultures on the menu, but for the most part they are seperate.  The dishes are mostly named in French but there appear to be Cambodian food and culinary terms used where appropriate.

Our Food

Drinks

Since we were sitting at the bar and we got them first, I found it fitting for us to start with the drinks.   

I had a drink special called a "Belle de Billet"* Sidecar.   This spin on a traditional sidecar (Cognac, Orange Liqueur and Lemon Juice) has Cognac, Cointreau (orange liquer), Pear Juice and Lime in it.  I found this to be an awesome cocktail with a strong but delightful pear taste and undertones of the cognac and finishing very crisp due to the lime.  I thought the Cointreau was well hidden by the other flavors, but gave the overall zing you want from citrus.  

*Belle de Billet is supposed to be a pear liquer made with Cognac infused in Williams Pears.

Tara had "Mango in the Night".  This cocktail was a mixture of Absolut Vanilla, Mango Puree and lime juice.  While we would rather have had a high end vodka with a drop of vanilla extract over absolut, it came out quite nice.  Im not sure how anyone can mess up Mango Puree aside from putting Jaggermiester in it though...

     Mango in the Night                   Belle de Billet Sidecar

Appetizers

I ordered a 3 course Pre-fixe meal which basically came with a soup and an appetizer so Tara split one with me.  

First I had a soup, Nataing made with pork, coconut milk, garlic, peanuts and chili pods.  It was served with chunks of crispy jasmine rice and while the rice was good at absorbing up the sweet tangy broth and scooping up pork, I preferred to eat it without.  Sadly no picture of this, I was hungry and lost focus.

Then we split the Ravioles De Citrouille, Crème Epicee Au Miso, which is a really long way to say pumpkin raviolis.  It came in a miso cream sauce with simmered pears (the small chunks below) and some scallions on top.  These had an amazing true pumpkin flavor, and the ravioli pasta could not have had a better consistency and texture, most certainly homemade pasta.

Our Meals

Tara had an "Original Cambodian" dish Tofu Et Legumes Grilles, Curry Vert Au Gingembre.  As you can see her title is french but much of the dish is cambodian in spirit.  The dish is a green curry tofu with zucchini, buttercup squash, asparagus, portabella mushroom and eggplant.  I think Tara was in vegatable heaven.  I did not even dare try this but she seemed to enjoy it thoroughly.

I had the Poulet Rôti et Gnocchi à la Crème as my main meal.  This dish was a bone in chicken breast, don't ask me which bone, with a tomato coulis, sauteed spinach and gnocchi in a white cream sauce.  My chicken was cooked well, not really flavored itself.  I basically would just cut part of my chicken and drench it in either the coulis or the creme sauce.  The spinach is under the coulis, not a ton of it but it was tasty.  The gnocchi were pretty run of the mill, but well cooked.  This may not have been the best dish for me, but it was tasty and was an overall good meal.

Summary


Elephant walk was a great place.   While my main course was probably the low point of the night, it was a good meal, well executed and deserving of a return trip in the future.

Below I wanted you to be able to see how our menu items appeared.  The first 3 we're mine, they would normally cost about 39$ but the pre-fixe price was 30$.