Angkor Chef has official ribbon cutting

Angkor Chef started their soft opening in November, but the restaurant and bar are now formally complete. I love this restaurant for a many reasons. It's the first dedicated Cambodian restaurant in Downtown San Jose, the food is delicious, it has clean modern decor, service is friendly, and everything is reasonably priced. It also has quite the story.

Chef Channy Laux is a survivor of the Cambodian genocide. At 13, she dealt with starvation, sickness, and repeated separation rom her family. In 1979 she made it to Lincoln Nebraska as a refugee and ended up earning a Bachelors from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln followed by a Masters in Applied Math from SCU. She then worked as a Silicon Valley engineer for 30 years and now this is her passion project.

Angkor Chef features iconic Cambodian dishes with a focus on noodles, stir-fries, and umami-rich Prahok dishes. All the sauces are made from scratch using produce and herbs sourced from local refugee farmers and imported spices from Cambodia. Some of the sauces are also bottled and sold, one has even won awards (Lemongrass Paste). You don't have to take my word for it, Angkor has a rare 4.5 star rating on Yelp.

Angkor Chef is open Tues-Thur from 11:30am-9pm, Friday from 11:30am-10pm, and Saturday from 12pm to 10pm. It's closed on Sunday and Monday. You can also order pickup or delivery over here.