The Golden Monkey Cafe is a small, cozy restaurant located at 468 Chestnut St. in Lynn. The restaurant speaks to the perseverance, resiliency, and history of the food it serves and the people that prepare and present it. Unpretentious, the cafe is decorated with soft pink pastel walls and white trim, and is neat and tidy in its simplicity. In addition to offering free parking, the place affords some seating both inside as well as outside on the veranda for those that enjoy eating al fresco. Besides a printed menu, the wall display shows a vibrant selection of starters, soups, vegetarian dishes, rice plates and noodles, including Boba beverages, fruit and milk teas and smoothies. The illustrations were so appealing with the promise of delectable, savory and scrumptious dishes to satisfy a hungry individual.
Though a few of the dishes were reminiscent of Thai and Vietnamese cuisine, this reviewer chose the round rice noodles “Lort Cha,” which are a popular Cambodian street food. The noodles were served on a stylish white plate with a side of crunchy peanuts and a light sweet sauce to drizzle on top. The stir fried “Tear drop” noodles were flavorful, with delicately seasoned chicken (or beef or seafood if you prefer) mixed with fresh chives and bean sprouts. You could also add a fried egg. The sauces added to the authenticity of the dish and it wasn’t the least bit oily, which is often the case with many stir fried dishes. To compliment the meal the cool Lychee drink was not only thirst quenching but had enough sweetness to balance the savory flavors of the noodles. The Banana Fritters “Jake Chean” (bananas battered and fried then topped with black sesame seeds) and Beef Jerky “Sach Ko Nyet” (thinly sliced beef seasoned and dehydrated to a chip), are favorites in Singapore and worth having again.
Co-owner Peter Toeung, born in Minnesota, moved to Lynn in 1992 with his single mother. Peter was 10-years old at the time, and he always remembered his mother’s words: “She always told me she couldn’t give me anything other than the wisdom to work harder or to pursue education.”
Hearing the wisdom of your old school parent is one thing, but heeding it is another thing altogether. Peter graduated from Lynn Classical High school in 2001 and went on to earn an associates degree from North Shore Community College, a bachelors from Salem state, and studied for a Masters in Higher Education Student Affairs, also at Salem State University. After spending over a decade working for the TRIO/Upward Bound program at North Shore Community College, Peter and his wife Chenda took the plunge and started the business. Chenda was not interested in driving far distances for good Cambodian food and Peter was ready for a career change. They signed for the restaurant shortly before the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020. After a lengthy time to renovate, they opened the Golden Monkey Cafe on May 1, 2022.
Second only to Lowell, Lynn has a population of 3,338 Cambodian-Americans. Restaurants in Lynn specializing in the distinct nature of Cambodian, though, were few and far between. The Venn Diagram connecting Thai and Cambodian food can appear as if the two are indistinguishable from the other. Fans of the latter will argue that Cambodian food has less chili and sugar. What are other distinguishing characteristics about Cambodian food? What sets it apart from other Asian food and why is it important for the Cambodian food culture story to be told? Sampan spoke with Golden Monkey Cafe co-owner Peter Toeung about (among other things) the ups and downs of the local restaurant business and the unique nature of Cambodian food that sets it apart from the pantheon of dynamic Asian food in the Greater Boston area?
SAMPAN: What are your first memories of Cambodian food?
As a child trying to assimilate into the dominant American culture, I remember asking my mother for sandwiches and chips to be packed for school lunch and remember eating in the corner of the cafeteria hoping others didn’t smell the fish sauce or other fragrant scents from her cooking. I soon learned to cherish unique flavors that set us apart from what others had. I recall sneaking packages of ramen, and sharing them with non-Cambodians on a bus ride to school as if they were a bag of chips, dipping the crunchy dry uncooked ramen into the salty soup mix that came in the package. I learned then, that the foods I grew up on, others would enjoy.
“Lok Lak,” was my first favorite dish that my mother used to prepare. “Cha Kanye” (Ginger beef Stir Fry), and a Ramen that we now call “Kay Madai” which means mothers’ legacy are dishes that are my childhood favorites and now popular to the business.
SAMPAN: Your restaurant is a three generation affair. Your mother-in-law works in the kitchen with your wife and your young children are also active in the restaurant. What have you all learned while on the job about the complexity of Cambodian cuisine and its profound influence on (among others) Vietnamese and Thai food?
You can drive by a central business area and find a few burger spots, or pizza shops but nobody expects each sandwich or pizza to taste the same. To assume that, Thai, Vietnamese, Laotian, or other Southeast Asian cuisine could fit into one box is not very open minded either. We truly believe your taste buds will be happier and satisfied by eating culturally diverse foods.
What makes Cambodian food in America complex may be due to many factors. One reason for immigrant communities in the food arena is also working with what you have. The spices and produce are imported so the availability of certain ingredients may be at a premium. This may make navigating the kitchen to cook up traditional dishes with some substitutions. For example, many have asked if we used fresh durian to make our durian smoothies. Though the strong, unique scented fruit is delicious it is not as easy to obtain here in America like an apple that you can find in any grocery market. A second factor is family recipes are different; recipes from different villages, to different regions in Cambodia are different. We can not expect to be the same as others. Which makes every kitchen different. Americans may have had Thai or Vietnamese food, and adding Cambodia’s flavors to mix adds to the rich diversity that America is made of.
SAMPAN: Do you feel a certain obligation to properly represent and honor the history of Cambodian food especially while competing with the more popular (by number of restaurants) Chinese, Japanese, and Thai food? What’s the story you want to tell about the Cambodian people through the food and ambience of your restaurant?
Staying true to who you are is a must. We can not claim to be something we are not and we should be prideful in who we are. By investing energy towards honoring our culture does not mean we are claiming to be better than. We are simply asking for a spot at the table to share what we can contribute. With the complexities of American Culture and pressure to fit in and assimilate, many communities may lose bits and pieces of their roots or identity. Our goal is to certainly add to what Cambodian Americans can add to American culture as a whole.
There are many narratives and stereotypes that are given to the Cambodian people as a community. If we choose to focus on the negatives, and say see Lynn as always the “city of sin” are we valuing ourselves. Many Cambodians relocated to America in the 80’s, not knowing the language, the culture, what and where to eat. They have faced genocide, and impoverished living and continue to strive for better. We would be honored for folks to see the cafe
as a representation of the resilience of the Cambodian community.
SAMPAN: What’s next for the Golden Monkey Cafe? Do you see this business expanding? Do you have hopes of your children carrying on the tradition of good food and cultural preservation?
We are beyond grateful to be part of this community and currently only hope to continue to build on what we have established. We hope to inspire others to pursue their dreams and if it is aligned with creating positive space, and sharing your culture we are all for it. When the time comes for our children to find their calling, we hope they hold onto as much of their identity to share with the world. We are hopeful that more than just our children will pick up the torch to carry on the mission of preserving and reinvigorating Cambodian culture.
