This simple café with hair-raising cuisine will itch the hell out of you


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Last Updated on 2016-05-19 , 2:10 pm

Food can get pretty boring, so why not try eating insects? Insects are a good source of protein, and because they reproduce at a rapid rate, they are thought to be a solution to the global food crisis.

While this might gross you out, there are some people out there who thinks that insects are delicacies. This simple café in Cambodia will definitely make your skin prickle…in a good way. So many people have visited this café, but when’s your turn?

Check out Bugs Café located at Angkor Night Market Street. They serve–you guess it–bugs. You might be thinking of a dingy restaurant with plastic tables and chairs, from your impressions of street vendors selling street food of insects, but you are dead wrong.

bugs 2
Image: tripadvisor.com

The interior features exposed brick walls, sleek wood and metal furniture to give the ”industrial hipster” feel pretty much like the hipster cafes in Singapore. But other than that, what they serve is least mainstream out of all hipster cafes.

In Bugs Café, expect a discovery of the wonders of Cambodian diet – try out their tapas, cooked in a fusion of French and Khmer cuisine. For those who are still hesitant, do not worry – Bugs Café still features dishes without insects.

But what’s the point of going to Bugs Café when you’re not there for bugs? Bugs Café’s menu include Bug Mac (Lol), Savory Cupcakes that are garnished with crickets and silkworms, tarantula donuts that actually serves entire marinated tarantulas, and Ant salad.

Image: bugs-cafe.e-monsite.com
Image: bugs-cafe.e-monsite.com

Eating insects is actually very common in Cambodia, popular during the civil war when there was a long term food shortage. Today, insects play an optional role in Cambodian’s diet. The restaurant’s general manager, Davy Blouzard decided to popularise it further by making insect-eating a fine dining affair.

The restaurant also believes that insects are food of the future–they require low electricity in farming, therefore low environmental impact, but reaps high level of protein.

Not only do they serve insects, Bugs Café also serves cocktail but no, they do not have insect drinks, sadly. Cocktails include Passionata (mint, passion fruit, vodka and soda water), Honey Bee (rum-based with sweet honey and flavours of lemongrass and lime juice), and Spicy Cucumber Cocktail (Vodka, cucumber ginger and red chillies)

Image: bugs-cafe.e-monsite.com
Image: bugs-cafe.e-monsite.com

Most importantly, eating insects is a test of your courage, a willingness to take on the diet of locals. So when heading to places to Cambodia, we dare you to try out insect cuisine, be it from the street vendors or the all-too-hipster Bugs Café. Don’t worry, won’t lao sai one.