Organization
Theary Cambodian Foods
Theary Cambodian Foods is a Cambodian restaurant in Federal Way, Washington, owned and run by the chef Theary Ngeth.[1][2] Her first name is pronounced "Terry."[1] The business, Theary Cambodian Foods, LLC, is woman-owned and Asian-owned, and it grew out of the Spice Bridge food hall.[3][2]
History
When Theary Ngeth was five years old, she and her family escaped the Khmer Rouge on foot, through the jungle from Cambodia to Thailand.[4] She grew up in a refugee camp in Thailand and came to the United States as a young teenager.[5] She learned to cook from her mother. From the late 1980s to the mid-1990s her parents cooked for their community, and the restaurant carries on that work.[4][1] "So many Cambodian recipes, traditionally passed down orally from parents to children, went to the grave during the Khmer Rouge," she has said.[4]
A childhood friend recruited her to cook for a group of Khmer seniors in the Seattle area, at a community center. The seniors told her that her dishes tasted like the food they remembered from before they fled the Khmer Rouge. One told her, "This dish reminds me of 1971, before the Khmer Rouge."[4][6] Cooking for those large gatherings taught her to work quickly in a commercial kitchen while keeping traditional methods.[4]
At first she cooked from her home kitchen for a few friends. After a friend tasted her chili oil and told her about the Food Innovation Network (FIN), she joined FIN and studied business through Ventures.[4] She then opened a stall in the Spice Bridge food hall in Tukwila, home of FIN's Food Business Incubator for women of color and immigrants in South King County.[6][5] In 2021 she was working toward a restaurant of her own.[6] She opened Theary Cambodian Foods to keep Cambodian food traditions alive, to comfort and share with fellow Cambodians, and to fulfill her mother's dream of running a restaurant.[2] The restaurant now stands in a small strip mall in Federal Way.[1]
Food
The cooking centers on kroeung, a paste of lemongrass, kaffir leaves, turmeric, garlic and galangal. The lemongrass is sliced thin and crushed by hand to release its oils, rather than blended.[4] For Ngeth, Khmer cooking works in stages, so that the ingredients combine into their own flavors. It builds layers through caramelization, and diners balance salty and sweet toppings for themselves.[2][4] The meals are made with fresh ingredients.[2]
The stuffed jumbo chicken wing is boned and filled with diced chicken, bamboo shoots and clear noodles marinated in kroeung. It is served with kroeung crispy rice or sticky rice steamed in banana leaf, pickled vegetables and herbs.[1][7] Meatballs of beef and chicken come with Khmer kroeung crispy rice and pickled vegetables.[1] Other dishes include coconut lemongrass chicken, cha kroeung Khmer (stir-fried chicken over crispy rice), steak with a spicy tirk prohok dipping sauce, oxtail soup and GoNgeit, a spicy black-pepper beef jerky.[7][8][2] Me ga tunk has been given as sautéed chicken, eggs and noodles, and in 2021 as beef sautéed with crushed caramelized garlic, egg and Chinese broccoli.[2][6] Several plates come with Theary's own chili oil paste, and the house chili oil is one of the featured dishes.[6][7]
Spice Bridge stall
The earlier stall was at 14200 Tukwila International Boulevard, Suite 141, in Tukwila's Spice Bridge food hall.[9] Ngeth cooked for the Cambodian community at South Park Community Center before opening the business.[10]
The stall served savory pastries.[11] The noumm ka ri was a flaky pastry filled with meat and vegetables and topped with herbs, fried garlic, peanuts and the stall's homemade chile oil, which was sold by the tub.[9][12][13] The stuffed chicken wings, sabb monn bowk, and a combination platter of chicken patty and meatball spiced with lemongrass paste both came with rice wrapped in banana leaves and a side of pickled cabbage and cucumbers.[9][13]
Go me ga tunk was a beef and rice noodle soup with a deep, slightly sweet broth. Ngeth said it was one of the favorites among the children of the Spice Bridge community.[13] For dessert there was buong amm, a pastry of pumpkin, taro and cassava topped with coconut cream, sugar and toasted sesame seeds.[13]
Community
In January 2023, with funding from Good Food Kitchens, the restaurant was cooking 54 free meals a week for Cambodian seniors. One of them said its rice congee tasted like the congee of Cambodia before the war.[8] Ngeth cooked at the first $unday $wap Meet, a monthly Southeast Asian market in White Center held at the art space Forever Foreigner. She served stuffed chicken and sticky rice wrapped around mung bean and pork belly.[5] For Seattle Restaurant Week in April 2021 she offered a combination meal for two and a duck curry lunch plate for two.[6] The restaurant took part again in 2026.[3]
Visiting
The restaurant serves lunch and dinner for dining in and takeout, with gluten-free choices.[3][4]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Foodista, Federal Way Food Trail - Foodista (2026-04-23)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Intentionalist, Theary Cambodian Foods (2024)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Seattle Restaurant Week, Theary Cambodian Foods, LLC (2026)
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 spicebridge.org, Theary Cambodian Foods - Spice Bridge
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 The Seattle Times, A renewed cultural focus in White Center bolsters sense of Khmer community
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 South Seattle Emerald, Intentionalist: your guide to Seattle Restaurant Week (April 2021)
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Postmates, Theary Cambodian Foods menu (2023)
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 South Seattle Emerald, Good Food Kitchens helps fund chefs making free meals for South End communities (January 2023)
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 The Infatuation, Theary Cambodian Food review (January 2021)
- ↑ Seattle Refined, Tukwila's global food hall helps women of color and refugees start their businesses
- ↑ The Infatuation, Tukwila (January 2021)
- ↑ The Infatuation, What to eat at Spice Bridge, a new food hall in Tukwila
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 ParentMap, Spice Bridge food hall (January 2023)