Greg Bem
Google
After living in Cambodia a few times and enjoying Cambodian cuisine around the USA (on both coasts), including traditional fair and contemporary approaches to popular and less known dishes, I approached Oun Lido's with an open mind. Unfortunately the four of us that went were incredibly disappointed at what appears to be another victim of the Portland, Maine dining scene: a fast attempt to create something original in a competitive restaurant landscape that ultimately feels like it lacks love, attention to detail, and the intention that Cambodian cuisine is ultimately known for all over the world. A few things of note: the entire ordering experience is the inverse of what I would expect at a Cambodian restaurant: a brief interaction with a trendy, barely talkative cashier leads to a soulless connection to a menu that most people don't even know anything about. After ordering from the lower dregs of the building, diners head upstairs to a shadowy, barely-inviting upper level, where they need to set up their tables on their own, with little understanding (again) of what Cambodian food is and how to eat it. When I asked if the trendiness of the menu afforded family style dining, the cashier literally said "It can be eaten that way..." with zero explanation on portioning or what dishes are designed for family style and what aren't. The food itself contains a lot of the flavor and spice of Khmer cooking, which is a great thing in general (people need to learn that Cambodian isn't Vietnamese, Chinese, Thai, etc.); however, the food lacked the substance of any other Cambodian restaurant I've visited. Portions were small (to be expected at a "fine dining" restaurant of any genre); however, they felt like they lacked any kind of heart to them, as if there were pushed out on a conveyor belt, like a robot. The server (who was the cashier) didn't have any enthusiasm in the delivery, which was thus a double negative. Specific issues: the beef loc lac had almost zero meat; the egg rolls felt way too dry; the pork noodles had delicious noodles but a flat, dry pork that felt like it had been sitting out all day. Several of the menu items weren't even available to order, which wouldn't be an issue if the menu was substantial, but it's so small that any unavailable items means a significant lack in choice. The menu overall feels "hip" in that it's trying to feel like a fine dining establishment, but when a Cambodian restaurant doesn't even have a soup menu, that's a huge red flag (soup is a staple in Khmer cuisine!); and other regular favorites like prahok and noodle soup were missing as well. I really, really wanted to like this place, given the other reviews, the entry in Portland's dining scene, and my love of Cambodian food (which is one of my favorites), but this place not only needs more work, it really needs a reinvention, to lead to anything other than the current blase results.