Cambodia 'bug cafe' serves up insect tapas

The insect-infested menu features among other dishes, a "bug mac", fried tarantula tempura, sweet potato cream with bee larvae, silkworm and mango flambe, and even a cricket cheesecake dessert.

This photo taken on October 24, 2019 shows a tourist eating a mix of fried insects with scorpion and vegetable dish at the Bugs Cafe restaurant in Siem Reap province. Ant spring rolls, silkworm taro croquettes and a "bug mac" -- Cambodia's first insect tapas restaurant is mixing cocktail culture with creepy crawler fare.
AFP

This photo taken on October 24, 2019 shows a tourist eating a mix of fried insects with scorpion and vegetable dish at the Bugs Cafe restaurant in Siem Reap province. Ant spring rolls, silkworm taro croquettes and a "bug mac" -- Cambodia's first insect tapas restaurant is mixing cocktail culture with creepy crawler fare.

Ant spring rolls, silkworm taro croquettes and a "bug mac" – Cambodia's first insect tapas restaurant is mixing cocktail culture with creepy crawler fare.

At the busy "Bugs Cafe" in the tourist town of Siem Reap, chef Seiha Soeun stands over a sizzling wok in the kitchen tossing in crickets, grasshoppers, tarantulas and scorpions.

Sold at street vendors or in Instagram-friendly tourist spots, insects aren't new to Cambodian palates.

But they are usually served one way: fried, with dipping sauce, and maybe a cold beer.

AFP

A tourist eats deep fried tarantula tempura at the Bugs Cafe restaurant in Siem Reap province, on October 24, 2019.

'Bug mac'

"We have a different kind of menu," Seiha said, adding that he practiced making the "bug mac" – a patty of pureed ant, bee, silkworm and cricket topped with a slice of cheese and pickle -- many times to get it just right.

On a recent evening at the restaurant, French co-founder Davy Blouzard greeted curious diners and explained the menu.

"We want to show that it's possible to make quality food with insects," he said.

There is sweet potato cream with bee larvae, silkworm and mango flambe, and even a cricket cheesecake dessert.

AFP

Tourists eat dishes of mixed insects at the Bugs Cafe restaurant in Siem Reap province on October 24, 2019.

'I HATE INSECTS'

Insects are eaten by two billion people worldwide, according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization.

Besides being a cheap source of protein, insect cuisine is also a possible answer to rising concern over the environmental impact of livestock farming.

As dinner orders picked up, tourists from as far afield as Britain, Poland and Malaysia all happily – if a little squeamishly – crunched away.

Servers worked the room wearing shirts emblazoned with the words "I HATE INSECTS", with the "H" crossed out.

British backpacker Joshua Bean, 23, said he knew he had to visit the cafe after seeing an ad for the unusual eatery at his hostel.

He didn't flinch at the "juicy" silkworms and an assortment of other insects piled up on his plate.

"It's not the kind of thing you get back home," he said.

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