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Amok in Windsor was one of those restaurants I always meant to get to but never did, and therefore, when it closed, it fell into the category of ones that got away. The modern Cambodian restaurant, which opened on Chapel Street in 2015, shuttered in July 2022. I always feel a slight sense of guilt when a place on my to-try list goes away – if more of us had just acted on the impulse to check out Amok, it stands to reason that maybe it would have survived.

And so I was thrilled to see that the operation has re-emerged as a pop-up in Hawthorn East called Mahob by Amok.

Occupying a side room of the massive Riversdale Hotel, chef Angkeasereyvuth “Woody” Chet and his wife Chanthida Penh are presenting a version of their Windsor restaurant that’s likely a little less colourful and homey than the original – this very much feels like a function room on the side of a large pokies pub – but that cuts no corners when it comes to the menu.

More than 30 dishes span starters, snacks, share plates, salads and larger curries, with the option for a $70-a-head tasting menu if you can’t decide. While some dishes are fairly traditional, most have some kind of creative spin, an ingredient or technique that adds something modern to the plate.

Crispy zucchini flowers ($12 each) are stuffed with ricotta, and served with pomegranate and pomelo, as well as a honey yogurt. Pomelo, the juicy, less-bitter grapefruit-adjacent citrus, is a favourite ingredient, used beautifully tossed with kingfish that’s been cured in coconut vodka, with lemongrass, lime leaf and coconut milk ($24). The ultra-bright fish comes shot through with coriander, and is piled atop betel leaves.

There are some very clever snacks, such as wild-caught tiger prawns on a brioche roll ($12), that would be better if Chet left the truffle oil out of the mayo on the bread. (I also avoided the fresh shucked oysters because the topping includes truffle oil – it may be one of my last true snobberies, but I’m sticking with it. Truffle oil is overwhelming and chemical-tasting and while I know it adds a whiff of luxury I maintain that no luxury is better than false luxury.)

The prahok k’tis, a glorious smoosh of chargrilled smoked eggplant, minced pork, peas, pine nuts and coconut cream ($24), is hardly the most beautiful dish on the menu but it might be my favourite. There’s a lovely complexity at play here, both in the flavours and textures, that makes it quite unlike any other dish I can recall.

That’s how I felt about amok, the Cambodian staple of seafood poached in a coconut milk, curry and egg mixture that forms a mousse-like texture, the first time I tried it. The version here ($38), made with kingfish, barramundi and king prawn, is more like a seafood stew, the flavours distilled in the sauce rather than congealed into a fluffy solid.

Chet’s signature dish, a Cambodian duck curry ($38), is a marvel of richness, the duck marylands falling apart into the sauce of house-made red kroeung (Cambodian curry).

If you’re a fan of the fiery green papaya salads found at Thai restaurants around town, the grilled tiger prawn version here ($24) might seem a little tame, even slightly bland, though it is a refreshing foil to the flavour-intense curries.

Mahob by Amok is slated to run through the end of May at the Riversdale Hotel, with the couple hoping to lengthen that residency for another six months. (I’m told that chances are good, though not guaranteed, for an extension.)

In the long run, I’d love to see this restaurant in a permanent home, one that feels a little truer to the vibrancy and soul of the cooking. But I’d eat this food if they were serving it from the back of a van in an empty lot. As long as Chet is cooking, we should all be there enjoying.