Battambang Restaurant
850 Broadway
(between 8th St & 9th St)
Oakland, CA 94607 (510) 839-8815
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: Yes
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Good for: Dinner
- Alcohol: Beer & Wine Only
51 Reviews for Battambang Restaurant
I had a lunch special that included that generic flavorless Chinese cabbage soup. The basil chicken dish I had was pretty good. Service was attentive. I liked the place and will come back.
Great place, one of very few Cambodian restaurants in Oakland, and the service is very friendly. Had been for birthdays and big get togethers and never had problems with accommodating us.
The food is very good definitely get the Luk luk appetizer and the Duck curry is one of the best I've had.
My boss treated us to dinner here one night. We got a variety of dishes from appetizers to curries and they were all yummy. I think my two favorites were a pork dish and a green curry (I believe). The people who run the place are very nice. Don't be deterred if the place seems deserted...they are typically empty during the early evening but fill up later on. Very tasty food.
On Broadway, right on the outskirts of Oakland Chinatown. This place is a Cambodian alternative to Pnomh Penh and is not too shabby. Though Pnomh Penh would probably still be #1. This place caters more to the Downtown crowd (Business Attire) and is more individual plates and not family style. At least at lunchtime. Reasonable prices and Great Food..... And we are really lucky to have a couple of great Cambodian options in the area.....
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I was a little skeptical when we showed up at 7pm on a Friday, and we were the only people sitting down... but, by the time we left the restaurant at least half the place had filled up.
The food was really tasty, although the menu descriptions were a bit off. We ordered something that I remember being described as "tofu with slow roasted tomatoes in a tamarind sauce"... which ended up being tofu and vegetable skewers (like shish kabobs). It was still damn good.
We were a group of four vegetarians, and there were plenty of options for us... a whole page of entrees in fact. Everything we got was good, nothing amazing, but yummy enough that we scarfed down three appetizers, three entrees, and a dessert between the four of us with no leftovers (the portions were medium, not family-style). For people that prefer mild food, this is great... not one item we got was spicy (unlike Thai food, but it might have been toned down for an American audience). I've never had Cambodian food before, so I can't attest to the authenticity of the food. The service was attentive and very nice, although there weren't the best with recommendations.
I'd definitely come again... it's great to find an affordable and tasty place in downtown O.
I'd never tried Cambodian food before going to Battambang. I wasn't sure what to expect, but the food was absolutely wonderful.
I would definitely recommend it to someone looking to try something new, and also so anyone just looking for a great meal.
I was there with a large party and they were able to accommodate us. It was very easy to order many dishes and share, and it was extremely vegetarian friendly. Pretty much all the entrees were under 10 dollars.
I order the Battambang noodles and they were absolutely delicious.
Overall a great place to eat out, great food, wonderful and friendly service. I would and will go back.
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I had never had Cambodian food before and was really pleasantly surprised by how good the meal was.
This place is funny in that it sits next to this huge sushi buffet Asian cuisine building that recently reopened. It also is wedged between another high rise. I never came in here because it looked a bit run down from the exterior.
Inside, it is cozy and comfortable. When my boyfriend and I arrived we were the only ones but soon enough the place really started to fill up.
I got the Tamarind Tofu dish which was really tasty and fresh: tofu, tomatoes, bell peppers grilled on skewers and in a nice light sauce.
All their deserts look amazing. We had a fried banana one that was perfect.
I plan on coming here again soon.
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This restaurant had some of the best food i ever tasted .. the (moarn aing) is grilled chicken breast with ginger sauce and lemon juice wow it was good .. also the fried rice with crab meat is real crab meat which phenomenal,as a third item we had beef kabobs which was also very tasty... the service was quick the people were so friendly ,I'll differently be back soon ...
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Battambang is one of the few (or perhaps only) restaurants in the Bay Area specializing in Cambodian cuisine. How cool is that.
While being somewhat similar to Thai, Cambodian food is supposedly milder, lighter and less intense in terms of herbs and spices used. (More like Vietnamese, perhaps?) And according to our waitress, the food at Battambang is even more so and well...more Americanized, if you will. After our first meal here, we knew exactly what she meant.
FOOD: With that disclaimer, we think the food here is delicious. The fresh salads (with lime sauce) are refreshing. The pickled vegetables on the side are sweet and crisp. The red curries are a little too mild and watery for us, but after adding in the hot sauce (found on each table), they can be adjusted well to our liking. The grilled meat dishes - either pork (Sach Chrouk Aing) or beef (Sach Ko Chomkak) - are great. Lastly, you can request your dishes to be made hotter, if that's what you want.
SETTING & SERVICE: Not the most pleasant place for dining, but clean enough. Slow, but friendly service.
SUM: 3.5 stars
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Though we went here for a joyous occasion, I'd have to say that the food was not nearly as joyous as I was hoping. We had a lot of dishes that all did not have a lot of flavour. Also, the dish sizes were all a little small. The one thing that we did eat that tasted really good was the Ginger cake that our roommate brought. Yes they were nice enough to hold the cake in the back and not eat it, but they were no match for the homemade cake. Anyway, we also were able to take part in the wonderful service. It was one of those things. Sometimes it was good, sometimes bad. We got our drinks really quickly, but we ordered our food really slowly. But we got the food really quickly. Anyway, what else about this place, the have one unisex washroom which comes complete with industrial wash basin and regular washroom sink and a toilet with a candle for when a patron makes the stinky.
All in all our experience was mediocre at best. The saving grace of this place is that if you do have to go here for dinner, you can finish off your night by walking over to the Trappist on 8th st.
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I have been twice to Battambang now. Both times the food has been wonderful and the people are really friendly. This last time, we had the stuffed chicken wings for an appetizer...tasty, of course. The best part was the pickled cabbage, carrots and ginger that came with it. The boyfriend loves pickled vegetables. Our entrees were the Battambang noodles and an excellent curry with beef, yams, peanuts...to die for.
I found this place when Cambodiana in Berkeley closed. I have to say, Battambang is definitely as good (makes me wonder if the owners are the same) and they even make the trout dish that I loved at Cambodiana.
Tried Battambang with a friend tonight, neither of us was particularly impressed.
We started with a papaya salad, which was fine but we both felt lacked heat. (guess we should have specified spicy, we're both so used to getting SEAsian dishes that way by default nowadays I suppose it skipped our minds, but on the other hand, the waitstaff didn't ask us either)
For entrees we had: #48, halibut, vegetables and basil in red curry. Curry was completely devoid of heat, and pretty devoid of flavor, too. The fish seemed a bit less than fresh to me... #52, bamboo shoots and other vegetables in red lemongrass sauce with chicken. No heat here either. Didn't taste the lemongrass. Couldn't tell what distinguished this sauce from the bland red curry of #48... and #84, mixed vegetables and tofu in garlic sauce. Nothing special here, it was fine but lacked zest. (which seems to be the overall theme of the meal)
Didn't love or hate anything. Service was fine, they refilled our tea several times, but I felt as far as the food went, whoever was in the kitchen just wasn't even trying. I'll be generous and say that maybe we ordered the wrong things, but based on what I had and the endemic lack of flavor, (as well as the prices being a bit on the high side for this type of food) this wouldn't be on my radar of places to try again.
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Ok, so I've only tried ONE thing on the menu, the #6 lunch special. Kari Moarn. It's quite delicious, and I have yet to try other items on the menu, but I can't stray away from #6!
Thanks to the Yelper who suggested it below, claiming that it's the only thing you get.
I actually tried other items like their fried rice and some other dishes at a catered company training, and it was all good. I just wish I knew the names of the other dishes. One was realllly good and I loved it. I know it had chicken and green beans, but it wasn't kari moarn.
I crave this place from time to time and I'm glad it's only 2 blocks away from where I work.
FYI, you have to spend $10+ in order to charge your order on a card.
The venue is cozy, decorated with traditional paintings from Cambodia and fresh orchids at every table.
I was very taken with the charm of the owner who served us; she was very sweet and accommodating. My honey wanted to have Bok Lahong; a favorite of ours. It was not on the menu but she made it for us, giving us the lowdown on her method; which is to combine Lao & Cambodian flavors= bomb!! It works.
The food was delectable; I highly recommend this restaurant for authentic Cambodian cuisine & a humbling experience.
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I used to go to this place all the time for lunch when I worked out in Oakland and I totally miss it. It's my favorite Cambodian restaurant in the Bay Area. I went here for dinner about a year ago after not going there for 2+ years and the lady remembered me and she even remembered what I always order!!!
My favorite dishes:
Moarn Char Karpic - Sauteed ground chicken, mushrooms, shrimp paste, green onion and sweet basil in oyster sauce. I ask them to make this spicy which makes it extra good.
Troub Trung Kor - eggplant with shrimp and ground pork in lime sauce. I also ask them to make this spicy too.
I really adore this little spot. I'm completely addicted to the Tamarind Tofu dish. It really is a dish designed perfectly for me (minus the mushrooms which I hand over to the human garbage disposal aka my boyfriend). Chunks of tofu, tomatoes, bell peppers and the aforementioned mushrooms grilled on skewers and then served with this amazing light and fresh tasting tamarind sauce. Yum. I crave it all the time.
The spinach noodles are also awesome. They're made from scratch there.
The owner is always really nice when I've been there. I wish they were open between 3-5, but hey, everyone is a critic.
4 solid stars. Recently came here with work people and they were able to fit us all in....there were at least 20 of us. And it was during the lunch rush....great job! I had the chow fun noodles with seafood and cabbage. Very large portions, wide variety and selection. I had a chance to try their spinach noodles with seafood, that was good, and their charboiled catfish was super saucy and yummy. Everything looked good. And, their iced coffee was SO SO good. It kinda tasted like a milkshake but not as thick. But definitely creamy goodness.
Great service, great food.
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I love this place so much. I haven't been here in a few months, but I used to go here a lot. I usually stick to switching between three dishes: Troub Trung Kor, Moarn Char Karpic or Trei Chien Chou. But seriously, all the other dishes I've had here have always been great. Full of flavor. They even bring me an extra dish of fish sauce and dried thai pepper, a must for me since I was a little girl when eating Thai food or something similar, and some of the dishes here are pretty similar to Thai dishes. Oh, and we always get fried banana and coconut ice cream for dessert.
Everyone that works there has always been really friendly.
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I have to admit I only order one dish, the #6. It's a chicken coconut milk and yellow curry dish, steamed rice and veggies, potatoes. It's unreal. I've never had better chicken in any type of asian food ever. That's why I keep ordering the same thing, it's too good NOT to get it. Most of my co-workers also order the same thing when we go for lunch. It's addictive. Great service, cheap prices.
goddamn that was some fine food! red curry seems to be a prominent flavor here, though i'm not complaining because i like red curry, and everything our group ordered was beautiful and delicious. the waitstaff was attentive and friendly, and the vegetarian menu extensive. the desert we got warrants particular attention. it was a paste of pumpkin and rice flour wrapped up in a banana leaf and steamed. it was clearly made by hand with great care, and was absolutely delicious. if you're looking for a place with a really unique flavor, reasonable prices, and great variety even for vegetarians, battambang is definitely worth a visit.
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Mmmm.. Battambang, I miss you! One of my favorite restaurants of my usual rotation when I was working downtown Oakland. I remember I even walked 10 blocks once just to eat lunch here! My usual order is Moarn Char Karpic, Sauteed grond chicken, chopped mushrooms, shrimp paste, green onion and sweet basil in oyster sauce. Sooo good! I also love the cabbage soup they give along with their lunch dishes.
The place would definately be catorigized as a hole in the wall, casual dining environment, however, I tend to like my restaurants small and cozy like that!
Mileu:
Walls surrounded with large pictures of angkor wat, and other national sites of cambodia. Very quaint and homey.
Service:
Excellent. Our waitress was so nice to us. She even offered to cook my favorite pumpkin dish (not on the menu) if I call her and let her know in advance. I KNOW!!! It's like being treated first class or with celebrity status.
Food:
Overall great. Unfortunately, it has that semi-americanism taste, so I was kinda sad about that. Just came back from Cambodia last year and I thought that country had one of the best foods I've ever had. If they had the pumpkin dish that was found at Khmer Kitchen in Cambodia, I would be at this place on a daily basis. Overall, the food was great.
Get there fish stuffed wrapped with banana leaves. YUMMY!!! Their appetizer special was similar to many vietnamese dishes which was not different, but good.
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Surprisingly fresh-tasting seafood soups!
Somlaw Machou Pangrors - It is made of fillet of fish, jumbo prawns, fresh pineapple, tomato, lemon grass and spices in a clear sweet & sour tamarind broth.
This dish has big chucks of fresh white fish and tastes light and refreshing. The sweet pineapple, "sour" tomato, refreshing lemongrass create an explosion of flavors!
I loved my soup, so did my meat-loving fiance. However, the ambiance, service, and the meat dishes we ordered were just average.
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I was in the neighborhood, originally looking for place by Jack London Square when I thinking of having authentic Cambodian food just like mom makes it. Everyone has their way of doing it so rather than compare the authenticity, I just care if the plate tastes good.
First step into the place, I was taken by the decor which was unusually better than most Cambodian restaurants I've been to which includes SF, San Jose, and Long Beach. Good sign, but let's check the food out.
I was presented the menu and there was a wide range of dishes and deserts that I've not seen before. I stick to something safe for now and order a Kary Sach Ko which means Beef (Sach Ko) in Curry (Kary).
The dish was hot in terms of flavor and touch, but really good. There were green beans, white potatoes, and of course beef with a side of rice. Tastes really good and definitely better than the thai and khmer restaurants that I've ordered similar dishes.
I'll definitely be back here again and try their deserts.
So I just read Max V's review of this place and according to him all the veggie dishes have fish sauce in it. TELL ME IT'S NOT TRUE! I was so excited after eating here because I wanted to go straight home and give it a wonderful review. I guess I should do some more research before I give it 1 STAR for lying to me right?
Well, my rating for Battambang stands at 3 stars for now.
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Tastes like Cambodia (without all the diesel smoke)
I recently spent two weeks in Cambodia, and coming back to the US, thought it might be impossible to find food as Delicious as what I ate there. Enter Battambang Restaurant.
Battambang has an extremely long menu that seems to contain just about all the amazing Khmer dishes that I ate abroad. On my visit, I had the amok trey (fish cooked in warm, coconut-milky yellow curry in a banana-leaf bowl). It was a delicious authentic take on the Amok that I had in both Phnom Penh and Battambang.
A while after bringing my girlfriend and I our dishes, the owner came over to ask us how the food was, smiling all the while. She was from Phnom Penh, and beamed as I thanked her in Khmer (aw-kuhn) with a respectful wai, asking me about my travels, telling me about her family, and her dreams for the future.
She typified the Khmer people I met in Cambodia: friendly, generous, and passionate about food and family. Good people.
The food here is great, the service effective and unpretentious, and I can't wait to get back to CA to work my way through the menu.
Viva la Battambang!
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hahah what can i say about this place.... hmmm i grew up in this restaurant, fomerly own by my family. Best cambodian food bcuz my mom has been the chef there since day one (1993). I use to work here.... hahah i miss this place
The Somlaw Machou was excellent. The perfect amount of pineapples and tomatoes and tamarind to give off that sour taste, not too salty and didn't overuse the fish sauce. The Banchev was cooked to perfection. Not too mushy; not too crispy. The filling was darn good too. We had some red curry that had a little too much coconut milk in it. This is also combined with the fact that my mom's curry is really unrivaled. But otherwise, mom would have approved of her LA transplanted daughter who needs to find a spot to get her mom-food fix. Try it out-- ask them for suggestions if you've never eaten Cambodian food. The service was excellent; the prices totally worth it.
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This is my first go at Cambodian food so if you find my review a little... ignorant, too bad because I already warned you! My friend suggested this restaurant because he read pretty high reviews on the Zagat guide about it. We were actually catching a jazz show at Jack London Square and decided to take a 15 minute walk to this restaurant. It's located on the near outskirts of Chinatown right next to Jade Villa. Of all the times I've been to Chinatown, I have never seen this place!
Here's a description of all we ordered. The first 2 are appetizers.
Lawt (crispy Cambodian style spring rolls. Ground pork, bean thread, onion & ground peanuts wrapped in a thin egg roll sheet, served with pickle vinegar sauce) - This reminds me of a lot of Vietnamese imperial rolls. But keep in mind these are tiny. You get about 8 eggrolls and they're about 1" each. It comes with a side of pickled cabbage which is very freshing.
Slarb Moaran Bourk (chicken wings stuffed with ground pork, roasted peanuts, bean thread's, black funguns, lemon & spices) - Most of us have never had stuffed chicken! The only stuffed poultry I've previously eaten is a turducken and this is on some level like that. The chicken was roasted and you get the same side of cabbage & vinegar dipping sauce as the previous dish. You get about 2 stuffed chicken thighs and each one is cut up into 3 pieces. It's good for about 2-4 people; 2 if you want to be greedy and 4 if you don't want to fill up too much before your main dishes.
Saramann (sliced beef, greens, yams & young coconut meat simmered in red curry sauce) - My FAVORITE dish out of all we ordered. The sauce is thick and you can taste the coconut. Even after we finished all the meat, green, etc., we just poured the rest of the sauce on rice and ate it just like that. It was sooooo good.
Stir Fried Frog Legs (stir-fried frog legs with lemon grass, spices, bell peppers, green bean & ground peanuts (dried & spicy) - Beware of this dish! Although it is seasoned to perfection, there are many slices of hidden ginger. Of course the liking of this is all to personal preference but being a ginger hater, it was an almost nightmare! Even if you don't like frog legs, you can eat the veggies with the rice because the sauce is so yummy.
Battambang's Special Stew (filet of fish, jumbo prawns & tofu served in black pepper sauce) - This dish was just okay. I wasn't sure what to expect. Reading "black pepper sauce" makes me think of of a thicker, corn starchy type sauce but it was quite watery.
Battambang's Noodles (pan-fried soft rice noodles with chicken, egg, bean sprouts, green onion, ground chili & peanuts in tamarind sauce) - You can add prawns for an additional $.95 but we didn't because there were already prawns in our other dish. Their noodle selection is actually very limited at 3 dishes. This is like a mild version of pad thai. That's basically all there is to say. It's nice to have a mild dish since the other things are so full of spice.
We ended our time with Jackfruit custard wrapped & baked in banana leaf. It was SO GOOD. At first, the odd smell caught us off guard but after eating a bite, I immediately fell in love! It's basically coconut rice pudding with slices of jackfruit on top. It's really warm when they bring it out and I love warm desserts so this was absolutely perfect. There were some other unique desserts that I really want to try like the banana chunks in tapioca with coconut milk.
All this food was for 4 people and on a fullness scale, we were at about a 8. Overall, not bad but I'm still a little traumatized by the ginger.
Battambang is a nice small family and friend restaurant. The beautiful decorations and the color of the place sets a nice relaxing and peaceful tone. i respect battambang for the food and service they provide. The workers there would usually smile and come to our table once in a while to ask if everything is okay or if we needed more drinks or rice and such.
I have to give them props about how they serve their rice. It is served in a nice wooded brown sculpted pot.
i have been to battambong for years with my family and are willing to go there anytime. We have also become very close with some of the workers and the owner. Here are some recommendations for those who have no clue as to what to order.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
-rice of course
-egg plant w/ shrimp and pork
-sweet and sour vietnamese soup (salaw machu yuen)
-a mok (not really sure what it is called in english but i believe its fish)
- meat on stick (sach ko changka)
-lamb chop (a little pricey but it was worth it)
be sure to save your appetite for the best selection on the menu...
- Vanilla Ice Cream W/ Fried Banana (believe me you'll be back just for this)
I would give this restaurant five stars, but the service is pretty slow during lunch hour as it gets busy. Very interesting food and well prepared. Nice, intimate dining room. A little like quirky Thai food, but different. I'm surprised that folks don't like it better.
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This is one of my favorite restraunts ever. The quality of the food is consistantly great and is not expensive. Try the Num Lapov for dessert...it's my favorite. The only reason i do not give it five stars is because it is not really meant to be a five star restraunt (ie. impeccable ambiance, service, view and food). For a hole in the wall place, it's quite amazing.
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We're never failed.... we loved everything!!! Nice cozy atmosphere!
Okay, I'm pretty sure this is the only Cambodian restaurant I've ever been to, so with no frame of reference I call it good to quite good. All the dishes were flavorful, well-prepared and nicely presented. Green veggies in creamy chile sauce and the catfish stood out for me. The jackfruit dessert served in a banana leaf is a creamy cool ending.
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I'm fairly certain I gained at least 5lbs eating here last night. Several of us had never had Cambodian food before and we ordered a ton of stuff so we could all try different things. My favorites were the curries with yams and the grilled prawns with honey marinade.
My main complaint is that the dishes seemed excessively oily. That isn't necessarily bad, but in this case it made the food seem like it could use more spice to counteract the grease (particularly the veggie dishes).
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There is an amazing array of Asian restaurants in downtown Oakland. Within a 5 block radius of my office (14th & Broadway) I can find Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Japanese, and Cambodian restaurants. Battambang is the one Cambodian restaurant that I'm aware of, and it is very good. The restaurant interior is a little bit cramped but nicely decorated, and the food is delicious. If you've never had Cambodian food before, I'd describe it as somewhere between Thai and Vietnamese, but definitely with a taste all its own. The service here is very efficient, but sometimes you may have to wait a tad bit for your food, and I've always noticed that some of the staff is not particularly personable. Not rude, but not friendly either.
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Had lunch here today with a friend from college who was visiting and another girl she knew from college who worked in Oakland.
With no idea what to expect I ordered the pork and shrimp stuffed eggplant, and we chatted while we waited for our meal to be served.
They served us a soup, or what we called cabbage water and we all quickly turned the bowl away as cabbage was not a friend to any of us.
Upon receiving our meals we learned that the girl who worked in Oakland had been to Cambodia and that the food she ate there was much like our cabbage water. Her dish, a noodle one was much like pad Thai and I worried about my choice.
Contrary to my worries it was tasty, the eggplant cooked well, and meats seasoned nicely. Considering we planned to meet up at 11:30 last night, and were stuck on BART for a while on our way over, my tummy was happy and we had great conversations. I'd try this place again.
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Battambang is so much better than Phnom Penh a few blocks away! For the same prices you get white tablecloths, a pretty environment, and better food.
Battambang's lunch specials include a great beef skewer grilled with lemongrass. Another winner is the Luk Luck on their appetizer menu, which consists of nicely seasoned cube steak. The chicken is okay here but really you should just focus on the beef. BEEF OUT! (to the tune of "Freak Out")
Yum Yum Yummy food & a really nice staff.
This is a place I've brought friends from out of town.
Cambodian food is really similar to Thai food, add some good 'ol grilled char flavor... mmm char. I'd also like to point out that this place has an excellent vegetarian menu. The atmosphere is nice, except for that one time I got stared down by a roach. Hopefully that won't put you off, because the food is quite good.
Favorite appetizer: Lawt Banleh (fancy veggie egg rolls with a side of pickled vegetables).
My favorite dishes: Trorb Aing (baked eggplant simmered in a spicy lime sauce) and Green Vege (Stir-fried asparagus, green bean, and broccoli in a creamy chili sauce).
Stay away from: Kuy Teav Towhoo (noodles in a red curry). Call me crazy, but I just don't like noodles drowned in coconut curry.
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