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For my first time having Cambodian food, I must say, I'm a fan. I find it to have similarities to Vietnamese and Thai food. I don't remember at the top of my head the names of the foods, but I hope my descriptions work.
Food we ordered:
Pad Thai dish that had a fried egg on top. I LOVE IT! Popping the center of the egg and letting the yolk ooze all over the noodles below it ... YUMMY!
Beef BBQ Sticks. I love the marinade. It was sooo good.
Soup with leafy green vegetables in a tamarind/lemon grass broth. This reminded me of a Filipino dish, sinigang. This was ok.
Ground chicken in a coconut curry sauce served with a side of raw vegetables (eggplant, cucumber, cabbage). This was really good. It's just like the Thai Yellow Chicken Curry, just minus the potatoes and carrots.
This beef medallion dish served with a side of sliced tomatoes. This actually reminds me of Shaken Beef from Brodards in Westminster. This was really good. I could have killed the plate by myself.
Taro Shake. Pass on it. It was too powdery.
The service was swift and friendly. They always made sure our glasses were filled with water and that our rice was never empty.
The one dish I really wanted to try was the Banh Chiao, but they were out of it for the rest of the night. It's similar to the Vietnamese Banh Xeo (sizzling crepe).
My advise to you is this - do not order delivery from Siem. I recommend eating in only. Nick and I ordered delivery from them right when we got to Long Beach and it was pretty crappy food. Then we went here based on a recommendation, not realizing that it was the same delivery place we didn't like and had a rather enjoyable dinner. I don't understand what is up with that. Maybe we just chose poorly the first time or maybe the atmosphere and service make up for the food when you're eating there.
The restaurant looks like a place that should have lounge lizards singing karaoke or maybe like a spot that would be a terrible awesome wedding reception venue. They played awesome music videos on the TV while we were there, but I don't think the sound was on.
The food is an odd mixture of Chinese, Cambodian, and Thai. I had a Chinese sausage and shrimp fried rice dish that was topped with an entire fried egg. Many of their dishes are offered with the fried egg topping and all I can say is you're a fool if you don't get it that way.
This place deserves five stars for their customer service alone. Every time I'm here the waitresses know my drink order and if they see me when I'm parking, they'll have it ready for me at the table. They even know which table I prefer! They are always helpful with ordering suggestions, and once the food comes out they will do everything but spoon it into your mouth. Though to be honest, I think they probably would spoon feed me if I asked. While dining here you wont feel like your at a restaurant, you'll feel like a kid, at your friends house being served dinner by your friends mom. By the end of your meal you'll feel like family, you'll want to help clean up, you'll want to sit down for an after dinner cocktail (they have a full bar and even serve the ever elusive Me Kong Whiskey) and some chitchat its just that kind of atmosphere. Every time I'm in here I think to myself "I need to learn Khmer because I really want to invite the waitresses to dinner"
On top of the welcoming atmosphere, they also have excellent food. They serve Cambodian, Thai and Chinese menu items. Normally that kind of thing would put me off, I tend to fear places with too much menu, especially "pan asian" type places, but its not a problem here at all. Everything is made to order and can be easily tailored to your tastes.
My favorite dishes are the curry noodle soup (the red one) with chicken. Its a mild curry served with thin rice noodles and comes with a plate of shredded cabbage, lime wedges, diced long beans and cucumbers and if you ask ( you totally should, unless your worried about your pressure cause fish sauce will kill you) Thai chile's in fish sauce. Its the perfect kind of comfort food for blustery mornings. They have great grilled shrimp salad, and I would also suggest that you give the "Thai style red curry chicken" a try. Its a "dry curry", served with lots of peppers and onions over rice. The best thing about this dish is how homemade it tastes, again its something that makes you feel as if your dining at friends house and not a restaurant. Make sure the beef loc lac makes an appearance at your table. Its probably my favorite dish here, the beef is so peppery and soft it just melts away in your mouth. Its served with a plate of super fresh veggies and a pepper lime dipping sauce. I love those crisp veggies and that peppery lip tingly sauce so much that every time I leave, the waitresses bring me out a special to go box of veggies and lime sauce - no charge - see what I'm saying about great customer service.?!
They also have a dessert bar, though your excellent waitresses will probably bring you a sweet before you get a chance to even consider desert.
If you cant find street parking right in front, don't fret at having to park in a sketchy neighborhood, they have parking in the back.
I can't believe I paid fourteen bucks for dollar chinese food.
Okay, so they said about 40 minutes. It took 65. (strike one)
They take cards for delivery, but only if you give them your firstborn child. In lieu of that, they ask you for the security code (wtf), the billing address, and to see both the card and your damn identification on delivery. wat. (strike two)
And, finally, the shit tasted like the nasty ass Hong Kong Express on every corner in the hood, for more than 14 times the price. (strike three YER OUT)
wtf, yelp. w. t. f.
For the past 5 Years, This is the place is only go to eat cambodian food. Best food in town. I try Hak Heng and La Lune and other and their all crap w/ Poor service and food. YOU CAN NOT FIND A BETTER PLACE THEN SIEM REAP!!! This place have the best food / Shave ice / Thai tea / very cheap lunch price / 5 Star Customer service (** I tip them $5-$20 everytime i go their) Also this place has
Free Wi-Fi. I love this place so much, I everyone knows me their. I become your computer tech =D.. -Jack
I was recently in Long Beach and checked out Yelp before I made a decision with which Cambodian restaurant I wanted to go to. I got my degree in Urban Studies so I'm a big nerd when it comes to demographics and all, so when I learned that there was a large Cambodian population in Long Beach--largest in the states--I knew we had to go. In a "support local community way" not a "exoticizing cambodian culture and people way", just to be clear. Though I'm aware that they also serve Thai and Chinese, it was my primary reason for going.
So, all signs pointed to Siem Reap and I was super excited. We ordered the pork chops and chicken bbq sticks, which also came with a delicious soup (i wish i knew the name)! The pork chops were so delicious I regretted that my partner ordered them and not I. Though the bbq sticks were good, I couldn't help thinking about what other food to get because everything was so yummy. The food filled me up so much that I really couldn't order anything more. My partner got Thai Ice Tea in a really large "to-go" container that made him ecstatic. "This is all for $3.50, you can't get this much for this price anywhere else" (or something along those lines). With the drink, soups, and 2 dishes it came out to just a little over $20!
The atmosphere was really nice, there was a dance area and spot where people dj/play music. Nice tables, chandeliers, high ceilings, large pieces of artwork, and a bunch of photos from all over southeast asia. It seems like a spot where you would go for big parties and celebrations, but it's definitely not limited to that.
the staff there is super nice, really friendly, and a lot of smiles.
in the bathroom, there was a contraption that gave cups and mouthwash (though it wasn't filled at the time), which i thought was cool. it was the first time i saw this option in a bathroom (that i remember at least) so i thought it was worth noting.
pictures to follow
I was looking for a quick pick-up lunch, and felt like having Cambodian food at the time, so I looked it up on Yelp. Read a couple of reviews on Siem Reap, and decided to go with Ginger Chicken as some reviewers had suggested. I called to place the order without a menu in hand, and the person who picked up the phone did not tell me that there's a lunch special for Ginger Chicken that's $3 cheaper, but I wasn't going to let $3 distract me from a good meal. So I brought the food back to the office, and can't stop wondering why are people giving such high scores for the restaurant? The food is really just ok, it's not bad, but can't be classified as good.
The chicken tasted very strongly of baking soda, or whatever they used to lightly breaded the chicken before frying it with the ginger. The ginger taste is quite pleasing, but only to be distracted by an intense saltiness in the sauce. The best part of the dish was actually the green onion that is cooked just to the right "done-ness". All in all, the food is really just average, and I'm sure there are a lot more chinese/cambodian places that can make better food.
As for the location, all I am going to say is 2 seconds after I left the restaurant, a female "urban-camper" had asked me for 50 cents... I walked REALLY fast away.
GREAT LUNCH SPECIALS at a very cheap price!
so far i've tried the lok lak, pork chop w/ pepper, and fried chicken. the lunch specials come with soup and 1 vegetable roll. the portions are a lot! i can never finish it and always have to take it home.
Im a big fan of lok lak, but it wasn't all that good here and i probably won't get it here again.
Pork chop w/ pepper tastes great and spicy!
and for the fried chicken seems tasteless to me, but they do give a lot!!
giving it 3 stars cuz I haven't had anything that tasted really really good for me to come back other than the cheap price! But the next time i do go back, i will have to try the beef skewers cuz there's a lot of good reviews on it.
oh service is great too.. very friendly and they remember me and my bf every time we come. =)
I went to Siem Riep yesterday for lunch because I was craving Pork Blood Rice Porridge. At first I wasn't even thinking about this restaurant! My first choice of restaurant was closed at around 2PM! Not only was that restaurant closed early, but the area was actually really horrible! I didn't think that it would be that bad but when my friends and I got out the car, walked up the smelly sidewalk to Little Phnom Penh Restaurant and found the closed sign hanging on the door I was so glad. Yet, disappointed that I didn't get my Rice Porridge!
Okay, enough about that other restaurant, So I haven't dine in Siem Riep for such a long time and whenever I do come here they always excel in their service. The staff is so friendly, talkative, and gives you a warm hospitality feeling. They make you feel as if you're family! C'mon, the waiter put the rice on our plate! I don't know any restaurant that does that for anyone! Not only that, he gave my BF a pile of plate on his rice because since my BF is so scrawny, but HELLO talk about being caring! My BF do need a little more meat on his bones. We were the center of attention only because we were the only customers in the restaurant, which is surprising! Aside from their services, they're food is made to perfection. It's so delicious and it's made with TLC.
I hate Anaheim street, I despise it's traffic,horrid drivers and lack of parking but Siem Riep is definitely worth it! I think I found my favorite Cambodian restaurant... at the end I didn't order Rice Porridge, I actually ordered Pigs intestine and it's was sooooo good!
Cambodian restaurant in the LBC - just average. Not one Cambodian restaurant really stands out to me where I'm like "WOW" I gotta come back. Siem Reap is one of the few that I use to visit often when I was a kid. Don't come back here that often anymore but when I do it's to order one of their lunch specials to-go.
They all start at $5.50 - $5.95 from 11am - 3pm with a large selection of items that you can choose from which all comes with soup of the week and an egg roll.
A few of the things they offer during lunch are:
Shrimp Fried Rice
Beef w/ Bell Pepper on Rice
Kung Pao Chicken on Rice
Chicken Chop Suey on Rice
Shrimp Chow Fun
BBQ Beef Skewers on Rice
Pork Chop with pepper on Rice
Chicken with ginger on Rice
and the list goes on....
A pretty good selection at an affordable price, way better than Chinese Fast Food - so I'll give them props for that. My fav is the BBQ Beef Skewers $5.95 and Chicken Ginger $5.50 - YUUM!
GREAT LUNCH SPECIALS at a very cheap price!
They're Right!! I've been coming here for over a year now and i always get there lunch Special, services is really good they remember my name when I'm there and sometimes i don't even have to order because they know i get the same Beef dish everytime!! Sweet!! They're a must have. I usually enjoy , Lok Lac,Beef with Tomatoes, Pork Chops and Anchovies Beef for dinner. There Thai Tea is the best in Long Beach. I'm big on Beef and i know good Beef when i enjoy it. I've tried the other khmer Restaurant on Anaheim street and there beef sucks. WTF I paid $20 at Hak Heng Restaurant for Anchioves Beef a (Khmer dish) that was severed with cheap meat that you could find at Taco Bell!!! It wasn't a good experiencel!! .. i recommend Siem Reap to anyone that enjoys Beef like i do. YummY
I love this place! This is my favorite Khmer restaurant in the Long Beach area. The service is great, the food is great and the atmosphere here is great!
I ordered the fried rice with shrimp, which is a mainstay dish here. The rice is perfectly cooked, and perfectly seasoned. The shrimp is well done, without the rubbery taste like most other Asian restaurants have. The side soup is just right, not too hot nor too cold, just right temperature. The pho here is exclusively tasteful, and Goldilocks would like the soup here. Not too cold or hot, this soup is the right temperature and has the right amount of spices and seasonings.
Karaoke here is popular on the weekends with live bands playing throughout the day. The female singers are extremely hot and easy on the eyes. The bands are actual professional musicians, not the amateur bands out in other Asian restaurants out there.
I am very sad to write this review.
Though I am no expert in the field of Cambodian food, I can only judge this place based on what we ate, but after seeing all the 5 star reviews, I was eagerly anticipating trying this place and eating some decent food.
Apparently we chose poorly, cause there was nothing that we recieved that was particularly good....having never eaten cambodian food, we tried to stay true to the cambodian theme and ordered several labeled as cambodian dishes, the only dish I remember we ordered for sure was a cambodian ground pork curry, which the waitress heartily agreed with as something great to order, so we were excited. Til the food arrived anyway.......
I'm not sure if the dinner combinations are the way to go or not. maybe those are better...I'd be willing to give the restaurant another chance n try some other things in the future, maybe this was just an off day
Service was fine but as we were leaving, they were trying to be nice, and make sure we'd return, and gave us menus and some fried plantains on the house as we left..... which sorta backfired, as the plantains even for free, sort of reinforced the entire meal we just received-...they were cold, chewy, and just bad.....or maybe that's how its supposed to be and I don't know it---however, I still feel they would be better off not giving those out because had the meal been something great, to send us off with something that bad, would be a step in the wrong direction, and they definitely didn't increase my desire to try the restaurant again, tho I will try to remain open minded if I were to return.
Some of my friends and I were looking for something we hadn't had in a while. So we tried some Cambodian food.
Seeing that most Cambodian food was just Thai food, we looked for a actual Cambodian joint.
This place was just what the Dr. ordered.
The place was very unassuming, but inside, the place had lots of Cambodian art pieces that were very cool.
The service here was AWESOME!!! The ladies at the restaurant were very helpful picking dishes and dished up our plates as the food came out. I felt like my Mom was feeding me when I was a youngster.
The flavor of the food was great! We had the shrimp and chinese sausage fried rice, some clams, soup, beef skewer(highly recommend), ginger and green onion chicken, and a few others, but i got the feeling everything you ordered would be good.
Check this place out.
This is the place for authentic Cambodian food. Before we get to that - there's parking on the street and the lot behind the restaurant. Sure the place is a bit run down and has seen its share of countless weddings but it is fairly clean. There's fantastic "Best of the Best 2009" Cambodian variety show playing on the flat screen TVs. Lastly, the staff is REALLY nice. I mean incredibly nice. They gave us all kinds of recommendations (like where to go for jewelry) and told us to park in the back while we walked around.
I'm going to massacre what the food was called but what I call Chinese watercress was cooked with fermented beans and chilies and excellent. The manila clams were to die for - incredible intense flavor with a great lime, salt and pepper dipping sauce. We also got a beef dish that had all of these great fresh vegetables and herbs that you made a little sandwich in your hand and dipped in a fermented anchovy sauce. Incredible. We finished with a shaved ice treat with coconut jelly and jack fruit.
Siem Reap ROCKS! Whenever I'm in Long Beach, I stop by to eat here! My favorite item on the menu is the beef sticks! WOW! Everything that I've ordered on the menu is really tasty and well cooked. My other favorites is the steak with fish sauce (sorry, I don't remember the name) and the bitter greens salad (again, I don't remember the name). Prices are very reasonable!!! The food here is very authentic. The portions are very nice. The place is very clean.
At the end of the meal, I like to get the shaved ice. You get to put three toppings (like lychee, coconut jelly, grass jelly, palm seeds, basil seeds, jackfruit) under the shaved ice, and then they put great tasting red and green syrup with condensed milk over the top. AWESOME!!!!
Service here is EXCELLENT! I had a chance to get to know the three waitresses and three brothers that own the place. They all treat their customers with respect and are always courteous & humble.
I'll always be a huge fan of this place! FIVE STARS!!!
Holy smokes, I love Siem Reap.
I ate here a long time ago and enjoyed it, but recently got a craving and rediscovered it -- and have eaten it four times in the last three weeks.
Get the BEEF SKEWERS. SO good.
They have the best MONGOLIAN BEEF I've ever had. Usually, Mongolian beef is all about the beef and the veggies just get in the way. But Siem Reap's MB has the tastiest onions I've ever eaten. Love 'em.
And I also love the LEMON PEPPER CHICKEN. It's fried up, but still moist inside and served with two different dipping sauces -- my fave is the lemon juice with salt and pepper. So simple, but totally brings out the flavor of the chicken!
The restaurant gave us some yummy TAPIOCA CORN PUDDING as a complimentary dessert -- I loved it!!
Oh, and our group included kids and they totally have a helium tank and gave balloons to the kids! Nice touch!
I don't much about Cambodian food, but I know when food tastes good. SIEM REAP!!!
My parents came down to visit and my mom said that she never had the opportunity to see the Cambodian neighborhood in Long Beach so off we went. I decided to try this place with my parents due to the positive reviews on Yelp and was pleasantly surprised once we walked into to a large very open-spaced restaurant with a full bar and several flat screens showing the newest Cambodian concert festival.
The food was really good, not as good as my grandpa's or my mom's but really good for Cambodian food in a restaurant. We ordered the grilled catfish with tamarind sauce, the fish came out with nicely crisped skin, the fish was not over done and had a nice smokiness from the grill. It was perfect with the lettuce and different types of mint and dipped into the tamarind sauce. The tamarind sauce was a bit sweet but with a little fish sauce and hot sauce it was perfect. It was also served with bitter leaf that my mom loves, but I can't stand the stuff. The seafood pancakes (amok) was pretty good, it was pretty spicy and creamy with bits of fish in the coconut custard, not the best but pretty good. The seared beef with fermented anchovy salad was perfect. The salad consisted of young eggplant, mint leaves, jalepenos, olives and lettuce with fermented anchovies. Salty, spicy with a slight sour bitterness that always reminds me of Cambodian food, with the seared beef it was perfect with just a little bit of rice. On the way out, I got some shaved ice. Cambodian shaved ice is a little different than Chinese shaved ice. They still have the condensed milk but they also add red and green syrup which has a pandan scent. They then add these gooey things that are supposed to mimic pomegranate seeds but are water chestnut pieces within a tapioca shell, basil seeds, palm seeds, agar agar and jackfruit. It was perfect on a hot day.
The service was really warm and welcoming. It was obvious my mom had a good time. I would definitely come again.
Absolutely one of the best service experiences I've had to date. Also, go with Mike Q if you want to be treated like royalty. For some reason, they seem to like his face and/or the shape of his head. But seriously, the people are so incredibly nice here.
Siem Reap's menu features a number of Chinese, Thai, and Cambodian dishes. We asked our server if she could recommend a classic Cambodian dish. She recommended the lemongrass chicken and we also added an order of the beef sticks. Mike's perfectly shaped head scored us some fried bananas and soup, which was tasty and free.
I accidentally shamed our waiter (we had 2 people servicing us) by putting hot sauce on a soup spoon instead of a sauce plate. The man was terribly embarrassed and kept saying he felt so ashamed that he did not have the sauce dishes adequately stocked. Oh, but he did. I just thought it would be cool to use the soup spoons. Sorry, my bad. I hope I didn't earn bad karma or shame his entire genealogy.
Food was very good. The lemongrass chicken had a very light and fresh taste. The skewers of meat was very tasty. There were visible chunks of fat that added great flavor and the marinade/sauce was sweet and savory. I definitely want to go back to sample additional items.
I am no expert in Cambodian food so we decided to try it out now we are living in Strong Beach. A lot of the dishes are very very similar to Viet dishes which was interesting to see.
I asked the wait staff for a traditional Khmer dish and they hooked me up with a tasty bbq beef skewer and rice plate.
The wifey inexplictedly went for the disappointing pho, a Vietnamese beef noodle soup. It had a cloudy broth, chewy slices of beef and mediocre noodles.
Anyone have any ideas of what we should order next time?
Hands down the best service I've ever experienced at any Asian restaurant. It wasn't just matter of speed, efficiency or helpfulness - though that was certainly a part of it. No, the two servers helping us during our lunch meal were extremely, genuinely NICE. There may be no more generic term than "nice" but there may be no servers more deserving of it than the lady and gentleman who waited on us at Siem Reap. Maybe it's because I kept getting asked if I myself was Cambodian, but they remained extremely kind even after finding out I was Filipino.
Living in Long Beach where there's a large Cambodian population, Dexter P. and I thought it was high time we tried some authentic Cambodian cuisine. Though Siem Reap also offers Chinese and Thai dishes, do yourself a favor and sample some of the Cambodian food. Since it's tough to discern which is which (although many of the Cambodian dishes are helpfully labeled as such) we asked our servers for recommendations on their favorite native dishes. Out of the several they mentioned, Dex and I decided to split lemongrass chicken, beef sticks, and steamed rice.
While waiting for our food, the lady server brought out some complimentary fried bananas (seemingly wrapped in taro batter, I could be wrong) and some pork hock broth (also complimentary). I cannot stress enough how attentive the service was - water refills came quickly, and they apologized for any slight delay. Once our entrees arrived, the servers actually scooped the steamed rice onto our plates for us!
The lemongrass chicken was superb - they came w/ green and red bell peppers as well as onions, with basil bits chopped up throughout. The beef sticks were delicious as well - slightly sweet, fatty chunks of meat on skewers.
We were thoroughly stuffed, yet we were given some more fried plantains as we waited for our check. I couldn't help but eat them - it was only polite to do so after the doting service we were given. Who doesn't love feeling like a VIP at commoner prices? AND the food is excellent? Suffice it to say, I will be coming back here repeatedly.
A cambodian-chinese-thai restaurant in the boonies of Long Beach. This place is a lot bigger than I imagined - they even have a full bar, dance floor, and mini stage in the restaurant! According to the owner, they do a lot of big parties and even weddings here. It seems a little janky to do a wedding here though (hole-in-the-wall atmosphere without the tiny hole-in-the-wall space).
The staff here was so genuinely friendly I couldn't help but make small talk with them. My friend and I chatted till almost closing and they told us to take our time and not worry. They also checked up on us several times to make sure we were enjoying our meal there. If you come here definitely do family style. At the recommendation of other yelpers, we mainly ordered Cambodian dishes with the exception of the Thai Papaya Salad. Btw, anything labeled "Khmer" here also refers to Cambodian dishes. The menu is in full color with pictures so even if you can't pronounce some of the foods, you'll at least know what you're getting yourself into!
Thai Papaya Salad ($6.95) - delicious! Better than a lot of other papaya salads I've had at Thai specific restaurants (in the states). The papaya retained its crunchiness while the lime dressing still added lots of flavor. The waitressed asked if we wanted medium or spicy and we opted for medium. Even with the lower intensity, this salad still had a crazy good kick.
Cambodian Chicken Skewers ($1.75/each) - you can order these individually (they also have beef skewers). The chicken was marinated well with spices I can't identify - all I know is it was good! It was really tender too... yummy!
This sliced steak dish with cabbage, other veggies, and a fish dipping sauce ($12.99) - pretty big portion, definitely more than enough for 2 people to share. You wrap the sliced skirt steak in sliced cabbage along with mint leaves, cucumbers, and string beans (optional), then dip it all into a garlic fish sauce. Great flavor combination!
Even though the area is kind of sketchy and you'll have to find street parking, the restaurant itself is worth checking out and make sure you tip their top notch staff well - they treat you like royalty.
LOVE THIS PLACE! The staff is incredibly friendly and the food is authentic and delicious. This combination is what makes me a regular customer. It isn't the most aesthetically pleasing place- it's also a hole-in-the-wall joint in Long Beach, but it's a gem. I took a bunch of my Filipino friends here (who look Khmer) and they thought the food was impressive. The moment they commended me for my restaurant choice, I got all "Khmer Pride" lol. Must haves:
1. Beef Skewers: They're priced by each stick, but it's definitely worth it! The meat is tender, but they leave just enough fat give it a chared, smokey flavor. Comes w/pickled carrots & papaya that nicely compliment the meat.
2. Lot Cha: (pardon my translation) Bascially another type of stir-fried noodles that have a fresh out the wok taste. You drench it with sweet fish sauce and eat with a spoon. My fav noodle dish ever.
I've been enjoyong their food for years.
Service is prompt and friendly, with a great range of cambodian and thai dishes.
Their take / out delivery menu is equally diverse and offers outstanding value with its lunch and dinner specials
I took my date to this place yesterday. The neighborhood was not the greatest, but safe enough for me to not be worried about having my car broken in. The inside was pretty good, such that a banquet can be held easily. My date told me that this place would have some karaoke and sort.
Being quite adventurous, she decided to order sheared beef and raw veggie with fermented fish sauce. I ordered seafood noodle. The noodle was actually more like thin dumplings. Somewhat different, but still tasty. I wish it was a little saltier though.
The beef and raw veggie was recommended by a waitress, and she kept checking us if we were satisfied. Well, that dish was definitely different from what I had before. It's almost like eating thinly-sliced meat and veggie from pho with oyster sauce. Too bad that slices of eggplant tasted bitter; that must've been squash instead.
Maybe because I often crave for something with strong yet familiar taste, I wasn't in heaven after eating these dishes. But, at least we found out that this place would serve something authentic, for I appreciate. Oh, a waiter started talking to me in Japanese once he found out I was a Japanese. As my date said a few words in Japanese as well, he called her utsukushii (= beautiful). Never had I wished more that one Japanese word would entice my date that much.
(Part of the Jungle Food Marathon Series)
Next were off to Siem Reap Restaurant in Long Beach. A popular Cambodian joint who claims to be "World Famous". It's a large restaurant, catering to family style dining and large wedding parties. Perfect for our large group of foodies. With Cambodian karaoke playing on the TV's around us, we order up some a Fish Salad with (very) bitter Sadao Leaves, a slightly spicy Ground Pork Curry, a delicious plate of beef Lok Lak with a lemon & pepper dipping sauce, a Fish and (tiny with the shells on) Shrimp Soup reminiscent of a traditional sour Thai soup, and a tender Beef and Anchovy Salad.
Thai, Chinese or Cambodian? They have all three cuisines on the menu but I think the place is Cambodian owned. I always go here for lunch with just one other person but from the looks of the place, it would be fun to go in a large group so we could order a bigger variety of dishes.
Today I went here for lunch with my pops and we had their fried boneless chicken and Chinese style eggplant. The chicken was really crispy and tasty and they served it with this delicious dipping sauce that was spicy/sweet with chili flakes in it. Alongside the chicken was this awesome cabbage salad; I think the cabbage was pickled but it was tasty and a little spicy as well. The eggplant was cut into thin strips and mixed with bell pepper slivers and teeny pieces of beef and seasoned perfectly. As we were leaving, the waitress handed me a (free!!!) bag of their fried banana fritter thingies (I don't know the name of them) and they were really yummy and crisp, with a soft banana filling that was not cloyingly sweet (I hate desserts that are too sweet). A++ for their attentive and sweet staff.
Not so different from good restaurants in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Because all such restaurants seem to be for Westerners (native Cambodians are impoverished), it's hard to say how "authentic" they are. Such restaurants generally have menus that combine well-known Thai dishes and more exotic Khmer dishes. While Khmer food is similar to Thai, I think it's possible to identify one distinct characteristic of Khmer food: use of strange, often bitter, herbs.
The Cambodian fish salad at Siem Reap had plenty of such herbs--I have no idea what they were. The fish, unsuprisingly, was dried fish--this is another common feature of Cambodian cuisine. It was delicious. I ate it along with a dish called Thai basil chicken, which was simple but excellent. Rice was very good. Service was friendly.
Everytime I go here I get bomb food and great service. I recommend anything seafood. Great noodle dishes too. Also they have bomb desserts so make sure you order something sweet.
The best Cambodian restaurant I've ever been to my life!
SERIOUSLY!
Okay... the restaurant itself isn't so appealing at first, but once you're in there (avoid the restrooms), there is no turning back.
The food is just fabulous. Authentic Cambodian food! Yes, they have Thai and Chinese food as well, but its all about the Cambodian food here. Too much to say about the food, I always leave in a halfway to food coma condition... barely able to walk and all. Ahhh... so good!
The BEST thing about Siem Reap is the service. Oh... I've never been treated better while dining out. I didn't want to leave... at all! Every time I'm in Southern California (quite often), you'd always find me here for at least a few hours.
Other restaurants should really take notes.
YUMMERS! hahaha.
thai, chinese, and cambodian... good stuff!
so me and my roommate ordered this cuz they deliver. lemme tell ya, the ONLY reason i didnt give it 5 stars is because i dont feel i have enough experience with cambodian food to make an accurate judgment on it. also because we didnt eat there, so i dont know what the service is like or how clean it is. i almost dont care cuz is was so good! DAMN! makes my belly happy.
the price to portion ratio is great. the dinner special comes with 2 shrimps, an egg roll, and some soup. i would also like to note that the large size drinks are actually large (32oz i believe). i was very please with my big ass cup of thai iced coffee. i will definatly be eating here alot.
PROS:
-good food
-good price
-good selection
-good drinks
-very friendly service it seems
-good everything!
CONS:
-none yet. nom nom nom!
When looking for a place to grab lunch, my client mentioned that he'd heard there was a great selection of Cambodian places in Long Beach. I am always up for something new, and had never had anything in this category, and remembered Holly T's glowing review of this place.
We ordered the beef skewers and the hot and sour soup with lemongrass as well as some of their fish cakes. My favorite hands down was the beef skewers -- the perfect combination of savory, salty and spicy, especially when dipped in their oil and pepper combo sauce.
The fish cakes really weren't my deal, but I appreciated their complex flavors and textures. The soup had a bit of unidentifiable meat in it, but the broth was super savory and delicious.
As stated in other reviews, the service here is helpful, attentive and very friendly, and worth a star or two all on its own.
The place is pretty big and sports what we think may have been a dance floor. Would love to be a fly on the wall for that some night! They have a couple of TVs playing what seemed to be some kind of Cambodian karaoke hour with really serious-looking singers crooning away and the words highlighted on-screen as they did so. Lots of neat-o lighting effects and even a smoke machine. Clearly a top-notch production, and a hilarious, conversation-worthy distraction during lunch.
I recently moved out to the LBC and am trying out all the nearby eateries, luckily I came across this place's brochure because last night me and some friends were hungry for Chinese, and we ordered some food and we were not disappointed.
The food was excellent, the prices were very reasonable and you got more than what you paid for. Plus they deliver, next time I'm going to try the actual restauarant.
We had heard that the most remarkable part of the Cambodian dining experience was the exceedingly friendly service. That is certainly the case at Siem Reap. From the moment we walked in, it seemed like the entire wait staff was dedicated to our table. Everyone seemed genuinely friendly and happy to help. The woman who appeared to be our main server guided us through the menu (which was already very user-friendly, with photos provided for every item), made sure we were aware of every ingredient in each dish (she must have asked me five times if I wanted French butter on my crab), helped us distribute the food amongst ourselves, refilled our tea, water, and rice multiple times, and asked us at least 10 times if everything was okay. Another server came over and talked to us for a while about Cambodian line dancing culture and even gave us a full suggested itinerary for a hypothetical tour of Southeast Asia. Yet another employee very thoroughly described each and every item available at the dessert counter, and even gave us a taste of one of the more unfamiliar choices.
Now I'm going on and on about the service when I really should move on to the food. So although the restaurant specializes in Cambodian, Chinese, and Thai food, we really wanted to focus on the Cambodian dishes. As expected, everything Cambodian included seafood, rice, and soup, with ample use of ginger, lemongrass, and fresh chilis. We ordered way too much food. I don't remember the names of the dishes, so here is a description:
*Ground pork in pickled olives, with green eggplants, cucumbers, and rice: My friend loved this so much that one server remarked that my friend must be 50% Cambodian, and that he should find a Cambodian mate to "become 100%" (a recommendation that--despite its jocular nature--met much mathematical argumentation from my friends).
*Rice noodles and pork in seafood soup: As imagined, it was somewhere between a Thai-style tom yum and a Vietnamese-style bún soup. This was supposedly the "regular" size, but it ended up far larger than the size our server gestured when we ordered it.
*Stir-fry of all things: lobster-sized prawns, some sort of meat, and numerous vegetables over fried rice. I didn't try this, fearing it was porked, but my friends enjoyed it.
*Fried crab in French butter: Now, I don't know much about crustacean anatomy, but I don't think a crab has that many claws and legs. I'm sure they fried up the entire aquarium for me. The crab meat was juicy and the French butter glazed on it was scrumptious.
*Fish pancake: I don't think we got what we ordered, but that was fine all the same. We got spicy fish meatballs, which were 100% exactly how my mom makes them, minced green chilis and all. Surprising, since she is not Cambodian.
*French coffee: even stronger than the Vietnamese cafe sua nong. In the same style, the coffee comes out black as ink, while the condensed milk lurks at the bottom awaiting your stir.
*Soda egg: WOW. Soda water, condensed milk, and egg: a thick, sweet milky drink with just the right amount of carbonation.
*Things that came free: green tea, white rice, and pork/beef broth with green onions. It seems the default is pork broth, but somehow the server intuited that I don't eat pork (without me saying anything), and she brought out beef broth for me. She was very clear: "This one is beef. No more pork! No more pork!" I enjoy this mantra. The beef bone in there was largely meat-free and fat-ful, so I concentrated on the broth itself, which was really flavorful.
So, considering we ordered like half the menu, and since we didn't ask what the market price for crab was, our total came to about $80 before tip--but that didn't keep us from leaving a nice tip for the great service. On our way out they all thanked us and told us we must come again. We will.
Ong Choi:
They have Ong Choi! I don't know how long I looked for this; it's been years since I had this vegetable the last time. It was addictive as I remembered and delicious; I ate the whole plate down to the hardest of the hollow stems.
For whatever reason this dish is hard to find now but it used to be available at many Vietnamese Pho restaurants many many years ago.
So what happened? I did a quick web search but nothing of interest came up, in fact it said it's available throughout the season but Siem Reap's menu indicated "Seasonal" with no price listed (I paid $10, but the portion was enough for two persons).
The Place:
This is a weird, neat, cool and funky place. I might as well have been in Cambodia somewhere the nuance so different than what I'm used to (Although I've not been there before). But it was refreshing and pleasant in a weird way. The food comes out slowly so plan ahead (I went after work with no plan afterwards so it was not a problem for me). The staff is friendly and polite, no issues here.
Pho:
Pho is the main reason why I came here and there was only one Pho on the menu... No problem, I'll take one bowl please.
It's Pho alright, but the flavor of the soup was a little strong, everything else appeared to be the usual average Pho stuff. The soup's aroma reminded me of a particular fish smell, a Perch fish caught off San Pedro rocky points, although the soup doesn't taste fish at all, how odd. (Perch has this strong pungent smell even when just caught off the water, not too bad but not entirely pleasant to me).
Who would have thought that getting Cambodian food delivered would turn out to be a 5 star experience?
Not me, that's for sure, especially since Siem Reap is one of the prime perpetrators of leaving unsolicited menus on my door, and as Megan G knows, I'm predisposed to dislike those places. In the past, I had just briefly looked at their menu and mostly just noticed generic Chinese and Thai food, so I was never inspired to order from them.
But then Linny posted her review, and it made me interested in trying the Cambodian food here. Since her review mentioned that they were happy to make recommendations, on a whim we just thought we'd call and say, "We're interested in Cambodian food, but we don't know what to get. What do you recommend?"
And it worked! The person on the phone was really nice and made all kinds of interesting suggestions, including several things that weren't on the menu. I thought it was pretty cool that they did that for us.
We ended up getting:
- House special angus beef skewers, served with pickled carrots and daikon. The meat was thick and tender, not at all overcooked, and had very tasty flavor. It was a perfect match with the carrots and daikon.
- curry ground pork (#416) served with cucumber, Khmer eggplant, cabbage, and green beans. This dish was recommended in some of the other reviews as well. The spiciness of the meat goes great with the crispness of the veggies. Another tasty dish.
- 3 fresh wrapped spring rolls (#312) - simple but very good.
- Cambodian salad with beef (#002) - really tangy and delicious.
It all arrived in about 1/2 hour, which I thought was a pretty good turnaround time. I really appreciated all the attention to detail considering it was just delivery. All the styrofoam containers were expertly wrapped in seran wrap so that nothing would spill. Meat and nuts were separated from veggies and sauces so that nothing got soggy. The overall presentation was very good all things considered. It was also pretty cheap - about $30 for the 4 dishes.
I was really pleasantly surprised that everything was so delicious! With each dish we tried, we got the same reaction: wow, this is really good! Maybe it's that my expectations weren't that high, but we really enjoyed everything. Taking a closer look at the menu now, I see several other dishes I would like to try.
I know 5 stars is probably a bit too generous, but it was the overall experience and friendliness and helpfulness of the staff that pushed it over the edge. I think we liked this food better than Sophy's, but it's not really fair to compare since we've only gotten delivery from Siem Reap and we've only eaten at the restaurant at Sophy's, and we didn't really get similar dishes from each place. Still, I thought Siem Reap was awesome and they deserve the high praise based on the truly enjoyable dinner we had. On second thought, I take the first sentence back, 5 stars is not too generous, because ever since we finished the leftovers, I've been craving the food here and wanting to order more!
--Update: The Amok (not on the menu but you can ask for it) is fantastic! Also check out the pretty useful District Weekly review: http://thedistrictweek...
AMAZING. I'm Khmer so I know the food pretty well and though there are a lot of really good Khmer restaurants in this area, this place is by far the best one. The service is super friendly - some of the nicest servers. The prices are good and the food is just wonderful. They also have this steamed fish that they're known for. SUPER SUPER DELISH!!
And the place is clean too. Parking is either on the street or in a lot in the back.
I highly recommend this place and will try to come back more often.
Another Cambodian restaurant for you to try! Wheee!! This place is a bit smaller than New Paradise. The food is good but not as NP good. But service is excellent! Yes, you heard right! My housemate loves coming here because the lady servers are very sweet and endearing. If you speak Khmer, they'll call you dearie, well a Khmer equivalent. They make suggestions on what to order. They will scoop rice in your bowl. They will do it again when your bowl needs a refill. Same with water or tea. All very warm and fuzzy!
Oh yeah, park in the back. Happy eating!
Thanks to everyone's recs, we tried this place.
Service is incredible...Cambodian waitresses and hostess are incredibly sweet.
The hostess gave us free food to try, it doesn't get any better.
The food was tasty. We tried the Beek Lok Lam (sp?) While it was good, next time, I'll be going for the Beef Skewers which hopefully are as out-of-this-world good as Sophie's beef skewer appetizer...
This is unique authentic Cambodian food. Not Thai in disguise as Cambodian, though the two countries share food and taste.
Can't wait to try more dishes, thank you Siem Reap!
As you can see i gave this a 5 star right off the back! Only because they have the best service ever! I love this place, because of their service, they cater to your needs plus more, they make sure your well taken cared of. And thats rare in the food industry! The food is pretty good here also, the pho noodles is okay, i usually stick with their signature dishes, like seafood me-ka-than (seafood flat noodles) thier soups and stir fry dishes. So basically to sum this all up its good food for a good price, plus good service!
Long Beach, CA
Category: Cambodian
Signal Hill, CA
Category: Cambodian
Long Beach, CA
Category: Cambodian
Long Beach, CA
Category: Thai
Long Beach, CA
Category: Cambodian
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