I’ve lived in Long Beach for almost seven years. While I’ve eaten my way through many of the city’s food offerings, I’ve only made it to Cambodia Town's restaurants a handful of times.
Part of that was because it wasn’t something I knew much about. What should I order? How is it different from other Southeast Asian cuisines, like Vietnamese or Thai?
Unconsciously, I think I was holding out for a chance to experience the food firsthand from someone who understood its culture and origins.
So when James Tir, an Instagram food influencer, aka Long Beach Food Coma (LBFoodComa), reached out to ask if I wanted to take a tasting tour of Cambodia Town restaurants, I immediately said yes.
Tir is Cambodian-American and grew up in Long Beach. He regularly covers a variety of food in the city and has the knowledge of Khmer cuisine I was looking for. He seemed the perfect guide.
When we met, he explained that Long Beach became a landing spot for Cambodians in the 1970s and 1980s after the Khmer Rouge’s reign of terror. And, like many immigrants, they brought their traditional cuisine with them.
Cambodian cooking is influenced by rice fields, tropical jungles, and the Mekong River, using ingredients such as lemongrass, tamarind, and prahok (fermented mudfish).
Most people’s reference point for Southeast Asian cuisine is Thai or Vietnamese food, but Tir says Cambodian cuisine is distinctive.
“Its flavor profiles are less about balance and subtlety and more about enjoying a broad range of experiences in one sitting,” he says. “It unabashedly plays with bitter and acrid flavors and harmonizes with, rather than hides the intensity of, those dishes.”
With that quick education, we were on our way.
About Cambodia Town
Cambodia Town is a 1.2-mile stretch along Anaheim Street between Atlantic and Junipero Avenues.
It’s home to the largest Khmer (also known as Cambodian; the two terms can be used interchangeably) population in the U.S.
- Many Cambodians arrived in Long Beach as refugees in 1980s after the overthrow of the totalitarian Khmer Rouge regime.
Battambong BBQ (Smoked Twako)
James:
It’s hard to talk about Cambodian-American cuisine without mentioning Chad “The Cambodian Cowboy” Phuong’s take on Cambodian-Texan fusion.
His hardened journey from the war-torn countryside of Cambodia to the panhandle of Texas to the streets of Long Beach has instilled a uniquely Khmer twang to the smoke-encrusted meats of Texan-style barbecue. His brisket is kissed by the heat of Kampot black pepper (a sharper sting compared to the more citrussy ubiquitous Tellicherry); his pork belly is lacquered in a soy sauce, scorched sugar, ginger, and star anise-tinged dance on your tongue, and his twako is the showstopper.
The twako is a Khmer descent sausage comprising ground beef, galangal, and rice. The galangal effuses a depth that’s more floral than its cousin, ginger, whilst the rice ferments the sausage, adding a nice acidic bite to the affair.
The casing has a snap, but its contents spill from the tiniest toothy massage. Traditionally grilled, Phuong tosses them into a smoker adding an extra layer to the complex sausage.
Gab:
I’d actually sampled Battambong BBQ before our tour. Phuong has staged several pop-ups all over Long Beach since 2022 and can also be found at Smorgasburg, LA, every Sunday.
While we were there specifically to try the twako, Phuong didn’t miss miss an opportunity to showcase his battalion of ‘cue consisting of beef sausage, brisket, and tri-tip. The pork belly ends stood out for me; small rectangular cubes of pork belly with a sweetly coated caramelized outside and a succulent inside.
I inhaled the twako, though. It contained earthy umami notes, similar to hearty mushrooms, recalling morcilla (Spanish blood sausage) but with more sweetness. The addition of smoke catapulted the sausage to the next level entirely.
- Location and Hours: Check Instagram
Phnom Penh Noodle Shack (Beef Stew Noodles)
James:
Sitting on the northwest border of Cambodia Town is the tiny but mighty Phnom Penh Noodle Shack. Opening in 1985, it was the first Cambodian restaurant in the region, serving up piping hot bowls of noodles to the Khmer community. The eponymous shack is famous for one thing: Phnom Penh noodles, a regionally distinct rice noodle dish that is a close cousin of Vietnam’s phở.
However spectacular that dish may be, the beef stew noodles (khor ko) might be my personal favorite. It has colonial French roots, drawing inspiration from beef bourguignon, but is punctuated by the flavors of lemongrass, star anise, and fish sauce, neatly commingling with the acidity of tomato paste. This collagen-thickened broth suspends tender chunks of tripe, tendon, and braised beef between delicate strands of rice noodles.
When paired with cha quai, a crispy, broth-sopping length of deep-fried bread, the dish is elevated to another level of satisfaction.
Gab:
James really took me to school with this dish. I thought it would be similar to Taiwanese beef noodle soup, but this was not that. It was a large bowl of deep red broth filled with rice noodles and tripe. At this point, James looked up from the bowl with a soft smile and said, “It’s like menudo.”
James, of course, was right on the money with his Mexican soup reference. The thick cuts of tripe and chunks of beef sop up the tangy, starchy taste of the rice noodles, and the collagen from the tendon adds to the soup's viscosity, delivering spoonful after spoonful of hearty comfort. The result tastes and feels like it has exceptional therapeutic properties — perfect for curing a hangover.
- Location: 1644 Cherry Ave., Long Beach
- Hours: Tuesday through Sunday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Pho Hong Phat (Banh Sung)
James:
Pho Hong Phat is a Cambodian-owned phở restaurant serving some of the best Vietnamese noodles in the city. What betrays the facade of the primarily Vietnamese menu is the “not pho” section, which includes Phnom Penh noodle soup, Hainan chicken rice, and banh sung.
Banh sung is the Cambodian cousin of the Vietnamese bún chả giò, both of which are a vermicelli noodle salad with fried egg rolls. The aforementioned shares a bowl with leafy greens, a wealth of herbs, shredded carrots, and grilled marinated pork, resulting in a salad that involves a carousel of textures.
Like the bún chả giò, it’s served with sweet fish sauce, chili sauce, and crushed peanuts. Unlike bún chả giò, the Khmer variant also incorporates more than a splash of coconut milk steeped with chopped green onion. The last ingredient mellows out the intensity of the fish sauce, creating an experience that coats the palate with a bright umami.
Gab:
I’ve eaten at Pho Hong Phat a few times, but I’ve inhaled the sweet smell of the pho broth simmering in the kitchen far more often.
That’s because they open at 8 a.m. for folks looking for hot breakfast soup. When I stop for coffee at the cafe across the street, Good Time, (a local favorite amongst locals, including myself and James), I often get an enticing whiff of the day’s cooking wafting over.
I had only eaten pho during my previous visits, but James opened my eyes to the “not pho” section featuring Khmer options. Adding the pleasant flavors of coconut milk brought a new depth to the cold rice noodle dish. The smooth texture and creaminess provided a nice balance with a mix of greens, peanuts, and sliced bits of eggroll, which are always a winner.
- Location: 3243 E Anaheim St, Long Beach
- Hours: Monday through Tuesday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Thursday through Sunday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed Wednesday
A & J Seafood Shack (Lemongrass Beefsticks)
James:
At one point in my life, I worked many years both front and back of the house at Hak Heang, a banquet-style Cambodian-Chinese seafood joint in Long Beach that served as a hub for the Khmer community since the early 90s. Be it weddings or graduation parties, it was a special occasion spot, where you’d get wok-fired lobster or crab that’s been tossed in a medley of jalapeño heat and MSG to flex your wealth while downing generous shots of Hennessy cognac.
A & J takes this concept and serves these revered dishes (sans cognac, as far as I know) out of takeout boxes — allowing you to enjoy these special occasion experiences in a more casual context.
Though a seafood joint serving some Viet-Cajun boils, they are Khmer through and through, embedding both lemongrass beef sticks and twako on their seafood-studded roll call.
The beef sticks, in particular, are an item found on most Khmer menus. The beef is marinated in kroueng, a mortar-and-pestle bashed paste of lemongrass, turmeric, galangal, garlic, shallots, kaffir lime leaves and chilies that’s pervasive throughout the cuisine. It’s then skewered on bamboo sticks and cooked over an open flame. The outcome is a supple treat that is crispy from the char of the grill.
It’s hard to beat the time-tested formula of meat on a stick.
Gab:
I featured A&J in my Cheap Fast Eats Long Beach edition. It’s a great option for their Cambodian dishes and various pan-Asian-inspired dishes, including their garlic shrimp plates, which take nods from shrimp trucks from the North Shore area of Oahu.
In my previous visits, I’ve opted for the beef stick sandwich, made with a demi baguette-style roll (similar to Viet Bahn mi or Khmer num pang) containing two beef sticks, green pickled papaya slaw, and Sriracha mayo. Per James's recommendation, we had the beef sticks on their own over a bed of rice and a side of slaw.
The ultra-savory flavors of the aromatic beef, mixed with the light char and forkfuls of jasmine rice, make for a great light meal.
- Location: 3201 E Anaheim St., Long Beach
- Hours: Open daily, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Monorom Cambodian Restaurant (Prahok Ktis)
James:
Monorom, like A & J, also has a fantastic lemongrass beef stick. But they also have a catalog of traditional eats such as the prahok ktis (or prahok creme as they have it labeled on their menu).
One of the most common ways food is consumed in Cambodia is to have an assortment of in-season vegetables and a dip, precisely what you’d get with prahok ktis.
It’s ground pork married with the pungency of prahok paste, the omnipresent fermented mudfish product, and the creaminess of coconut milk. The prahok ktis are presented with a shallow basket carrying thin cross sections of raw Chinese eggplant, Thai eggplant, cucumber, yardlong beans, and cabbage.
Gab:
During my previous food tour of Little Arabia with my colleague Yusra Farzan, there were a couple of moments when I entered small family-owned restaurant spaces and felt as if I were inside their living room.
Monorom carries a similar vibe with its seating setup. During our stop there, a multigenerational family was enjoying a meal together, adding to the personal nature of the atmosphere.
The extensive menu felt overwhelming. Luckily, we already had a plan to start with the prahok ktis.
The cut-up raw vegetables come with a side of the reddish-orange prahok paste containing loose bits of ground pork, which makes for an excellent dip. It made me think of that Northern Thai dish, nam phrig noom (a roasted green chili dip) served with crispy frieded pork skins, which is go-to order of mine and my family at Renu Narkron in nearby Norwalk.
- Location: 2150 E Anaheim St., Long Beach
- Hours: Monday through Tuesday, 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; Thursday, 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; Friday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Closed Wednesday.
Crystal Thai Cambodian (Trei Aundain Chean)
James:
Much more Khmer than Thai, Crystal Thai Cambodian is the quintessential spot for experiencing a traditional Cambodian meal — things you’d find in a Khmer home, where parents and grandparents have preserved culinary memories of a pre-genocide Cambodia.
Their menu is a voluminous encyclopedia of the Khmer greatest hits, ranging from the backyard party noodle nom p’jok (a thick rice vermicelli noodle dish that’s beset by a turmeric-stained catfish broth) to duck feet salad (a mélange of saccharine-vinegar slaw dotted with the cartilaginous webbed feet of waterfowl).
When I’m looking to impress the adventurous, I always order the trei aundain chean, which translates to whole fried yellow catfish. The catfish arrives at the table with a bouquet of greens, including slivers of green leaf lettuce, Vietnamese coriander, fish mint, bean sprouts, cucumber, and branches of sadao—the latter of which are the flower buds of the neem tree. Imagine the pithy florets of broccoli but with a medicinally astringent flavor. It’s bitter. Incredibly so.
You begin this meal by tearing into the catfish, peeling away the chicharrón crispy skin, and revealing a brilliant yellow flesh. The flesh is flaky, moist, and surprisingly clean-tasting despite the jaundiced pallor — not fishy. Then, you nest the contents into a leaf of lettuce, stack the herbs high, and roll yourself a wrap.
The wrap is accompanied by a sour and sweet tamarind sauce and green mango salad, creating a Russian doll-like flavor experience of slowly unveiling the entire roster of taste with each bite.
Gab:
I had heard tales of Crystal Thai and its bodacious bowls of nom p’jok, the yellow curry dish, for a while now. But James was down to explore the menu a little more.
I can’t remember the last time I had a whole catfish (maybe never, filets, sure). Arriving at your table the fish has been scored and deep-fried, along with a separate plate of greens. The sadao was the standout, given its striking appearance resembling wild baby broccoli. I assembled the the D.I.Y. lettuce wraps with torn chunks of the fish mixed with tamarind sauce and mango salad. It all paired together. Nothing short of memorable.
- Location: 1165 E 10th St, Long Beach
- Hours: Open daily, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
- Note: Cash Only
