Phnom Penh House

In short: Hole in the wall. Super friendly owners. Food was delicious
We got the Sachkor ang (beef skewers) and Slaap moarn borg (stuffed boneless chicken wings). Both were flavorful and filling and fairly inexpensive. One thing to note about the boneless chicken wings: make sure not to bite the wing part itself– that does have bones!

The short: charming place with good eats
In a run-​down area just outside of Chinatown lies Phnom Penh. Its cozy interior with landscape paintings and a wooden panel is a stark contrast to what lies outside.
I was catching up with a friend here who I hadn’t seen in quite some time so we had to keep telling the waitress that we weren’t ready to order yet. When we finally were (and we took awhile since neither of us had Cambodian food before), I started and tried to say the name of the dish on the menu, and the waitress simply responded: Just speak in English. Haha, what an embarrassing face palm moment.
We ordered a crêpe with shredded pork, grilled chicken, minty noodle, and the fried banana dessert. I liked the flavors of the grilled chicken the most and the minty noodle dish as well. Adding mint to the noodle dish gives it a nice surprise of a combination of flavors. My friend who has Vietnamese exposure mentioned that the dishes are quite similar.
For the prices and the quantity of the food, we were satisfied and happy to check out what Cambodian food is like.

The lotus root salad is incredibly light and refreshing. There is one herb in this dish though that tastes a little like soap to me, but I still thought it was very tasty. Definitely craving this again.
The eggplant with ground meat was good but overly sweet. If they made it a bit more savory, it would be a killer dish. The stuffed chicken wings had a mild curry flavored stuffing which was nice but the texture of the chicken made this just an ok dish for me. Good, but a tiny bit rubbery.
Within walking distance of the Lake Merritt Bart and near Chinatown bakeries. A decent amount of tables. I went on a weekend around noon and it was pretty empty. Prices are around $ 12.
Will def come back to try more dishes.

I BARELY eat about 2 small pieces of vegetable a week. I really don’t eat vegetables if you keep up with my reviews, unless it’s by accident or it’s hard to pick out (like in a dumpling). For me to eat a dish of EGGPLANT (?!?)… You best believe this is the best tasting dish in the entire world.
Perfect hole in the wall place filled with authentic dishes that you can smell a mile away. The owner is SOOOOO friendly. Parking may suck a little since it’s Chinatown area (?). FYI, it’s my second time in my entire life steppin foot on Oakland grounds… so forgive me if I’m wrong.
:FOOD:
Traop ang: Eggplant grilled then sautéed with garlic, shrimp & pork. As soon as my friend said, «Eggplant,» I gave him the biggest WTFUDGE-​DID-​YOU-​REALLY-​JUST-​SAY-​EGGPLANT-​TO-​MY-​FACE-​look to him because he KNOWS I RESENT eating vegetables. But he PROMISED on his life that it tasted NOTHING like eggplants and it’s the most delicious thing ever and that I’d ironically finish the entire dish myself. HE WAS SO RIGHT, as much as I didn’t want to admit it. I cant even pinpoint what the dish was seasoned with but its SO good. The eggplants were pulled apart into thin thin silky shreds with pieces of pork and shrimp. It’s DYNAMIC.
Moarn ang kreun: charbroiled chicken with lemongrass spices served with pickled vegetable in Cambodian style. This reminded me of Teriyaki chicken but with a Cambodian twist to it and their style of fish sauce. Pretty darn moist and packed with flavors.
Kary Tia: Duck cooked with potatoes & green beans in brown shrimp paste curry flavored sauce. Obviously, I passed on the veggies but the duck was sooooooo melt in your mouth tender and super flavorful.

Very nice wait staff, and their water was flavored with fruit.
The egg rolls were delectable when fresh fried. Basil rice was 85% rice, light on veggies. The flavor was good but I wouldn’t order the rice again. Each table had a nice chili condiment, too, not the usual sriracha.
Pricey – bill came out to be ~$ 20 for egg rolls and fried rice, but it was the only decently rated Asian restaurant within walking distance of the courthouse.

After a long night’s meeting in the city, my coworker and I have to drive back to work. We were so hungry but we don’t know what to eat. Then he suggested to go to this restaurant. First, we were thinking of just ordering it to go but we decided to dine in. My coworker ordered the food ahead of time so we don’t waste any waiting time. This place I can say is one of those hole on the wall type restaurant owned and operated by family unit. I’ve been here 11 years ago. I don’t know if Unilocal exist at that time. But just the same, the food is always excellent. I don’t mind eating their food everyday. It’s always good.

Love this spot! The best Cambodian food in town!
The workers here are really nice and welcoming. We got the hookups with complimentary Thai Tea because the owner knows my family pretty well since we have been coming here for years.
We kept our meal light today because we were really craving dessert. We order the beef skewers and fried banana with ice cream with a extra scoop of ice cream.
The skewers were on point, very flavorful. There were four skewers per order so it made the cost worth it. It would go well with plain white rice.
The best part was the fried banana ice cream with extra ice cream! I tried this dessert at a couple other spots but it will never ever compare to Phnom Penh! I remember when I was a kid, I thought this dessert was kind of weird so I didn’t want to try it. The thought the deep frying a fruit was a lot for me to comprehend at a young age. Until one day, my auntie bought an order to go so we can eat it at a warm day at the park. And from that point forward, my life has changed.
There’s something about the food. I am a firm believer that it’s all made from love, which gets me to keep coming here.

I had the BBQ chicken with lemon grass. It is over seasoned, over-​cooked and overpriced specially since it’s only thigh meat. I took photos of the menu and for an Asian family restaurant, it seems everything is overpriced. I looked for a small soup or appetizer, however these items are big plates and ten dollars or more. I ordered their very popular eggplant dish thinking I was going to receive the appetizer. They prepared the dinner portion that does not come vegetables. The eggplant dish is leagues above the chicken. It’s the best eggplant I have ever had. I’m raising from three stars to four.
Very little English spoken here, so be prepared for many thank you (s) and yes.

#5
When my best friend called me yesterday to meet him for lunch I was all like, «Heck yeah, I’m super hungry.» Then he said, «Pick me up and we will go to this Mongolian spot next to my office.» I was all, «Well, Mongolian???»
I scooped him up and we drove over one block to the Phnom Penh House. It is in Chinatown in Oakland and really close to the house. There was a parking spot a few spaces from the door so I pulled in, and while he fed the meter I grabbed my shoes out of my trunk (yeah, I get it…).
We went inside and the server instantly recognized my partner (now I know where he is when he’s not working… lol). She offered us any seat we would like in the tiny restaurant. We chose a table near the window under some pretty painting.
She brought hot tea, which was a +1 in my book because it was rainy outside, and some water along with menus.
He went ahead and ordered the veggie egg rolls for us while I perused the menu. After looking at the large menu and all the delicious articles within, I arrived at my decision (along with his):
Moran Chea Jee
Chicken Fried Rice w Basil
Pad Thai Chicken
The Moran Chea Jee was so delicious. Chicken with beans and red peppers, smothered in this delicious dark sauce. Wow! The chicken and basil fried rice was excellent. I think that was my favorite part of the lunch. I took my Moran Chea Jee and smothered the basil and chicken rice with it – YUMMY!!! He had the Pad Thai chicken and that was simply wonderful. Thin noodles with a light red sauce over top of some seriously delicious chicken.
I need to speak out of order now and talk about those egg rolls we had to start. WOOOOOOOOW!!! OMG!!! They were phenomenal. These little delicacies were served along side of some type of peanut hot chile sauce that was divine. I might have been able to have two orders of that and call it a day.
Our service was excellent. She continued to check on us, bringing water, hot tea, etc. I was never in need of anything. At the end of the meal she boxed the food that my BIG eyes could not finish to take to my friend at work (he will totally appreciate me).
I will return to Phnom Penh House, a lot! This is the type of place you bring your friends so they can stand in awe of your ‘small secret hideaway’ restaurant knowledge.
Stephani Smiles for Phnom Penh House ;)
#besteggrollsever

There are few people in the world Binky loves more than Bucha Boi. For the past two years, I have been on the receiving end of non-​stop Bucha Boi anecdotes, short stories, jokes, musings, and long-​winded spiels of the never-​ending talents of Bucha Boi (ex. «Bucha is an amazing cook, an amazing baker — do you know how good his baking is??», «Bucha is the NICEST guy ever, no seriously, everyone loves him», «I’m going to go hang out with Bucha Boi — no you can’t come along, he’s my friend, I want to talk to him about _​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​», etc, etc.). Since Binky first expounded on his long standing love of Bucha Boi, I have dreamt of the fated day when Binky would FINALLY take me along to formally meet the Bucha Boi. WELL, ladies and gentlemen — guess what happened last Friday night (on the FIRST day of 2016)?? THAT’S RIGHT. I FINALLY met the low-​key famous, highly sought after, no-​words-​can-​adequately-​describe BUCHA BOI at this very location.
The restaurant looks pretty standard (for this area) from the outside — I really wouldn’t have been able to tell you the difference between this restaurant and the other handful of restaurants scattered along this street and the surrounding streets (especially at night). The restaurant, inside, was clean and a little busy. I’ve never had Cambodian food — Bucha Boi described it as «Thai but not…» which is the same assessment I give others to describe Malaysian food, Singaporean food, etc, etc (LOL).
Bucha, Binky, and I ordered one spicy papaya salad, one Sach Chrouk Chha Jee (pork with green beans and chili sauce), one Kary Tia (duck, potatoes, brown curry), and one Cha Kathiw (noodles with chili sauce, bean sprouts, green onion, and egg). Papaya salad came out first — tasted really good and really fresh. The papaya and carrots were coated with a vinegar-​y, garlic-​y sauce. Binky described it as being similar to the shredded veggies that come in Banh Mi sandwiches (pretty accurate description). The pork was tender, coated generously in a spicy sauce — the sauce was slightly on the sweeter side (which I really enjoyed). The duck was also cooked well — although this dish seemed less intriguing than the pork (tasted very similar to typical Chinese curry — although the duck did add some nice flavor). Lastly, I was probably most disappointed with the noodles — while seemingly reminiscent in description of pad thai — it was most certainly, painstakingly not. The noodles tasted ketchup-​y in sweetness, and the few other flavors were completely overshadowed by this dressing. It didn’t taste so awful that we couldn’t finish the dish, but I doubt I would ever venture to order it again.
Overall, this was a nice restaurant for my highly anticipated visit with the Bucha Boi.

As a first time Cambodian food eater, I have to say, this place is goooood. I’m a Thai food fiend and found that a lot of the dishes were similar to Thai food, so I thought it was worth the shot. And on a cold breezy winter’s day? Their food definitely warmed me up!
My friend and I came in on a late afternoon/​early dinner time freezing our faces off. The place was fairly empty but warm and inviting. It seems very cozy and local, also like you walked into a mom and pop’s Cambodian kitchen. The walls are beautifully decorated with a wooden tapestry with lots of Cambodian décor around. Very ethnic and much to love!
We ordered some of the house favorites:
— Slaap Moarn Boorg (boneless stuffed chicken wings) for $ 10.75. Those were yummy and a game changer. The skin on the chicken wings were perfectly light and crisp and flaky, and the stuffing inside tasted yum with the chili side sauce they provided.
— Sweet Basil Fried Rice. I’ve never had a basil fried rice and was in love with the prominent basil flavor cooked within the rice. (I’ve fallen in love with a coconut rice before, and this was almost on the same level, except this being more aromatic and herby than sweet.) We paired it with chicken and it was delish.
— Spicy Green Curry with Prawns (+ eggplant, carrots, mushrooms, string beans). For a cold day, this dish DEFINITELY heat us up! My friend and I have never had a green curry dish and this was just as our waiter described to us – it’s spicy and you can feel it’s kick, but it’s not spicy enough to kill you. It’s a nice heat that you’ll need to water down with some waters or eat with your rice, but nothing you can drown yourself in. It builds up as you go but it’s delish! (I can tolerate some spice, but I’m not a spice fiend!).
We split the check $ 20/​$ 20 and the nice staff was ready and prompt to refill waters, give us hot tea and provide us any boxes. They were also very willing and able to answer any questions newcomers had. For my first Cambodian experience, I applaud this place. Well done!

I’d give this place a 3.5 stars overall… But since half stars don’t exist yet in Unilocalland… It’s going to have to be 3 stars this time as the food was decent though not a party in the mouth.
Located in the Chinatown part in Oakland, this restaurant is on the street level of a graffiti-​ridden building… so quiet and unassuming from the outside that we nearly went elsewhere. but, good thing we didn’t! We stepped into a cosy space filled with Cambodian/​Thai (?) memorabilia and bustling with hungry diners. Starving, we quickly ordered and settled down to observe the consistent stream of people/​food swirling past us.
We ordered:
Lotus rootlet salad (with shrimp): it was filled with fresh, crunchy veggies topped with a generous amount of shrimp and garnished with crushed peanuts and dried chili flakes. A bit one dimensional in flavor profile but had a bit of a kick from the chili flakes.
Chicken soup — the first spoonful of this soup was a suckerpunch of sourness, but it grew on me and before long the whole pot was empty! It’s very similar to Tom Yum soup with the sour tang and lemongrass, but without the kick. This soup was loaded with chicken and mushrooms. Perfect like a warm hug on a cold day.
Cha Kathiw — I found this to be very similar tasting to pad thai. I have to say that it could have had more ingredients. This dish didn’t stand out to me and tasted slightly bland, likely had a ketchup based sauce.
I feel that this menu could have been improved simply by offering more protein add-​ons to dishes instead of only chicken or shrimp… Since they also serve beef/​pork dishes on the menu, why not have that available too?
I wish we had more room left to try their deep-​fried banana with ice cream. It looked so good and almost every table ordered it.

I’ve been here numerous times and have to say it is hit or miss. Tonight was a miss — the restaurant wasn’t heated so it was COLD. Kept my coat and scarf on and would’ve kept the gloves on but for the fact that it’s not comfortable using chopsticks with gloves on (or cute for that matter). The hot tea didn’t stay warm past 30 seconds and the food turned cold Über fast.
I had:
1) Singaporean noodle with chicken — it’s tossed in a yellow curry. It was okay. 3 stars
2) tofu curry with veggies — I appreciated the fresh broccoli, carrots, eggplant, potatoes, green beans and tofu but the curry was under seasoned — 2.5 stars
3) charbroiled chicken with dipping sauce and pickled veggies — 4.5 stars. This dish is ALWAYS good. Chicken is cooked just right so it’s tender and seasoned well. This chicken keeps me coming back.
I do have to impress upon the fact that the service is always good. They are genuinely happy to see you as a patron.

3.5 stars. Good little hole in the wall restaurant that I would come back to if I lived in the area. Unfortunately, I live in San Francisco, and this joint was not tasty enough to prompt a cross-​bay repeat visit.
Best dish here: The fried calamari appetizer has an addictive crunch to it. Don’t be fooled by the puffy exterior. I thought the breading looked way too thick but it was actually really thin and crispy like potato chips. The calamari slices inside the breading were quite large and tender.
Other decent dishes:
The charbroiled beef skewers had a Vietnamese lemongrass tang to it that I loved, but was just a tad too chewy in texture.
The famous eggplant and ground pork dish here was just OK to me. Eggplant tasted very smoky and reminded me of Filipino home cooking. Great with some white rice.
Service was very friendly and fast.

Hidden gem in Oaktown! On our way to Alameda and we took a wrong turn and ended up here. So happy we found this place!
Food: Delicious and authentic! First time eating Cambodian food that wasn’t homemade and I was happy with the taste, quality and authenticity of the dishes we ordered. The stuffed chicken wings are absolutely amazing, love the lemongrass flavor and herb combination. Very juicy, tender and delicious. Veggies are super fresh and bright in color! So much warm/​fresh rice for the table, I love it! High quality tofu, flavorful and great texture. The only thing lacking if I’m completely honest was spice, food wasn’t spicy enough for my liking… but I could have possibly them to make it spicier?
Price: Very reasonably priced ($ 9-​$ 15) depending on dish, but all portions are huge! We had tons of leftovers.
Service: I had no idea I was being attended by the owners. Both are super friendly, helpful (helped me decide what to order) and humble. I say humble, because they were cleaning tables/​taking orders, etc… even though they had other employees there.
Ambiance: Small, mom/​pop-​like, old, but well-​maintained and clean!
Overall: Great experience from the food to the service! We’ll definitely be coming back here.

My boyfriend and I came to this restaurant three weeks ago. This was my first time trying Cambodian food. We ordered 2 dishes and 1 dessert. Our first dish was called Hamok Trei at the restuarant, online it’s spell it Amok Trei. I thought this dish was mehh… I’m not a fish person, but I thought I’d try this dish because it’s Cambodia’s national (most famous) dish. It’s a very interesting taste. I could taste the coconut and it gave it great flavor.
The second dish was called Traop Ang which was grilled eggplant with garlic, shrimp, and pork. This is the restaurant’s most popular dish. I thought it was great! I love eggplants and it went well with the shrimp and ground pork.
The dessert we ordered was called Chhet Chean which was super good! It was a fried banana with a side of ice cream. I have thing about fried bananas and I can’t resist ice cream. My only problem with the dish was that the fried banana burnt my tongue, while I was getting brain freeze. It was enjoyable to eat, but not at the same time.
Overall, I enjoyed eating at Phnom. I tried foods I have never tried before and it was a great experience. I’d probably go back!
Video:

A hole in the wall restaurant with 4.5 stars. I had high expectations that was unfortunately not met.
PAPAYA SALAD — 3 stars. Nothing special. The best papaya salad I ever had was actually in Raleigh, NC at a restaurant called Bida Minna.
TRAOP ANG — 2.5 stars. Everyone raved about this dish… however I am not a big fan of eggplant. If you do like eggplants, then you will probably like this dish.
CHA KATHIW — 3 stars. Tasted very similar to pad thai.
OVERALL: I can see why many people like this place as there are affordable food with delicious flavors, however as much as I wanted them to, unfortunately they did not stand out to me.

Service: ³⁄₅
I’m sure they forgot my fried chicken wings when that was the first thing that I ordered.
I called one of the waitress over to check, and her attitude was just. Ugh! No!
It came out last. When I was pretty much done eating.
Food:
Basil Fried Rice: ⁵⁄₅ stars
Delicious !! Plenty of basil !! And lots of flavor ! Cooked perfectly :) love it ! Definitely would order this again.
Forgot the name of the next dish. ¹⁄₅ stars
It’s like the pad Thai. But there was too much… Uhhmm. Ketchup in the noodle ?
Too sour. And it was just too wet. Lol it wasn’t appealing to me at all. definitely a No on this.
Chicken Wings: ¹⁄₅ stars
I expected it to be crispy and moist.
It was hard and dry.

This place is my jammmmmmm. Inexpensive, large portions, high quality, fresh meats and veggies, super tasty, fast and warm/​friendly service? YES! Far from trendy and more for those looking for authentic eats at a great price.
I came here when I was scoping out Oaktown and it was major factor in deciding to move here. :) Not really, but kind of. Since then, I’ve been coming somewhat regularly as it really is just consistently so good. I usually end up going a bit later and so never a wait, but to be honest the food comes out so quickly that I’m sure they turn those tables over.
Beer is $ 4. I’ll throw that out there.
Food is about $ 8-​$ ¹⁴⁄₁₅ and it’s all good. I’ve had curries, rices, noodles, steak, chicken, vegetables, tofu and everything is extremely fresh. The vegetables are bright in color and clearly purchased that day. The meat is plentiful and again, no frozen goods here. Not stringy and tough, but juicy and tender. Spice factor could be amped up, but I’m sure that’s nothing they can’t fix if requested. You honestly can’t go wrong with anything and the only thing I’ve had that I wouldn’t order again are the spring rolls; sadly a bit bland.
It’s a mom and pop place and they are sweet and efficient. Can you really ask for anything more?
So pumped I live nearby as I found this to be one of the best Oakland gems thus far!

I had been meaning to try this Cambodian restaurant for a long time now, and I was so glad that I took the time to go.
Right when you walk in you are hit with an exquisite aroma of delicious spices. There’s so many options on their menu, you need to try them all.
We ordered the calamari, which was suggested by everyone who has eaten here. It was on point. It was fluffy, crunchy, and o so delicious. We also ordered the famous eggplant pork and shrimp dish. It takes amazing with rice. In addition, we got the peanut sauce and chicken. Although it was a bit on the wet side, it tasted great !
Last but not least, we ordered the pan fried noodles, aka pad Thai. It was honestly one of the best renditions of pad Thai I’ve had. It’s flavorful, not dry, and filling!
I’ve rarely gone to places where every single item I ordered was on point. Check this place out when you’re in the bay it is definitely worth your time
Eat well and prosper