Phnom Penh – All the Best Stuff

We had tried to visit Phnom Penh back in March but found out that they were closed for renovations.  Usually, “closed for renos” is Chinese restaurant code word for a pest problem so I was surprised that the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority’s food inspection website said that they were pest free when they inspected the place in the middle of March.

Word of advice… ignorance is bliss – sometimes you really don’t want to know how your favourite restaurant rates or what previous infractions occurred at the restaurant that you ate at last week.

The last time we were at Phnom Penh, we didn’t try the Butter Beef.  I’ve heard a lot of good reviews about the Butter Beef so we had to try it.  Served with cilantro, crispy garlic, and their special marinating sauce, it tastes a lot like beef tataki from Japanese restaurants.  It was really good (we wound up gettiing a 2nd order) but I was expecting it to taste more buttery given the name.

You can’t come by Phnom Penh and not order either the Spicy Calamari or Spicy Chicken Wings… better yet… why choose?  Just order both!

The Luc Lac Beef on Rice with Egg is a favourite dish for me.  I’ve tried looking for this dish at other Vietnamese restaurants but haven’t found it at any other restauarant in Vancouver.  Did you know that you can order this dish with an extra fried egg?  The server accidentally put a #35 with 2 fried eggs on our table but came back and picked it up before we had the chance to dig in (guess one of the other tables ordered it with 2 eggs).

Mmmmm!  Mango Moo Shake… I know that it’s been pretty cold around Vancouver lately but I couldn’t resist trying out this fabulous drink concoction.

One of the benefits of having a Mango Moo Shake is that it’s useful in cutting through the spicy dishes.

The next time I come here, I want to try out the Lychee Moo Shake.

If you’re not sure what you would like to try at Phnom Penh, you can try out one of their special combo platters.  Along with rice vermicelli and a salad, this particular combo gives you rice rolls, prawn supreme, a beef brochette, and some thick slices of meat.

To round out our meal, we also wound up ordering some fried rice.  You might be wondering how good can fried rice be but I have to admit that the fried rice at Phnom Penh is pretty good.

The Vietnamese sausage in the fried rice is pretty killer but I wish that they wouldn’t slice them up so thinly.

Check out our previous posts on Phnom Penh here and here.

Update: After missing out on the Luc Lac Beef with 2 Fried Eggs, I just had to try it the next time I stopped by…

Word of advice, be careful of the chilies in the Chili Basil Clams.  They don’t look very big but they pack a punch when you bite into the seeds.  It’s the kind of heat that creeps up on you.  The clams themselves were pretty huge.