Pages

Review: Phnom Penh Restaurant in Vancouver's Chinatown


Another week of work gone by, and more encounters with Korean students at work! I taught at a high school on the westside this week, and two ESL social studies classes consisted of 50% Korean students. When I mentioned to the class that I had previously taught English in Korea for a year, their immediate reaction was "WOW (throw in a few golf claps)! Do you like Korea?"

Ahhh, the joys of teaching Korean students once again. My answer to their question was "I love all countries," haha. Most of them where here studying and living with homestays, some were here with their mothers (which they are still scared to death of) while their "salary-man" fathers are back in the motherland, and some have been living in Vancouver for quite a while. What I find humorous is how these students come over here to learn English, but they end up hanging out with other Koreans, which impedes their ability to practice English 24/7! I even caught a few of them dropping some "18's aka shee-pal's" in class, which I told them not to say. It was interesting to practice some of my limited Korean though!

Anyways, enough about the work recap, let's get onto the food. Last weekend I ate at Phnom Penh, a Cambodian/Vietnamese restaurant located in Chinatown. Named after the capital city of Cambodia, this restaurant is notorious for its famous chicken wings and "butter beef" dish, to recall a few. The last time I dined at this place was years back--so I was eager to get my eat on there once again!

With its location in Chinatown, get ready to wait in line for a seat at Phnom Penh. The place is always jam packed during the week, but since we went on a Sunday afternoon, we were lucky to avoid the lunch rush:


The menu at Phnom Penh is massive. There are over 100 items. Some of their popular dishes are their Cambodian dry egg noodles. Check out the one I ordered below, served with slices of pork, prawns, and liver. It comes served with soup, which you can add it, but by itself tasted very fresh and was deeeeelicous:


Here comes the moment you've been waiting for...Phnom Penh's famous chicken wings. These are seriously the best wings I've ever eaten in my life. They are seasoned to perfection and deep fried till crispy, yet not chewy at all. It comes topped with stir fried garlic, jalapeno peppers, cilantro, and a lime-pepper dipping sauce---hot diggity!


Alrighty...you're probably wondering what the heck "butter beef" is. According to their menu description, it's "Thin[ly] sliced specially prepared (medium rare) beef on a bed of brown garlic, cilantro, served with our special sauce" and butter! It's one of those dishes where you just have to taste it to really experience it, minus the looks. The beef is so tender it literally melts in your mouth--my mouth is watering!


So we finished the wings, butter beef, and my noodle dish. What's next? Another order of wings of course! There were 5 of us total, so we had to order another plate of chicken wings. The funny thing is, their consistency is not the same when it comes to portion sizes. Compare this picture below of our second order, to the first order above--what gives?!


Phnom Penh is one of those restaurants where you know whatever you order, it will be consistent every single time. That equals repeat business. Throw in efficient customer service and you'll have a recipe for success. The restaurant is located on 244 E Georgia St, Vancouver...Telephone: 604 682-5777. By the way, I'm heading back there tonight for dinner! This time I'll bring my SLR and get some real action shots!

No comments:

Post a Comment