Phnom Penh Noodle Shack

Phnom Penh Noodle Shack is as special as it is unusual. Its name is only partially accurate: Yes, it serves Cambodian food, and yes, it serves noodles almost exclusively, but no, it’s not a shack – the current name dates to 2012, referencing the restaurant’s original 1985 name and smaller footprint. Located between homes and apartments in a Long Beach residential neighborhood, the current incarnation could be confused for another house when driving by. Then you’ll spot some signage, and in all likelihood, groups of people milling around outside next to the Yelp waitlist tablet.

Once you find parking – sometimes an ordeal – and finish waiting for your table (expect 30 minutes to 1 hour during peak times), you’ll be seated in a very nice, middle class dining room with a small menu. The product of 40 years of refinement, its roughly 30 choices include noodle soups, noodle stir-fry plates, several types of rice porridge, and several bread-focused side dishes. While you’re not going to find a broader Cambodian menu similar to nearby Crystal’s here, pretty much every entree at Phnom Penh is either $14 or $16, versus $25+ at Crystal.

Half of the menu choices are variations on Phnom Penh’s most popular item, the “special” – the same Cambodian dry noodle dish with pork and shrimp served at Orange County’s Hu Tieu De Nhat and Trieu Chau, just with added stomach and liver. A bowl of piping hot soup typically comes on the side, for $3 more including a giant, fatty pork shank that can either be eaten or ignored as flavoring. If you want different proteins (beef, fish, chicken, seafood) or noodles (big or small rice or egg noodles, pin noodles), you can customize the dish how you like it, and use sauces at the table to add or multiply soy, oyster, pepper, and garlic flavors. Adding the hot soup to the noodle bowl is up to you; we prefer experiencing this dish dry, but some people enjoy mixing them together.