Phnom Penh Noodle Shack

A Long Beach institution, serving delicious, authentic Cambodian food. On a weekday afternoon, the place was packed. The interior is clean and casual, with plenty of seating. Their menu offers a large variety of noodle soups, stir fried noodles, rice porridge, and drinks. I walked in to place a takeout order, and was invited to sit and enjoy my strong, sweet Iced Coffee while I waited.

The Seafood Noodles Soup was packed with shrimp, mussels, imitation crab, squid, and scallops. The broth was mild in flavor, with a delightfully funky oceanic undertone. The noodles stole the show though, managing to be simultaneously hearty yet light on the palate. Every bite was a unique treat. Definitely get the large size; it's only $1 extra.

I recommend getting a few pieces of their fresh breads to compliment your noodles. Both the Cha Quai (bread stick) and Nom Hing (round bread) were exceptional. 10/10.

Phnom Penh Noodle Shack is a Long Beach institution that's been around since mid-80's. Prior to the age of mobile phones and social media, this place was already a favorite, frequented by locals. And by locals, I mean the local Cambodian community who crave the quintessential rice& noodle dishes of their beloved homeland.

If you've been here before, there's no need to introduce this place. However, if you've never been, don't expect to come looking for pho. Kuyteav or katiew is a Khmer rice noodle dish, usually eaten for breakfast. It's made with pork stock and toppings such as ground pork, pork slices, etc. Not to be confused with the Vietnamese pho, this noodle dish doesn't have the strong aromatic flavors of star anise, coriander and fennel seeds. However, the garnishes are the same: cilantro, green onions, bean sprouts, and lime. So you can dress it however you like with hoisin, pepper, sriracha, garlic chili paste, etc.

The Noodle House also serves rice porridge that comes with liver and/or blood cake, and other meat like pork. Most people order the fried donut to eat with the porridge. If innards or offal meat is not your style, you can also order other stirfried noodle dishes.

Service was fast this morning. Parking can be a challenge and sometimes there is a long wait depending song on the time. It's open every day except Mondays from 7am-3pm.

If you're looking for some bomb Cambodian noodles you've come to the right spot. Me and the wife ordered the Phnom Penh house special mixed small and big egg noodles with soup on the side and the beef stew with big rice noodle and both were amazing! The house special noodle dry reminded me of Taiwanese dry street noodles with a light sweet soy base. The broth was similar to pho broth and was extremely flavorful. I'd definitely return for this again. My wife got the beef stew which was similar to a non spicy bun bo hue broth and extremely savory and flavorful as well. We topped it off with some of the fried bread stick which went great when dipped in broth. Their egg soda was also amazing. Club soda, egg and condensed milk which ended up tasting like a fizzy custard or legit vanilla soda. I'd definitely return if my schedule allowed it.

Service was great and the food came out hot and fast. Parking is difficult but you might find some luck if you continue down 17th street. Everyone seemed to be enjoying their food inside and it was a cozy Asian ambiance

Ambiance: the establishment is located in the corner spot of the residential area, it is a challenge to find street parking, packed table setup inside, the restroom is weirdly set up with two doors

Service: there's always waiting line in front, although you get seated fairly fast, the waitress here was very friendly and provided helpful suggestions, although it's rushed ordering and bringing the bills

Food & Drink: simple menu items for different noodles
PHNOM PENH HOUSE SPECIAL - ** sliced pork, ground pork, stomach, liver, and shrimp, two surcharge for egg noodles and mixed noodles, very disappointing as their signature dish, all dried noodles were stuck together, and I thought the mix would be half and half for each kind of noodles, however, tiny portion for the egg noodles despite already paid surcharge
SOUP W/ PORK BONE - *** you can get for free if you order certain dry noodles or pay extra as a side
LOAT CHA - **** served with the house garlic fish sauce pin, tear drop rice noodles, meat choice of beef, bean sprouts, green onions, chives, fried garlic, peanuts, and egg, interesting texture and tasty with fish sauce, recommend
CHA QUAI BREAD STICK - *** not very crunchy, and a bit of weird sour taste, might from over fermented dough
ICED COFFEE W/ CONDENSED MILK - *** overly sweet

Price: mediocre quality and affordable prices, about $25 per person for a fulfilling meal

If you want Cambodian noodles, this is the place to go. This place was packed on a Sunday early afternoon, not surprised since their hours are limited to 7a-3p. We put our names on the yelp waitlist and it was about 20 min before we were seated. The people here are all very friendly. I think it's family owned. It looks small from the outside but they actually had quite a lot of seating. They're very efficient so the turnaround time seemed pretty fast.

Their menu is extensive. From noodle soups and dry noodles with soup on the side or stir-fried noodles and even rice porridge (congee), they have it all. Since it was my first time here, I opted for the #1, the Phnom Penh Special Noodle Soup, it's a pork based broth with sliced pork, ground pork, stomach, liver, and shrimp. It was fantastic. The broth was perfectly rich and the meat perfectly tender. My friend also got the #1 but as a dry noodle with the soup on the side. Apparently, when you order the dry version, you also get the bone-in pork with the soup which my friend absolutely loved. I'll have to try it next time. We also got the nom hing (round bread)...think chinese donut but with sesame seeds. This would have been with a rice porridge if we had the stomach for more food, but again, maybe next time.

The restaurant is located on the corner of a busy street. There are no parking lots, just street parking, so be prepared to circle around for a while looking for an open spot in one of the local neighborhoods.

I've been wanting to come here for a while after seeing all the hype on social media and it definitely did not disappoint!
I had the house special noodle with half rice noodle and half egg noodle and soup on the side and a fried donut to dip in the soup. The rice noodles were similar to that of a pad see ew and the egg noodles were chewy and fresh. Both complimented the rich beefy soup broth well.
Something that piqued my interest was their sweet hot sauce made with sugar, peppers, and a fish sauce which the waitress mentioned is made in house and is different at every cambodian restaurant.
The wait staff were also extremely nice and attentive - promptly replacing my chopsticks after I dropped them haha.

Pro tip: the wait does get pretty long so try adding yourself to the waitlist on the app beforehand!

We decided to stop here on our way back to sd, I have seen them on tv and very well known, I got the phnom pen noodles soup with thick rice noodle and egg noodles. I can say I have had better phnom pen but the soup tasted really fresh. Overall it was delicious. Be aware that there is a waitlist that you need to sign in due to limited seatings either on Yelp or on-site. The restaurant is small but they accommodated putting tables together for my family. Customer service is 100% satisfaction and food came out fast. Thank you for food and service.

I've been wanting to try this place for years and i finally got the chance and man, this place was above expectations! Such a cute little restaurant, so it gets busy during the weekends! Also the staff is incredibly friendly and attentive!

Now on to the food;

My friend got the number one, noodle house soup and she absolutely loved it! The broth has such a deep and rich flavor, truly tastes like it's been boiling for hours!

I got the number two, the mos special dry noodle and they give you an entire PORK BONE!!!! With the dry noodle! Same thoughts and feelings about the regular noodle soup as this one! I even took the leftovers home and ate them later and they lasted and still tasted just as good as when they did when they were fresh! (Which is hard with noodle soup believe me) everything goes perfect with their fried bread and their Cambodian coffee!

Yo this neighborhood is ROUGH. Street parking was horrible even for a weekday and when you finally park, look out for the big piles of dog poop on the sidewalk and the stench of the sewer. Despite this, this was our favorite meal in our little road trip. The Phnom Penh noodles dry with rice noodles hit the spot. The broth was piping hot and so savory with the pork meat falling off the bones. The noodles were cooked perfectly aldente. The meat toppings were also delicious with my favorite being the liver. Don't forget to get the long donut to soak up the delicious soup. Husband got the beef and meatballs noodle soup and that was so good too. Meat pies were also delicious with a hot crispy crust and tasty meat filling. Food came out quick.

Service was ok. You know the type... nice but not too friendly and welcoming. It's small inside but offered a very homey feel. If the location and service was better, it'd be an easy 5/5 in my book.

What We Ordered:

Knom Sakieu (Meat Bread) $3.50
Knom Hing (Round Bread) $2.50
#1) Phnom Penh Noodle House Special
Pork meat (sliced, ground, stomach, liver) and shrimp $14
#2) Mo's Special Noodles
Ground pork, sliced pork and beef balls $14
#15) Student Noodle $16
Served with our house garlic fish sauce on the side. Small rice noodles, choice of meat, bean sprouts, peanuts, and pickled cabbage. No noodle substituions
Thai Iced Tea $5
Ice Coffee with Condensed Milk $5
Long Bread ($5)

I recommend joining the waitlist on Yelp to reserve a table. As the wait can get very long sometimes. The restaurant is very small. It is in your best interest to join the waitlist as they don't offer reservations.

This place has some great authentic Cambodian food. You really can't get any better Cambodian place. Although, I'm not Cambodian. I've traveled to Cambodia a few times and this place is legit.

I liked everything that we ordered. You can select the kind of noodles you'd like for the #1 and #2 Specials as they offer Rice Noodles, Egg Noodles and other variation of noodles. I always ask the server what they recommend as you want to order it how it is intended to be served. They offer to serve the bone broth on the side or you can combine if you like. I recommend getting it on the side.

The #15 does not offer a noodle substitution. You get what you get. The #15 is really flavorful and delicious. This is the clear winner for me.

Know Sakieu (Meat Bread) was described to me from the server like an empanada. I think that is very accurate. I added some complimentary hot sauce and pickled peppers from the tables to kick the spice up a notch.

Knom Hing (Round Bread) $2.50 is a popular seller and a good bread roll. I recommend ordering this bread as you won't be disappointed.

The server was very helpful in explaining how to make the dish upon receiving them. She was also very helpful in helping me decide what to order. Overall, the service was very good. They were quick to bring water to the table. They were very patient with me as my party hadn't arrived yet and I was waiting to order for at least 20 minutes or more.

If we are in Long Beach again. I will be sure to check this place out. I highly recommend it.

Here's the website: https://thenoodleshack.com/ You can order directly on the website and find other useful information there.

P.S. Order the Long Bread and dip it in the soup. It's very similar to a Chinese Doughnut.