LAReview
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
Phnom Penh Noodle Shack
Included In
A rocky outcrop on a secret beach. A trail at Griffith. The fountains at The Americana. Every Angeleno needs that special place to run to when sh*t hits the fan. For us, it's Phnom Penh Noodle Shack, a family-run Cambodian noodle shop in Long Beach that treats customers like prodigal siblings who are home at last after far too long—even if you were there last week.
Part of Phnom Penh's warmth comes from the food, of course. The menu essentially boils down to three main sections: noodle soups, rice porridge, and stir-fried noodles. If it’s your first time—or if you're in need of a metaphorical weighted blanket—go for one of the rice porridges. We love the sweetness of the Mo’s Special with ground pork, chicken, and beef ball. Whichever protein you choose, know you’ll be staring down a giant bowl of velvet. This is one of LA’s great dishes, and something we drive 90 minutes to eat without an ounce of hesitation.
Treat everything you order at Phnom Penh as a base for the restaurant's condiments and garnishes, like the plum sauce, sriracha, and pickled hot peppers sitting on each table. The stir-fried student noodles work well on their own, but when doused in a house garlic fish sauce, every nutty-salty flavor in the dish immediately cranks to eleven.
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
Dishes and condiments aside, we end up remembering our Phnom Penh meals by the tiny chats we've had with the people who work here. It's clear the staff wants everyone to find something they love. Your server might even pull up a chair to share their own personal dining preferences—how they like squeezing thick, spicy sambal oelek into their porridge instead of the sweeter sriracha, or suggesting you order rice noodles in your soup because they absorb the bone broth better than the egg noodles do.
Servers pulling up a chair to hang out with you? A bowl of edible velvet on a bad day? Maybe you're imagining a sleepy room where you'll have the place to yourself. Not at Phnom Penh Noodle Shack. This place is a Long Beach institution and a tentpole of the city’s massive Cambodian community—the largest in the world outside of Cambodia. And that means, come Saturday and Sunday mornings, expect wait times to be well over an hour. If you’re local, send the nearest friend over early to put a name on the waitlist—a little Venmo incentive never hurts—or do what we do and stick to weekdays. (The restaurant stays open from 7am-3pm daily.) This is when the place empties out a bit and you can sit alone with your thoughts and a bowl of warm broth like it's a $14 therapy session.
So go ahead, show up on your worst day (in head-to-toe pajamas, if you must), and find your own little cove of comfort. You probably won't be the only one. Young families, church ladies, solo diners, and hungover college kids—everybody’s doing something similar here. We can't confirm if Phnom Penh is their favorite place to come exactly as they are. But it's certainly ours.
Food Rundown
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
Mo's Special Rice Porridge
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
Phnom Penh Noodle Special
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
Cha Quai
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
Student Noodles
photo credit: Jessie Clapp
Loat Cha