Phnom Penh Restaurant

244 E Georgia St
Vancouver, BC V6A1Z7
Tel: (604) 682-5777
Neighbourhood: China Town Vancouver, Chinatown
  • Cuisine: Asian, Cambodian, Vietnamese
  • Price: $$ ($15 - $30)
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  • Reviews91

Reviews

Displaying 1 - 20 of 91 Reviews Found
Great Butter Beef
By lesmark of burnaby (69 Reviews)
Submitted Sunday, March 7, 2010 - 12:48pm

This restaurant is known for it's Butter Beef and it is very tasty. I've tried their noodles as well and it is consistent with other restaurants as well. The service is solid and I would frequent this restaurant again.

I'm not certain if the owners have changed although my visits have been infrequent I remember eating here over twenty years ago. The value is consistent and the ambience is average. I agree with a previous review that the decor/interior is somewhat odd. However, the food is decent.

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Yummy food, but the ambiance is incredibly weird. But totally not the point.
By teddyandturtle of Vancouver - Kingsway (75 Reviews)
Submitted Thursday, February 25, 2010 - 5:12pm

Came here after seeing all the reviews. Only got take out, which was a veggie fried rice and a small order of their famous chicken wings. It was a week night, but at least half their tables were filled which is odd, especially with their location. They greeted right when we came in.. and gave us menus.

The service was okay, the lady pointed out things that she could turn into a vegetarian dish for me. My boyfriend tried to convince me to go un-vegetarian for their chicken wings cause they're so good. It smelled amazing though. I got the fried rice and though it's a veggie one, it was still really really good (not just a bland taste like many other restaurants).

The place is really oddly decorated, like they have no idea what they're doing. Though it's a Cambodian and Vietnamese restaurant, everyone seemed to be speaking in Cantonese. Not much of a surprise I guess.

Our order came to about 20 dollars with a tip. I will definitely be back.

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Great Fried Chicken Wings
By Gidge of Vancouver (76 Reviews)
Submitted Saturday, February 20, 2010 - 5:39pm

It's been a few years since my last visit and I was surprised to find a packed house with people lining out the door. Luckily we made reso's so the wait was minimal. We shared 8 different plates and the one that stood out was definitely the fried chicken wings. Crispy outside and moist inside. The side lemon pepper dip added tang but I don't think it's needed. The pepper squid dish was also very nice and surprisingly tender (not stringy) and sauteed with huge chunks of onions. My least favourite was the spring rolls. Not that they sucked but it's not the type that I enjoy eating. Instead of the rice paper wrap that Vietnamese spring rolls are made with, the Cambodian ones are short, cylindrical, and wrapped with the egg roll wrap then deep fried. I have to stop myself the next time I'm contemplating spring rolls at a Cambodian restaurant.

Service was speedy and curt. We appreciated how quickly food arrived but before we can even gulp down our end-of-meal tea, we were already asked to vacate the table. Granted they were very busy but an extra 2-3 minutes would've been nice. At a western restaurant this would be a major no-no.

In comparison to Chinese cuisine, the value is at par; relative to Vietnamese cuisine, it is much more expensive considering there's a 70% overlap in similar dishes. For example, the set combo's (lemon grass chicken, pork, rice) were in the $11-12 range where you can find comparable combo's for $7-9 at your local pho house. Their green papaya salad ($14.50) was pretty pricey too and not nearly as good as ones found in Thai restaurants.

Ambiance was cramped, noisy, and kind of festive - due to the Olympic fever and Chinese New Year. The walls, tables and chairs seem to be in ok condition. However, the bathroom was another matter. Toilet paper bits lined the carpet on the stairwell leading to the bathroom area. Garbage and used card board boxes haphazardly piled near the back door. Double yuck. How they pass health inspection is beyond me.

Would I come back again? Sure, for the chicken wings only and most likely for take out only.

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Great Taste, Borderline Hostile Service
By Captain Psychadelic of Vancouver (West End) (1 Review)
Submitted Monday, January 4, 2010 - 3:40pm

We got there early and were seated right away. Had some beer while we admired the tome-like menus. Impressive selection, but we had our meals planned from what we heard recommended. Wings, garlic squid, and some noodles.

The wings were fantastic! Crispy and flavourful. We didn't really have time to enjoy them since all our food was brought out at the same time, but still. Best wings I've had in a while.

I had some beef stew with noodles, with the word hot beside it - wasn't really spicy to me, but I like my spicy food to hit me like a right hook.

The food was terrific, but either we did something to offend the waitress or she just wasn't in a good mood. I guess she can be that cold when the food she's serving is that good.

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Boom Goes the Dynamite
By KushPizzaSleep of Vancouver (9 Reviews)
Submitted Sunday, October 18, 2009 - 2:50am

730pm on a saturday night, the sky dumping tears over vancouver I arrived at Phnom Penh. The place was packed, a host quickly took our name and we were seated in a couple minutes. The menu feeling like a small novel loaded with culinary chapters had many choices. I settled on the number 6, It was 2 types of noodles(egg and rice) with beef chicken prawns vegis and a soup. Also ordered this red bean ice jelly drink that was simply orgasmic. The food came out in around 5 minutes which is unbelievable for how busy this place was. This place knows what its doing and does it well. A authentic taste of the far east at a great price makes this marver a happy camper. Bill came to 12 dollars before tip, I was stuffed and happy. A true gem.

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Some good dishes...
By dal of van (35 Reviews)
Submitted Wednesday, August 5, 2009 - 10:53pm

Everything that is yummy is also unhealthy.. my fave picks: deepfried wings, deep-fried squid...
Oyster pancakes were gross- and really greasy.. keep in mind that I love fried food :-(
The rice isn't anything special, the frog legs weren't very good, and I found the dry noodle dishes bland....
I tried their 'famous' beef/sashimi dish.. again, nothing to get excited about...

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Used to be good but now it just doesn't seem worth it
By sarahtlee of Langley, BC (5 Reviews)
Submitted Wednesday, August 5, 2009 - 4:37pm

This place used to be one of my favorites and I would frequent it at least once a month. They have recently raised their prices making the price go from expensive to ridiculous. I can't justify the cost anymore. Also, when you order the chicken wings, they give you the tips of the wings and count that as one peice. Very tacky and stingy on their part.

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The best chicken wings EVER!!
By JooJoo of East Vancouver (70 Reviews)
Submitted Sunday, July 19, 2009 - 1:58am

I love the chicken wings at Phnom Penh, everytime I go its almost a given that every table has a plate of their deep fried chicken wings with lemon and pepper sauce on the side, its soooooo good, the deep fried chicken wings with rock salt and pepper taste is truly amazing! I also like the salad rolls, and beef with vermicelli dish where you mix the carrots and cucumbers with everything and pour fish sauce on top. They make great iced coffee too. Every lunch and dinner is packed, theres a normally a 5-10 min wait, but so worth the wait!

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Outstanding
By Rasputin of Downtown (3 Reviews)
Submitted Monday, July 6, 2009 - 5:53pm

This is one of Vancouver's best hidden gems, even though it is not so hidden anymore (they have been reviewed in the New York Times after all!)

The food is, in a word, outstanding. There is a huge variety and selection, and it is almost impossible to choose from their 7+ page, 12 point font menu in reasonable time. A word of advice: if it's your first time there and you're overwhelmed by the selection, let the server choose for you, which is what I did (it may have been the manager actually.) Every dish we received was incredible.

Also make sure to go with at least 4 people so you can all sample a reasonable number of dishes, as each are quite large and intended to be shared around.

Some nights you can experience quite a wait, and you have to be careful because the restaurant closes quite early (I think they don't let anyone in after 9pm.) In this case you either have to be patient, or make a reservation beforehand.

The layout is a bit underwhelming as it more resembles a cheap Chinese restaurant, and the menu might seem overpriced in comparison at first. But once you taste it, you will agree you're actually getting great value given the quality of the food.

I have taken many many different parties here, and everyone has always been very impressed. In case it helps, here are some of the best dishes I have tried:
-"Grandmother's recipe" garlic fried squid
-Garlic fried prawns
-Hot and sour fish soup
-Phnom Penh noodles (get dry with soup on side)
-Butter beef - like an asian style beef carpaccio, amazing

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Go for the food if you can stomach the service.
By maelstrom of West End (9 Reviews)
Submitted Thursday, June 25, 2009 - 8:03pm

I had been wanting to check out Phnom Penh for some time as I’ve heard so much about their amazing squid dishes. I was finally able to get there on April 22 and was pleased to see that, for a Monday night, the place was humming. This had to be a good sign. Now I was dining by myself and I soon discovered that Phnom Penh isn’t the place for a solo diner. The prices are somewhat on the steep side and their combo selections were few (three in total) and really quite limited in variety. After reviewing the menu I decided what I wanted and waited and waited and waited before I was finally able to get my order taken. I felt like it was a battle to get my order taken.

I ordered a noodle dish and a squid dish and was able to justify the expensive by telling myself that I would get lunch for tomorrow out of the leftovers. The noodle dish arrived first, but it wasn’t the particular noodle dish that I had ordered. Here’s where it gets interesting. I noticed a waitress approaching with my correct noodle dish, but she saw the other one on my table, looked at me and hastily figured that I hadn’t noticed the mix up so just turned around and walked away with the correct noodles. Unbelievable! Instead of just owning up to the mistake, which wasn’t really even a big deal, they just thought that I wouldn’t know the difference. What a great business model for an eating establishment. Subterfuge dining!

Service is incredibly weak at Phnom Penh and this is largely due to their approach. There are a plethora of servers and you pretty much deal with someone different every time. A different person sat me at my table, took my order, dropped off tea, delivered each dish and brought the bill. A few were friendly, a few were surly and the others didn’t really seem to care too much. Hon’s does this service approach well and does it with efficiency and with a cheerful staff. The management of Phnom Penh could learn a bunch from them.

The squid dish was great by the way and was some of the best I’ve ever had. It’s really too bad that the front of house service blows it for the talented cooks in the kitchen.

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Never disappoints
By foodluva of Vancouver (35 Reviews)
Submitted Thursday, June 4, 2009 - 1:15am

Went here for a family dinner on saturday and ordered the usual fried chicken wings and tried some of the other dishes never tried like the deep fried crab cakes, curry chicken. The crab cakes were ok although didnt taste much crab and the curry chicken was good reminded me of prata mans but had a more sweet coconut flavor. Arrived before the saturday night rush so service was good. This place never seems to disappoint when it comes to the food so highly recommended!

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Good Place
By si123 of Vancouver (4 Reviews)
Submitted Tuesday, May 26, 2009 - 10:58pm

This place is generally packed so its a pretty busy environment! Should always book in advance on weekends or the wait might be a while. Though I think the location could be better, gets kind of creepy at night.

The waiters/ waitresses need to smile more

The food is good, been going with my family ever since I was a kid. Food is still good as ever! Consistent.

Their chicken wings are a must try!

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Been coming for over 10 years now...
By peenutbuta of Vancouver (3 Reviews)
Submitted Friday, May 22, 2009 - 12:01am

A restaurant my family loves going and has been going since I was a child. The food never disappoints.

I always get the usual, dry rice noodle (extra large + fried egg) and it always tastes great. I use to go to the phnom penh on broadway since it's closer but now that it's closed we still make our way down to this location at least once every two weeks.

The service is what you usually get from a typical asian restaurant. Some of the new waitresses can act a little cocky at times and forget orders but since the restaurant is always so busy, I guess that's understandable

The value is great. I can always order my main dish plus a couple others (half order chicken wings + shrimp salad roll) and in the end it would only cost a bit over $12. Now I eat a lot so for a normal customer, I'd say the average would range from about $7-10 dollars.

Ambiance has been pretty much the same, it's nothing special but I always enjoy being in there since it's always crowded with happy people enjoying great food at a great price

This place is a must-try and you will definitely not be disappointed. A restaurant that will forever be in my mind whenever I wanna grab a tasty bite to eat.

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Tasty food
By Beat of Richmond (2 Reviews)
Submitted Monday, May 18, 2009 - 4:46pm

I ordered the beef on rice with egg and it was delicious. The chicken wings were okay but were not my favorite. My husband ordered the Phnom Pho and he says was good.
The restaurant is clean, the server girl was attentive, she actually suggested what we ordered and those dishes were really popular as I saw many people ordering the same.

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always good food...
By bumblebee7 of Vancouver (27 Reviews)
Submitted Monday, April 13, 2009 - 3:47pm

I remember going to the place growing up... it seems to be as good as always. Though a bit on the pricy side, the food is always delicous.. Filet Beef on Rice is still one of the best (can't seem to find this elsewhere), plus their chicken wings and prawn on sugar cane are always top of my to order list.

It's always super busy at lunch time and dinner on the weekends, so make sure you come early.

Like all family style asian restaurants, there's not alot to say about the service or the ambience. Basically you're there to eat, not to be catered to on hands and knees. They basically take your order and serve you, so don't expect too much.

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Consistently good
By pancakes225 of vancouver (15 Reviews)
Submitted Saturday, March 28, 2009 - 2:44pm

I work around here and go to this place usually 2 x a month.
My coworker and I always order the #6 noodles and an entree. Have never been disappointed with their dishes.
Highlights are the #6 noodle dish, #56 steamed crepe rolls and the 2 fried rice dishes.
I see lots of people ordering the deep fried prawns, the deep fried chicken wings and the rare beef dish but I'm not a fan of these.
Service is quick and polite. They'll let you know if a dish you order takes a while to prepare.
Restaurant is what you can expect for something in Chinatown and it's a relatively large restaurant.
I would suggest getting there at least 15 minutes before noon if you don't want to line up for a table. There's usually lineups every Friday from 12-1 so if you don't get there earlier, be prepared to wait.

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Top quality SE Asian restaurant, but needs to review the prices...
By bigmamadcc of Burnaby North (7 Reviews)
Submitted Thursday, March 5, 2009 - 4:31pm

I simply put everything this way: Foods are incredibly outstanding; service is great, clean and well-kept. But the some of the dishes are unreasonably over-priced. For example: A-mok costs 15.50 but comes in small order; Phnompenh style deepfried stuff (chicken, porkchop, squid, etc); well, you can't really tell the difference in sizes but it costs 50% or more for large orders. And, the rare beef plate, well, in San Francisco where living expenses are much higher, the same dish (same size!!!) costs only 7.50 USD, which is about 9.50 CAD but it is 17.70 in this restaurant.

So the owner really needs to think twice and reconsiders the prices...the high prices have drive most of its customer to only either a bow of dried noodle or a rice dish.

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This place never disappoints
By foodie57 of Vancouver (18 Reviews)
Submitted Monday, February 2, 2009 - 5:52pm

I have been coming here for years, and there is always something new on the menu to discover. Most people mentioned the best dishes, lemon garlic squid with dipping sauce, chicken wings and butter beef. The place could do with a refresh of the carpeting and a new coat of paint. Will still come back.

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still consistent
By luigi of richmond (12 Reviews)
Submitted Wednesday, January 7, 2009 - 12:33pm

Returned to the restaurant after a long period. The food is still good.We always have the hot and sour soup with prawns,the crab rolls and any of the crispy dishes,wings or calamari. The place was very busy at Sunday lunch.Food was served unbelieveably fast maybe a little to fast as our table was overcrowded with everything at once. The servers could be a little friendlier.Over all a good experience

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One of my favourite Asian Restaurants
By CreativeMinds of Vancouver (5 Reviews)
Submitted Sunday, January 4, 2009 - 9:22pm

I have been going to Phnom Penh since I was 5 or so. And I can still remember the taste of the Hot and Sour soup with Prawns.

I ate there today, and just like always the food was amazing.

Deep fried Crab rolls are something I crave quite often. We also had the Chicken wings, calamari, Salad Rolls, Ribs, Prawns on sugar cane and of course the Soup. Everything was outstanding.

Service was friendly and efficient.

I will be going back very soon.

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