CAMCHILAO — Restaurant in Emeryville

Disclaimer: I did NOT eat here. This review is strictly about the anesthetics of the location and overall business.

I had high hopes of tasting what they had to offer after coming across the reviews on social media. However, upon 'finally' arriving, I eventually made the decision to scrap that idea and not eat here. To start, the location: it's tucked away in a very tiny make-shift lot that's on the side/behind the dominoes pizza building. It's not easy to find at all! I circled the block 3 times before realizing the food truck was where it was. They need better signage on the street area. Next, upon entering the lot, I walk up to the window to view the menu. The guy taking orders looked a bit disheveled: his shirt was dirty, he was sweaty, didn't have an apron on or anything, and he kept sniffing which was super off-putting because tons of folks are sick at this time of year, and I definitely do not want to catch anything. I was hoping he wasn't the one also making the food, but the only other person inside the truck was a younger girl who didn't have on any protective wear either. I then started to look around on the inside of the truck and noticed the frying baskets needed to be cleaned badly! they were caked with old fried foods. I initially wanted to try the shrimp & noodles, but by the looks of this place, it might not have been the cleanest place to eat seafood. So I decided I was going to order the chicken wings with garlic noodles, and the guy told me that they were whole wings and came in an order of 8... 8?! that's a TON of food! He did offer to do a half-order, but it was apparent that that wasn't a part of their menu. I ended up just leaving because something about the feel of the place wasn't very pleasant, and not to mention the area is definitely not somewhere you'd be walking around at once the sun goes down. It just...

Amazing Lao fusion tacos and hot noodle soup! Also, the coconut Thai tea was unique and yummy! We walked here since we were in the neighborhood, but I could see how it would be difficult to drive here as there is no parking lot and street parking looked full. There's a nice outdoor seating area though.

The tacos were my favorite out of the dishes we tried. I just got one beef taco to try it and I wish I got more. There was a chicken option too. There was a nice assortment of veggies with the perfectly seasoned beef and it came with a house made spicy garlic fish sauce on the side which pulled all the flavors together in a wonderful way.

The noodle soup was also bomb. Very clear delicately flavored soup broth is made even more excellent when you pour in all the hot chili sauce they give you. Careful, that stuff is SPICY. There was beef meatballs, chicken, and shrimp in addition to the wide rice noodles and veggies. On a cold fall/winter night this soup is heaven.

The pork belly was nicely crispy and salty and came with a bunch of fresh veggies which I appreciated. This dish also came with the house made spicy garlic fish sauce for dipping which was yummy.

We also got the garlic noodles with shrimp which was a huge portion great for sharing as it filled the entire container in a mound. The shrimp was perfectly cooked. The noodles were a little sweet for my taste. I rectified it by adding garlic chili sauce to the leftovers the next day.

The coconut Thai tea was excellent, especially because I like coconut. The coconut milk helped balance the intense tea flavor that Thai iced tea has. This is a unique menu item you should definitely try, especially if you like That tea...

What a sweet family! Thank you for the tip to move the car so we don't get ticketed. Food was soooo good. Raised in stockton and a frequent angel cruz customer, i love laotion style papaya salad. You dont find it too good out here in the bay. This was the best, spiciest papaya I've had out here. It will my go to spot from now. Lolol i brough it back home to try and it was so spice but we couldnt stop eating it. My sister said "you ever ate something so spicy your vision got blurry" it was THAT spicy! We were all hyperventilating and crying while trying to drink water to cool down. Anyway, this is the place to get that...