Phnom Penh Noodle Shack — Restaurant in Long Beach

This place really is a joke, I don’t understand why it has 4.6 reviews on Google and 5 here on Yelp. Maybe the food is great, but the disrespect/ service was so bad that I basically lost my appetite. Sorry, I’m dramatic I guess.

Me and my friends swung by on a Saturday morning (around 8ish it wasn’t too busy to where every table was filled up) I first went in to and asked where people normally find parking (incase they had a secret parking lot we didn’t know of) and the women basically was told to go find it on the streets as they don’t have a parking lot for customers, which was fair enough... I’m use to driving around to find parking here in Seattle so I thought it was no biggie. On my way back to the car I seen a tablet outside the door, it looked like a Yelp tablet so I quickly filled my info stating I needed a table for 4. Went back to my friends and we found parking a few blocks away and walked in expecting to be seated and greeted with hospitality. Instead what we got was rudeness and “go wait outside”.

When we walked in the guy didn’t even say “hi welcome in” I just want to say I work for a family restaurant, we greet our customers no matter HOW busy it is. But NOPE. This guy straights up asks “how many” right of the bat and then after we replied 4 he asked “did you sign in on the tablet” which I replied “yes, I already did” (I said this in the most nicest tone as well, not rude or anything) I think this is what triggered me most, when HE THEN SAID, “ok go wait outside until you’re called” .... like what? First of all, it wasn’t even busy. As a server I KNOW what busy is/looks like. Second, we LITERALLY walked passed 3 EMPTY CLEAN tables of 4. So you’re telling me you’re going to make me stand in the cold outside because you can’t seat us when there’s literally 3 empty tables ready for us??? What sense does that make? I’m not even mad or upset at the fact that he didn’t seat us (even though it seems like I am) but the fact that he rudely said “go wait outside” when he could’ve approached it in a different more nicer / welcoming tone?? What gives?? Is this how this place treats their customers? 5 stars for this BS? LOL. It seemed like they are trying to be “boujee/fancy” and wanted us to follow the “Yelp” seating system. As the tablet is placed RIGHT in front of their door. He told us to go wait outside and what we did was walked outside and walked off due to us feeling disrespected. We later got a notification 15 minutes later saying a table was ready for us. Meaning we would’ve stood outside for 15 minutes in chilly weather when there were seats ready for us? I guess it’s understandable if you use the Yelp seating system to keep it easier for you guys but I don’t get why you would need Yelp to tell you when to seat customers when the restaurant wasn’t even busy?

Phnom Penh Noodle House whenever I go back to Long Beach area I’ll give you guys a chance and update this review, but until then this review will be up. Im bummed that we let the dude who talked to us ruin our moods but you guys, do better. You guys are a family style restaurant so shouldn’t you treat those who goes in like family?? No matter how busy or how stressed you are don’t take your anger upon customers who are willing to pay for food, you lost 4 customers, which I’m sure you don’t care much because you get thousands daily. But this whole situation was preventable if the way your server approached us wasn’t so rude and...

I came here twice, the first time, the noodle soup was ok. The second time, the noodle soup was great. It was a 3 year gap from the first time I ate here and the second. The reason for 2 stars though are for two reasons: parking and an experience I had here the second time I came. Parking is the worse here. You have to park on the street, but the problem is that since this restaurant is located in the middle of a residential neighborhood, the surrounding residents also park around here. It is SO HARD to find parking. The only reason why we ate here was because I was visiting family that lives really close to here and so we walked. The second time I came here, we ate here before we had to go to a funeral. We were dressed in new, all white clothes (traditional Cambodian) and when we sat down, my sister and I realized that we had worn the wrong shirts...each others shirts. So we went to the bathroom to switch blouses. After we switched, my sister was dumb enough to put her scarf on the sink so it was wet. We tried to dry it with the hand dryer but after it shut off, it still wasn't dry. Before we could try it again, a door opened. The one that says "Employees Only" that's infront of the toilet in the bathroom. An employee opened the door and saw us then closed it. THEN another employee opened the door, he looked like the manager because he wasn't dressed like the other employees, he looked like he was dressed up nicer and wore glasses. He looked at us then shooed us out. There was no way they could have thought the bathroom was empty because we were talking to each other and in a bathroom, it echoes. What if someone was using the bathroom? Why would you shoo a customer out of the bathroom? We are not 5 years old playing in the bathroom. And why would you think it is ok to open the door to the bathroom at ANY TIME when someone is in there?! What if someone was using the toilet?! It really pissed me off, and I'm sure anyone else would be angry as well. Because of this experience, I will never come here again. The noodles were great the second time and I love the Chinese donut but if he really was the manager, thinking of going into the bathroom while someone is in there and shooing someone out is NOT OKAY. It makes me wonder what kind of sense this man has, and as a manager, what kind of manager would he be? There are many restaurants around, so I'd rather...

The Penh truly is mightier than the sword, but only if it makes you PhnomPhnomPhnom!

My first foray into Cambodian food, Phnom Penh Noodle Restaurant is an authentic & quaint eatery hidden inside a residential house. I actually missed it while driving by & had to GoogleMap it, busting a quick U-turn. It could also be because I'm a spaz.............but I digress.

A waiting list was what greeted me. I wrote my name on the clipboard, and being my friendly self, asked some people ahead of me what they'd recommend to order. I met passive reviewer, Julie, who recommended the #1 Phnom Penh Special Noodle. She called out sick from work, just to eat here. But, don't tell her husband that. Keep that on the down low ;p She even let me join her for lunch, thereby reducing my wait time. Score!

To start, we had the cha quay. Long pieces of bread which, to me, had the taste of fried wontons. I enjoyed the couple bites that I had.

My order was the #1 Phnom Penh Special Noodle, dry ($5.50 med) Diners have the choice of having this wet or dry, meaning everything together or with soup on the side with a big hunking piece of bone. Me? Call me Bone Thugz N Harmony, because I want my bone, bone, bone, bone! I gnawed on that fatty animal bone like a sabretooth tiger. The broth & the noodles had a faint sweetness to them, not overtly sweet. The pieces of liver and shrimp, along with the cilantro and bean sprouts, made for a culinary Kodak moment. Plenty of condiments to kick things up a notch to my liking. Delicious, filling & cheap!

At the end of our meal, our waitress asked "Do you want hot tea?"

I said "Is it free?"

She replied "Yes.", to which I replied "Fo shizzle!" ;p

Street parking can be hard to come by, and is even more horrible on street sweeping days, which I just happened to have arrived on. I decided to park at Rally's & hoof it. Service was good. Our food was brought out in no time, with a very short wait. Plus, the tea at the end was a nice way to cap off a great lunch.

Seating is minimal, and Phnom Penh is only open from 6am-3pm.

My first taste of Cambodian cuisine and I couldn't have picked a better place than Phnom Penh Noodle Restaurant. Prices are very cheap for some flavorful food that'll tickle the tastebuds. I'm a fan, and I'll be back!

Highly...