Has anyone been to the new place Cambodian Street Food in East Oakland that replaced On Luck Food To Go- The Khmer Corner. Ignoring the non-Cambodian dishes which seem to be carryovers from the previous restaurant, there seems to be a few Khmer specialties. Anyone tried? Worth going?
Katherine Hamilton of the East Bay Express seemed to like it. I plan to go there after the Holidays and try the amok (steamed fish mousse in banana leaf) as well as catch some Cambodian New Year events next April. A few blocks away is Mithepheap Cambodian Market in a mini mall at 1400 International Blvd that has a limited supply of green curry noodle soup with herbs to assemble for take-out at lunch time and other items.
Oh I missed that one! That sounds real good. Have to go there some time! Please let us know how you like it too when you go.
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Katherine Hamilton did another piece, this time a formal review, of Cambodian Street Food. Very positive.
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This place has been on my list to try for quite some time, but I finally made it.
Service is through a small window with metal gate, but very friendly. I’ll probably call my order in next time, as suggested, but I wanted to check it out in person before ordering, and I harbored a hope that the fish amok I’d seen reports of on the web might be on some secret in person menu. No such luck on a rainy weekday, only sometimes, usually weekends. I ordered the beef skewers, eggrolls, and beef salaw machu kreung.
The filling on the eggrolls was a bit blah, but everything else was quite good, and a very good value these days.
The skewers were well seasoned with a savory-sweet glaze and nice grill flavor. A must order, particularly at 3/$5. Though the eggrolls were a bit bland in filling they were fried fresh to order and perfectly crisp. I do like to order fried things, so I’ll likely try the Mama wings next time.
I hadn’t had anything like the Salawmachukreung before. It is a soup with beef and tripe in it, along with water spinach and jalapenos. The rest is a bit of a mystery, but definitely lemongrass and fermented fish paste by taste (a google of recipes suggests tamarind is also essential). The broth was well-balanced and complex. The honeycomb tripe was clean tasting, but a bit chewier than I’ve had in Mexican preparations. I didn’t thoroughly enjoy the soup until I started eating it with a bite of rice in each spoonful. Somehow the jasmine rice elevated the combination to something I started to crave. I’ll be back to try more of the menu.
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That beef salaw machu kreung is calling my name, very loudly.
Thanks for sharing. I’ll definitely be there next time I am in the area.
Showed up on Memorial Day. The beef salaw machu kreung was not available. They said its usually made on weekends.
The chicken cha-kreung with rice was a winner. The chicken was stir-fried with a lemongrass paste. It had a bit of sourness and was very delicious.
Prahok kathiss was quite good.
Papaya salad was funky, but rather salty so its challenging to eat as a salad.
The chicken and beef sticks. I liked the chicken sticks quite a bit. Thigh meat marinated and grilled well.
Like what @tm.tm said, its very good value. They are in a tiny building in the middle of a residential neighborhood. We’ll be back to try the beef salaw machu kreung for sure. There’s one folding table with chairs outside.
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Since I am eating now the prahok ktiss leftover for lunch, I figure I will add a bit more details. The prahok ktiss had baby eggplants, in a minced pork paste with lemongrass, coconut and lime aromas and a hint of funkiness from the fish sauce. Abundant thai chilis though I skipped them since they were quite hot if bitten into directly.
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Finally had the beef salawmachu kreung. Came with chunks of beef with tendons, joints hanging on to it. Tripes and what looked like green tomatoes and celery also made an appearance. Like @tm.tm, I liked the krueng with rice- the sour-fragrant-savory combo worked great with it.
The chicken sticks with rice were superb this time. Expertly marinated and grilled. Since the family takes turn running the restaurant, I don’t know if the great taste was because of the cook on that day- a 50 year old looking uncle. It was finger licking good to all 4 of us. Easily better than the substantially more expensive game hen we had from Nari a week ago.
The chicken sticks can be ordered ala carte but we got it with rice. It came with a giant mound of it.
Very tasty and budget friendly. Two dishes was enough to feed a family of 2 adults and 2 small kids with rice left over. Everyone was happy.
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I follow them on Instagram and saw that they had fish ahmok today as a special. I tried it once before there and really enjoyed it so I called today and picked it up around 12. Ended up saving it for dinner, so I reheated it in the microwave (out of the foil but still in the banana leaf).
This ahmok is GOOD. It’s big and easily served 2 hungry people, along with rice that I prepared at home. Lots of flaky white fish, somewhat lighter on the custard, and bits of collard greens throughout. Lots of line leaf and maybe a hint of shrimp or fish paste in the seasoning. It’s absolutely worth trying when it’s available. They said it usually sells out quickly on days they make it so good to call and order.
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That looks great! Wish they had that last time! Do you know how often they have amok?
I don’t know exactly how often, but I think it’s only every-once-in-a-while. When they have it they usually post on Instagram the day before.
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They are going to have ahmok tomorrow 1/27. Call to order or reserve. One order feeds 2 people.
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