PHLReview
I Heart Cambodia
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In a town that has more Cambodian restaurants than Mariah Carey has hits, I Heart Cambodia is one of the best. They serve up a great spread of shareable Khmer dishes, but this is also a supreme group dinner spot. Swing by, order off the massive menu, and pass around bowls of noodle soups and bright papaya salads at one of the many communal tables that always seem to be available.
If you come here right after they open at 9am, they have a starter pack for your morning routine with French press coffee, avocado and durian shakes, and big streetside windows. Bring a group of your friends and you’ll be able to pull up to any of the open tables in the dining room (except maybe on a Friday night when it gets busy). Although outside you may see the streets buzzing with some sidewalk grills and a crowd of people going from shop to shop, inside the atmosphere is relaxed and easygoing. The only frantic tempo you’ll feel is how fast the food comes out after you order it.
The mains here are generally big enough that you could get full from almost any of them on their own. But everything is so good you should go for a full spread of shrimp summer rolls in chewy rice paper wrapper, papaya salad, a noodle soup, and the tilapia and ginger dish. We’ve had fish many ways in this town—fish and chips, in a cheesesteak, and in tacos—but this blend of lightly breaded fish and peppery ginger is one that’s surprising and something we can’t stop thinking about.
When you want some of the best pizza in town, you’ll have to wait in a line outside of Pizza Shackamaxon. Same goes for one of the best cheesesteaks at Jim’s. You’ll even have to play reservation roulette to experience Zahav, one of the top restaurants in the city. At I Heart Cambodia, though, you can have some of the best Cambodian food in Philly by just walking right in. And just like how we turn on Mariah when we can't think of what to listen to, we always turn to I Heart Cambodia when we want to go somewhere on a random weeknight that we know will never let us down.