Pittsburgh has been home to several Cambodian restaurants owned by Kim Hong — a Pittsburgh resident for 37 years — and her family. At peak, there were two Downtown restaurants, Lemongrass Cafe and Phnom Penh, now closed; Apsara Cafe on the South Side, which continues; and Angkor Restaurant on the Green Tree-Crafton border, which, after 17 years of business, has become the flagship.
The Angkor dining room presents a contrast to the utilitarian facade of a Noblestown Road strip mall. A carved statue joins the restaurant’s neon sign and a row of orchids in the window. Cambodian silver fans out in a glass display case by the register with a pagoda-like canopy overhead. And elaborate carved panels frame the dining room.
The Angkor menu is practical for the neighborhood crowd, offering a smattering of dishes from Southeast Asia and Chinese-American fare — you’ll see spring rolls, spicy papaya salad and evergreens like General Tso’s — but with labels such as “original Khmer dish,” or “unique, authentic” that help new customers navigate. In the early 2000s, the Post-Gazette archives note there were different dishes among restaurants, but today, Ms. Hong says Angkor offers about the same menu as the Carson Street location.
Diners in the South Hills veer toward more substantive dishes than the South Side crowd that snacks on street food like kabobs, wontons and chicken-on-a-stick.
Herbs, pickled vegetables, dipping sauces and other condiments are part of what makes dining here fun. If they’re not on the table, be sure to ask for them before the meal begins. Order with an intention to share dishes among your table. And if you’d like wine, it’s BYOB.
Start with an Angkor salad ($7.95) that delivers a medley of dressed ingredients more sweet than hot, with a whisper of fish sauce and a smattering of herbs. I’d asked for it very hot, but when the dish arrived, those chiles were barely decipherable. And that’s where those condiments come in handy. That said, it’s a fine dish, studded with flank steak paired with more vegetables than lettuce, with red, yellow and green peppers, red onions and vidalias. Herbs and citrus are key, including mint, lemongrass and lime.
Green Tree
412-928-8424
Noble Manor Shopping Center
Overall:
- Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 4 to 9 p.m. Sunday.
- Prices: Soup $2.95 to $3.95; appetizers and salads $3.95 to $7.50; entrees $9.95 to $17.95; rice dishes $6.95 to $13.95; desserts $3.95 to $4.95.
- Wild card: Wheelchair accessible, parking lot, good for groups
- Details: BYOB
- Sound level: Quiet
Among other appetizers, the fish cakes ($7.95) are more interesting than na-tiang ($6.95), crispy rice squares, like savory Rice Krispies treats. The fish cakes come with pickled vegetables, red onion and cucumber sauce, to brighten each bite, while the rice squares are more like crackers served with a pork, shallot, peanut and coconut concoction.
Pho fans, take note: An order of the Cambodian version, named for the rice noodles, kuy teav is a must — when it’s available — a bowl of fragrant broth, a tangle of noodles and a choice of meats or tofu ranges from $10.95 to $13.95. It’s paired with a plate full of herbs that allows you to tweak flavors and textures as you go. If it’s not on the menu, there’s the Angkor “healthy” soup for one, stocked with greens and enoki mushrooms that’s less of a commitment (and allows less opportunity to doctor flavors.)
Yes, you can get the cha kroeung as what’s labeled an authentic dish of vegetables with a lemongrass sauce ($9.95). With two chile symbols to indicate its spiciness, it features mushrooms and peas, peppers and onions, but the lack of spice is disappointing. Consider a rice dish or a curry instead, or something entirely new: My favorite is banh chev ($9.95): lacy egg, coconut and rice flour crepe stuffed with chicken, shrimp, cabbage and a hint of toasted coconut. It’s a lot like Vietnamese banh xeo.
“It may not seem like much,” said Ms. Hong, when it was delivered to my table. But it is special — and it’s a dish that’s hard to find in local international restaurants, even on Vietnamese menus. Ms. Hong noted that the dish comes to life with those ingredients on the side plate: cucumbers, lettuce, bean sprouts, mint and nuoc mam pha, fish sauce with sugar, lime, garlic chiles and rice wine vinegar.
With Ms. Hong’s encouragement to eat it with your hands, you can tackle it by breaking off a piece, scooping up chicken, shrimp and cabbage inside. Then add a few plated ingredients, dredge it the bowl of sauce, or dribble it on with a spoon if you must.
Melissa McCart: mmccart@post-gazette.com
First Published: May 23, 2018, 5:42 p.m.