It was back in 1910 that Robert Ripley, in his iconic “Ripley’s Believe It or Not!” column, made his most famous contention: “If all the Chinese in the world were to march four abreast past a given point they would never finish passing, though they marched forever and ever.” It was based on the birth rate of the Chinese at the time. And in the century since, it’s been adjusted many times, becoming far more than four abreast.
I often think of that mathematical notion when eating at one of the multitudinous restaurants in our numerous ethnic enclaves. Could I ever dine at the countless Chinese restaurants in the San Gabriel Valley? Of course not! The same can be said of the Korean destinations in Mid-City Los Angeles, the Indian curry houses of Artesia, and the Vietnamese eateries in Westminster.
But I’m not at all sure if it’s true of the Cambodian options in the Cambodia Town section of Long Beach. The Cambodian community is not nearly as capacious as the others. And the number of options seem closer to finite. Which makes Koh Ruessei (Bamboo Island) Cambodian.
Indeed, the restaurant hedges its image, with a menu that declares, “Southeast Asian Cuisine” — and a branch of a Latino “wedding and occasion cake” shop from Santa Ana on the premises. You want some banana leaf with small shrimp and pork, while you order a birthday cake decorated with “Sesame Street” characters, with mocha topping and a custard cream interior, this is the place to go. Plus, there’s sports on the big screens. Life in Cambodia Town is very good.
Thanks to the seemingly bottomless knowledge of Wikipedia, we learn that Long Beach “has the most Cambodian restaurants in the U.S. — 22. Some Cambodian restaurants in the city serve Thai food, while others serve Chinese food. In 2000, a part of Central Long Beach was officially designated as Cambodia Town, where since 2005 an annual parade and culture festival takes place that also features Cambodian cuisine…”
Well, of course it does. At notables like Phnom Penh Noodle Shack, Sophy’s, Little La Lune, Crystal Thai-Cambodian, Hak Heang and Golden Chinese Express.
For the record, the next best destination for Cambodian cooking is Lowell, Massachusetts, with 20 restaurants – not far from The Elephant Walk Restaurant of Cambridge, Mass., which inspired the much-respected Cambodian-American cookbook that bears its name.
Which brings us to Koh Ruessei (Bamboo Island) Cambodian, which may not seem especially Cambodian to the casual diner; the cover line of Southeast Asian cuisine covers the tastes and ingredients very nicely. And the presence of dishes like chicken chow mein, egg rolls and combination fried rice, offer familiar enough items to make this seem at least somewhat Chinese. And yet, for those looking for a taste of Phnom Penh, there are wonders to be found.
Noodle soups abound in Cambodian cooking — and on the menu here as well. The very first dish is Phnom Penh noodle soup dry, which means the ingredients are served in a bowl with the broth on the side, along with bean sprouts. The notion is, you mix the ingredients yourself, creating a soup that’s more liquid or less, more bean spout or less. (The bean sprout option repeats in many of the soups. Which makes bean sprouts seem much more important than they are. I’m more interested in the lime that accompanies the sprouts on the plate.)
If you want to try something notably different, try the chicken with ginger. It’s a big plate that looks on the menu like chicken with noodles — but isn’t. Those noodles are slices of ginger, a plateful, and a reminder that in the West, the sharpness of the flavor has been removed from the ginger. This isn’t the ginger of ginger ale. This is ginger with muscle, ginger with bite. It’s a remarkable flavor.
And a reminder that this really is a cuisine unique from the nearby Thai we’re so used to. Order the steamed clams or the fried catfish with tamarind sauce, and the hot and sour shrimp and catfish soup. Be reminded that, with a little excavation, the dishes of Cambodia are to be found on the menu. They’re worth digging for.
And based on the several tables of guys watching football games, Koh Ruessei isn’t just a place to eat, or to order some pastries. It’s also a neighborhood destination for American sports. Though, as I noticed, without cheering. The locals were as quiet as Americans as a cricket game.
Merrill Shindler is a Los Angeles-based freelance dining critic. Email mreats@aol.com.
Koh Ruessei (Bamboo Island)
- Rating: 2.5 stars
- Address: 816 E. Anaheim St., Long Beach
- Information: 562-912-7316, www.restaurantji.com/ca/long-beach/koh-ruessei-restaurant-/
- Cuisine: Combination Cambodian and Thai restaurant, with a baking company on the premises offering colorful wedding and birthday creations. Sometimes described as a “noodle restaurant,” though there’s much more on the menu than noodles. It’s sizable gathering place for the local Southeast Asian population, and one of the busiest restaurants in Cambodia Town, with big screens offering sports as well.
- When: Lunch and dinner, every day
- Details: Beer and wine; reservations helpful
- Prices: About $15 per person
- Suggested dishes: 12 Soups ($8.95-$9.95), Spring Rolls and Egg Rolls ($7.95), 10 Noodle Dishes ($9.95-$12.95), 14 Rice Dishes ($10.95-$13.95), 24 Entrees ($10.95-$15.95), 16 Fish Dishes ($12.95 to market price), Salads ($12.95-$19.95), 12 Hot Pot Soups ($14.95-$17.95)
- Credit cards: MC, V
- What the stars mean: 4 (World class! Worth a trip from anywhere!), 3 (Most excellent, even exceptional. Worth a trip from anywhere in Southern California.), 2 (A good place to go for a meal. Worth a trip from anywhere in the neighborhood.) 1 (If you’re hungry, and it’s nearby, but don’t get stuck in traffic going.) 0 (Honestly, not worth writing about.)
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