Battambang Restaurant (Oakland)

[Pan]

I went to Battambang for lunch today. Based on my meal, I think the place is good, probably very good, and definitely worth trying if you're in the area, but I'm not sure I'd recommend for San Franciscans to go to the East Bay just for a meal there. Then again, I tried only two things. The portions are humongous; don't do what I did (eat there solo).

I ordered the following:

30. Baksei Trung Kor (Cripsy friend boneless quails [actually, contained leg bones] stuffed with ground pork, bean threads, onions and ground peanuts served with pickles and vinegar sauce)

15. Yihoeur Char Kroeurng (Calamari Sauteed with onion, fresh mushrooms, ground peanuts and sweet basil in spicy lemon grass sauce), as a lunch special (served with rice and soup of the day [in this case, a mild vegetable soup])

I asked the waitress for the food to be made very spicy and sour like she likes it, explaining that I haven't been to Cambodia but lived in Malaysia for two years. She suggested putting the sauce on the side and I said, no, have them cook the dish with the sauce.

The quails had a somewhat Thai-like taste to me and were very tasty.

The calamari was indeed served solidly spicy. I asked for lime (actually lemon was given). The waitress was surprised, saying it was sour enough for her, but I felt some additional lemon improved the dish. It was tasty, and didn't taste quite like anything I've had before -- a sort of curry with a bit of holy basil and so forth -- though it didn't blow me away. I was glad the waitress suggested ordering the dish as a lunch special, because she said the dinner portion would have been bigger, and this portion was way too much for one person to eat.

Battambang Restaurant

850 Broadway (between 8th and 9th Sts.)

Oakland, CA 94607

(510) 839-8815

Edited August 6, 2007 by Pan (log)