My mother recently moved to LB and I was excited because they have a Little Cambodia and I had fallen in love with an authentic Cambodian restaurant up in the Bay Area. Well, my fella and I ended up at Crystal for lunch from a website recommendation and the Yelp had given it a one “$” so we were hoping it wasn’t too expensive. I had seen that it was a big CASH ONLY place so I pulled out $100 from an ATM beforehand. We were seated quickly with the only available table, the small place was very busy. The first uh-oh came when we opened the menu and there were no prices listed (in English at least.) We ordered the green mango salad, the lotus root w/ chicken entree, a bowl of Tom kha for one, and one Thai Iced tea. The second uh-oh came when the soup arrived and it was in a huge metal almost trough-like bowl, definitely not “for one.” Then came the lotus root chicken entree, the mango salad, and a big tub of white rice that we didn’t order but thought maybe came with? Food was ok. Tom Kha and Lotus Chicken pretty standard. Tom Kha had a thinner coconut milk broth than say like a traditional Thai Tom Kha has, but was still good. The mango salad was bogged down with way too much mint and this weird fish jerky that I was excited with at first but when I chewed it on its own, didn’t really have any discernible flavor and didn’t really feel like it complemented the dish. Anyway, we sorta joked guessed how much the meal would end up costing us since we couldn’t read the prices and my bf guessed $45? Maybe $50 with Thai iced tea? After we finished I went to the counter to pay and it was $69. Obviously they had charged us more for the not one bowl of soup we had ordered but they had decided to serve us, maybe extra for the rice too, etc. I dunno! But certainly not one “$” as Yelp suggested. Anyway, definitely won’t be going back to that particular spot but they probably won’t care as they were busy anyway with local Cambodian customers. And yes, we’re not a-holes so we still left a good tip.
My favorite spot in the heart of long beach. The amount is perfect and Thai boat noodle is the best here!!!! Thank u for your service!
Ome of the best Cambodian food. Sweet and sour crispy fried fish, stir fry frog in green lemongrass curry, papaya salad with salted crabs, and samlor machu kreoung chitterling and tripe sour soup. It's so good! Authentic tasting.
One of the best in Long Beach!!!! This restaurant is a small place and not for big family gathering but if you are bringing the whole family just make sure to call first and reserve. The food is very good, fresh and large portion, not many places give you large portion ever since Covid hit. My number one place to go eat when I’m hungry for authentic Thai and Cambodian food. Services might be a problem only if your not patience as you all should know we asian are not fluent in English but can speak very little. If you raise your hand in the air they will come to you for service other wise they will come by your table once a couple because of respect, want people to enjoy and not be bother.
This place is roach infested!!!! Please BEAWARE!!! The people who work here are so rude and nasty! I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone!!! The food was undercooked as well ?? 0 stars if I could!
This place has the best Cambodian food in Long Beach. We're from the Bay Area; Whenever we go to LA, we always stop by Crystal. The flavor and taste are very authentic and is very close to my mom's cooking. The price is very reasonable for a Cambodian restaurant.
Amazing Cambodian food. Very authentic! The service was awesome and the restaurant was very clean. I will definitely be back?
Love this spot. Great authentic cambodian and Thai food. Asids from the food at the restaurant, we also often order the cambodian beef sticks and then get baguettes from another spot to make sandwiches for gatherings. Super bomb!
Best Cambodian food around! Small hole in the wall but if you're looking for authentic home style cooking that makes you feel like you're eating at your mom's house, with flavor that hits all the spots, this is the place and worth the wait. Do plan on long wait times and tight parking spots. Once you taste the food, you'll forget about the chaos of finding a parking spot.
Food was amazing ??, service was very good. Tried the coconut slush ?