• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

The Glen Park Association

Up-to-the-minute news from Glen Park

  • Home
  • Glen Park Association
    • About the Glen Park Association
    • Join the GPA
    • GPA Board Contacts
    • GPA Meeting Minutes
    • Bylaws
    • Neighborhood boundaries
  • News Stories
    • Glen Park News
    • Editor’s Picks
  • Greenway
    • About
    • Greenway Plan
  • GPA Grants Program
  • Crime & Safety
  • Contact
    • Contact
    • Volunteer Sign Ups
    • Event Submission
    • Author Submissions

Restaurant Review: Worth a Trek to Angkor Borei

December 21, 2007 by BONNEE WALDSTEIN

Recently Glen Park has become a bona fide destination for foodies from the neighborhood and
beyond. Now couples and groups can be seen walking through the village in their dressy casuals, alongside the locals in their flip-flops getting their forty bucks from the ATM.

Lest we become too insulated in our cozy restaurant cocoon, I recommend we venture out. less than a mile from Dia­mond and Bosworth streets, to a different world that does not (yet) exist in Glen Park. That world is Indochina, specifically Cambodia, at a little place called Angkor Borei on the quiet part of Mission Street (Angkor for the temple Angkor Wat; borei, meaning city in Cambodian).

While some Glen Parkers have fre­quented Angkor Borei for a long time, it is better known by the Bernal crowd. Angkor Borei has been family owned and operated for the past 20 years by Tom Probpan and Chinhan Yat. The two are so cheerful and friendly, they greet their regulars with a warm hug.

Look at Cambodia on a map and it’s apparent what makes its cuisine so inter­esting. It carries influences from Thailand, Vietnam, China, India (curry) and France (from days of colonial domination).

Yat explains the essence of Cam­bodian cuisine-first, fresh vegetables, lightly cooked or raw; second, herbs and spices, the same as Thai but lighter ­tamarind, basil, cilantro, cumin, garlic, tunneric, lime leaf and galinga (similar to ginger root), to name just a few. Then there are the dipping sauces, which layer yet another dimension onto the fascinating flavor mix.

The wide variety of ingredients combine to yield complex flavors that are nevertheless distinct within the dish. They are paired with the fresh vegetables and simply cooked meat and seafood and the intriguing sauces. In addition to white rice, a welcome option is brown rice, which is not a Cambodian tradition, but its plumpness and nutty flavor makes for a nourishing completeness to the meal.

Crispy spring roll appetizers (No. I on the menu, $6.95, as are most appe­tizers) are a surprising departure from the usually greasy wraps and soggy vegetables of many restaurants. Here the wrapper is crisp and the vegetables inside are cnmchy, a great way to start the meal. Likewise, the crispy Cambo­dian crepe (No. 9) is true to its name. Another choice is chicken salad (No. 8), which, again, is not what you’d expect. No fried noodles or iceberg lettuce.just lots of different vegetables and chicken, flavored with cilantro. Fresh spinach leaves (No. 7) are used to wrap a num­ber of ingredients such as peanuts, lime, onion and ginger, which are then dipped in sauce and have a taste that is more than the sum of its parts. Sour soup (No. 12, $8.75), with pineapple and winter melon, is another good starter.

Entrees, around $9-$ 12, run the gamut from beef, pork and chicken to seafood, vegetables and noodles. There are also vegetarian dishes fea­turing mock duck (made with seitan) and other inventions. Charbroiled pork slices (No. 30) are served with raw cucumbers and tomatoes, which are an amazing contrast of smoky flavor and fresh sensation. Slices of beef (No. 20) are simmered in yellow curry peanut sauce. Every category on the menu features a curry, a flavor that tends to dominate, whatever the dish. A favorite chicken dish is sauteed chicken (No. 35) with green beans, bell peppers, spices and spearmint. The seafood is excellent, particularly the pan-fried fish fillet (No. 49) served with an intensely flavorful garlic sauce. Ahmohk (No. 48) is an unusual specialty, a fish mousse served in a banana leaf basket. Another impres­sive presentation is the baked prawns in foil (No. 44), the foil being in the shape of a bird, positioned to peck into the dipping sauce, and accompanied by fresh cucumbers, celery and carrots.

No Cambodian beer is available (it’s hard to get in California), but there’s Sing Ha, a mild Thai beer that goes well with the distinct flavors of the food. Another option is lemongrass tea. Dessert is not a big preoccupation at Angkor Borei. They usually have one or two choices of Mitchell’s ice cream, and a fried banana, which they do to perfection. With the freshness and diversity of colors and flavors, the food at Angkor Borei feels like food you should be eat­ing. And it’s a restaurant that proves you don ‘1 need to spend a fortune or drive miles from Glen Park to enjoy a great tasting and unique meal, prepared and served by wonderful people.

Angkor Borei
3471 Mission Street near Cortland Daily except Tues., 11 a.m.-10 p.m. www.cambodiankitchen.com

550-8417

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Primary Sidebar

IMPORTANT UPCOMING DATES


Diamond Heights Safety Meeting
hosted by District 8 Supervisor Rafael Mandelman
January 23, 6:30 p.m.
Submit questions to dhcasf@gmail.com
Register here


February 4th, 2023
9:00 AM


Renew Your Glen Park Association Membership for 2023

Join the Glen Park Association and help promote our community’s interests. Together, we can secure improvement funds, publicize neighborhood concerns and strive to speak as one voice on neighborhood and city issues.

Membership in the Glen Park Association is only $10 annually and can be purchased online.

Glen Park Rec. Center

Glen Park Association Advertising Sponsors

JE_Digital Small Space Ad
GPA Ad- Perez Construction ad 6.27.22 v Glen Park
martin
moroco
JE_Digital Small Space Ad
GPA Ad- Perez Construction ad 6.27.22 v Glen Park
martin
moroco
previous arrow
next arrow
Shadow

Current Weather & Air Quality

Subscribe to the blog

Sign Up for Glen Park Association News Updates

* indicates required

Glen Park featured on…

FacebookSF ChronInstagramTwitter

Join the Glen Park Association on Facebook

Comments Box SVG iconsUsed for the like, share, comment, and reaction icons
Glen Park Association
1 week ago
Glen Park Association

Meet one of the Greenway’s most diligent volunteers -- A Townsend Warbler as far as Google knows. Progress in removing invasive oxalis is going well, but work remains! As the sun comes out, please join us at the Glen Park Greenway Native Meadow (between Lippard and Brompton Streets) to carefully remove invasive oxalis plants. Email our oxalis remediation lead, Kathy Keller at greenway@glenparkassociation.org if you can help! ... See MoreSee Less

Meet one of the Greenway’s most diligent volunteers -- A Townsend Warbler as far as Google knows. Progress in removing invasive oxalis is going well, but work remains! As the sun comes out, please join us at the Glen Park Greenway Native Meadow (between Lippard and Brompton Streets) to carefully remove invasive oxalis plants. Email our oxalis remediation lead, Kathy Keller at greenway@glenparkassociation.org if you can help!
View on Facebook
· Share
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
View Comments
  • Likes: 3
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

Glen Park Association
1 week ago
Glen Park Association

Join us THURSDAY JANUARY 19 at the Glen Park Association Quarterly meeting. We'll be in-person at the Glen Park Rec. Center at 6:30 PM. Our agenda includes:

-- A special presentation from QuitCarbon,
-- Meeting the new owners of @canyonmarket ,
-- Learning more about projects at @sfrecpark & @sfpublichealth, and
-- Electing 2023 GPA officers.

Have you renewed your membership for 2023 yet? Help keep our neighborhood vital by joining today at www.glenparkassociation.org/glen-park-association-membership/
... See MoreSee Less

Join us THURSDAY JANUARY 19 at the Glen Park Association Quarterly meeting. Well be in-person at the Glen Park Rec. Center at 6:30 PM. Our agenda includes:

-- A special presentation from QuitCarbon, 
-- Meeting the new owners of @canyonmarket , 
-- Learning more about projects at @sfrecpark  & @sfpublichealth, and
-- Electing 2023 GPA officers.

Have you renewed your membership for 2023 yet? Help keep our neighborhood vital by joining today at https://www.glenparkassociation.org/glen-park-association-membership/
View on Facebook
· Share
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email
View Comments
  • Likes: 4
  • Shares: 0
  • Comments: 0

Comment on Facebook

Blog Roll

Coyote Yipps
Friends of Noe Valley Rec Center
Glen Park Neighborhoods History Project
Open SF History
Sunnyside Conservatory
Sunnyside History
Sunnyside Neighborhood Association
Tramps of San Francisco
Upper Noe Neighbors

Copyright © 2023 · Metro Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in