Mawn’s Phila Lorn Fuses Cambodian Roots With Philly Verve

"When Phila Lorn and his wife, Rachel, first opened their restaurant in 2023, I learned they called it a “noodle house with no rules,” and that freewheeling spirit is everywhere: the menu fuses Southeast Asian flavors with Philly foodways and refuses to be bound by tradition. I was struck by the improvisational khao soi — a northern Thai curry noodle soup that uses a local ramen shop’s housemade noodles prepared two ways (fresh and fried), sometimes riffed further with a deeply savory, briny crab gravy — and by a chicken noodle soup inspired by Rachel’s Jewish heritage that reads like a brilliant hybrid of pho and matzo ball soup, fortified with rendered schmaltz, infused with Southeast Asian aromatics, and finished with crispy garlic. Other highlights include a coconut-turmeric banh chow crepe with poached shrimp, ground chicken, and herb salad; a Cambodian papaya salad studded with peanuts and candied shrimp; somlaw macchu, where lime and tamarind brighten clams in a crab-and-butter broth; and soft-shell shrimp glazed in fish-sauce caramel, a top seller that ties the chefs back to their time at Zama. The beef katiew is a rich noodle soup with braised oxtail, sliced Wagyu, chile jam, and pickled jalapeños, and the steak comes with a funky, celebratory “Cambodian chimichurri” of prohok (fermented fish paste). Even the rice pudding is playful — a south-Philly take on sticky rice and banana. Lorn’s South Philadelphia roots and the Italian Market location are integral to the concept: he grew up amid Italian American, Mexican, Latin American, and Southeast Asian communities, he resists claims of strict “authenticity,” and he named the restaurant after the Khmer word for chicken as a symbol of peace and survival — an image tied to his parents’ refugee story — while reservations, for what it’s worth, open the first of each month at noon and sell out immediately (he reports fully booking 2,000 seats in 50 seconds)." - Raphael Brion