John D.
Yelp
Send Noods
Formerly known as Chez Sovan**, Bayon Temple emerged from the ashes as a rebrand after being closed for nearly two years during the pandemic.
They're pretty much the same recipes and menu as before with a few additional items and are still renowned as the preeminent place to get Cambodian food in the South Bay.
Our previous visit was pre-covid, and we really enjoyed the food and loved the experience. So maybe now was the time to go check them out once again.
The Good:
*Friendly service
*Parking lot and street parking available
*Love the décor as you really do get the feeling of eating in a temple of sorts as diners are surrounded by loads of beautiful religious artifacts.
*We didn't get it on this visit, but on our previous visit, we sampled their famous Amok, which is a fish mousse steamed in banana leaves and full of flavor.
The Meh:
*No outdoor seating
*Tamarind chicken wings were just OK. They were fried up very crisp, but the sauce was almost cloyingly sweet and needed some heat to counteract it.
*#18: Kuy Tiew Cha, which is sort of a tangy pad Thai, was a big gloppy mess of noodles. The flavor was very tomato forward and pretty good overall, but nothing remarkable.
*Cha Me Kathang is a flat noodle dish that's supposed to have a "fried egg" on top, but instead came out with scrambled eggs on top. Maybe it's a language barrier thing, but scrambled and fried are not the same thing. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Despite the egg snafu, the dish was pretty good overall but again a bit too sweet. Luckily, the table hot sauce helped remedy that.
The Ugly:
*$4 for the most watered-down tea ever. I honestly thought it was complimentary, so I didn't think much of it until we got the bill... =/
Conclusion: Overall, we were a little disappointed with our latest visit, but the memories of our first visit still linger, so I'm willing to give them another chance at some point.
**The OG location on N 13th St in NSSJ is still operating under the Chez Sovan moniker, but they've been different owners for quite a few years at this point. Which, now that I think about it, is probably a good reason why they changed names, but that's just supposition on my part. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯