Mawn
Noodle shop · Bella Vista ·
Cambodian noodle house with inventive dishes and tasting menu
Cambodian noodle house with inventive dishes and tasting menu
"A Southeast Asia–inspired noodle joint that’s among Philadelphia’s hottest tables, this spot is helmed by 2025 Food & Wine Best New Chef Phila Lorn and channels the city’s fearless, globally minded flavor." - Travel + Leisure Editors Travel + Leisure Editors Since 1971, Travel + Leisure editors have followed one mission: to inform, inspire, and guide travelers to have deeper, more meaningful experiences. T+L's editors have traveled to countries all over the world, having flown, sailed, road tripped, and taken the train countless miles. They've visited small towns and big cities, hidden gems and popular destinations, beaches and mountains, and everything in between. With a breadth of knowledge about destinations around the globe, air travel, cruises, hotels, food and drinks, outdoor adventure, and more, they are able to take their real-world experience and provide readers with tried-and-tested trip ideas, in-depth intel, and inspiration at every point of a journey. Travel + Leisure Editorial Guidelines
"A Cambodian noodle house with “no rules,” this Bella Vista standout has become one of the city’s most exciting dining destinations and earned Phila Lorn recognition from the James Beard Foundation as 2025’s Emerging Chef. The operation is split between a noodle station in the main dining room and the rest of the kitchen in back, it’s BYOB-only with zero ambition to pursue a liquor license, and the popularity means it’s a hot reservation. The experience emphasizes a pooled-service model where everyone works together and takes care of you — an approach the team aims to replicate at their new seafood sibling." - Maddy Sweitzer-Lamme
"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
"You think they’re oysters. Mawn considers them chilly boats with Cambodian black pepper mignonette in their cargo hold. A swallow that’s smooth with a little kick, these are the kind of oysters that you’d swim the Atlantic for. But since you’re not a marine mammal, just head to this restaurant in Bella Vista. The kicker is that it’s an impossible reservation to get. But they’re opening a new Southeast Asian oyster bar in East Passyunk soon, so you may actually get a glimpse of these oysters in all their glory. There’s only one kind of oyster here If you’re free during the day, this BYOB is open for lunch on Thursday through Saturdays between 11am-2:30pm—and this may be your best bet at actually getting in. When it comes to dinner, they release reservations every 30 days. If you don’t find success there, you can always try to walk in with a few strangers, grab a table as the last guests are leaving, and exclaim “Finders Keepers!” when you sit down. Get access to exclusive reservations at this spot with Chase Sapphire Reserve. New cardmembers get $300 in annual dining statement credits." - candis mclean
"If you spot a group of Philadelphians in the wild, odds are they're headed to a BYOB. Right now, the BYOB that best encompasses Philly is Mawn. Not only does this Cambodian noodle shop in Bella Vista make soups, skewers, and soft-shell shrimp deserving of their own murals, but the varied menu works as an ode to the city’s Southeast Asian communities. Also, the owner talks to tables in his thick South Philly accent. No other city in the world could replicate this meal. If you’re free during the day, this BYOB is open for lunch on Thursday through Saturdays between 11am-2:30pm—and this may be your best bet at actually getting in. When it comes to dinner, they release reservations every 30 days. If you don’t find success there, you can always try to walk in with a few strangers, grab a table as the last guests are leaving, and exclaim “Finders Keepers!” when you sit down." - team infatuation