Kirirom Restaurant - Lynnwood, Washington

The first time I ate at Kirirom, I was with cousins (Khelman, Heidi, and her hubby and my cousin-in-law [cos we tight like that], Ulysses). We just came from the outlet mall in Tulalip and we were famished. They asked me what I wanted to eat. I looked at Dix. She is preggy. I wanna make sure I cater to her tummy before mine. Let's ask Dix. She can't decide. So, I said, "something we haven't eaten before, like a Cambodian food". Khelman said, "maybe Kirirom is open, we can go there". After a few minutes of brainstorming, we agreed.

Kirirom is hidden in a corner in a not so busy part of Lynnwood. You probably won't see it unless you're a Cambodian who has eaten there before. Or maybe if you went to yelp.com and searched "Cambodian food, Lynnwood, Washington". They got good reviews. Someone's even naming their kid after their version of Banh Mi sandwich. Yeah, that good. We got there around 5 pm. The restaurant is small enough to hold less than 20 groups (average of 2-4 people and 2 large round tables for big groups).

Let's talk about the foods.

This was Ulysses' order. Their version of Crispy Chicken. It looked oily and not crispy at all but don't let it deceive you. The skin has just the right crisp but not oily at all. The meat was so soft. It does not taste bland so I believe they marinated it in a light sauce or herbs before frying. Actually, let me assure you, they did. The egg roll consisted mostly of ground pork and some, not a whole lot, of carrots. We had egg rolls before. Same.


Dix and I had the famous Lemongrass Beef Shortrib Sandwich. This is both simple and complex because if you think about it, it just consists of French bread, a light spread of mayo and cut up carrots, cucumber, and cabbage. But the beef itself (you have to let the waiter know if you want it well-done) is just so tender and filled with spices. The whole sandwich is easy to eat because the bread is soft too. I have a confession to make. I have eaten their sandwich three different times in a span of less than two weeks. And I'm not even a big sandwich-eater.


This was Khelman's order. I didn't get the exact name but it is prepared like a Vietnamese Vermicelli noodle [soup](but with no soup, and I still don't know why they call it soup). The taste reminded me of the noodle I had when I took the bus from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap. The sauce tasted the same. The ingredients were almost the same except the one I had in Cambodia didn't have carrots, cilantro and bean sprouts and the meat I had, well, now that I think about it, they said it was chicken, but it might have been something else. Like cat, rabbit, or field mice. Who knows. Khelman ordered beef, which definitely was beef. The beef was soft as well. I have issues with "rubber beefs". I should talk about the taste. A mix of sweet, sour and spicy. A hint of fish sauce, don't let it scare you. If you had Vietnamese vermicelli noodle [soup] or their rice dishes, the sauce they give you has fish sauce in it. Surprise! You've had it before!


Overall, the food was absolutely good, the place was as clean as a normal Asian restaurant (whatever that means), the owners were nice, and most of the people who were eating there that I had eye contact with, gave me a smile. You just can't beat that! If you want numbers, a 4.5 out of 5.