Butter Beef at Phnom Penh Restaurant, Vancouver Chinatown (Interior): Phnom Penh’s iconic butter beef—a platter of thinly sliced rare beef in a tangy, garlicky vinaigrette, topped with crispy fried shallots and cilantro—serves as centerpiece for an adventurous table. Sides include crisp garlic chicken wings piled high with fried garlic, a cooling plate of pickled papaya slaw, and hot jasmine rice. Signature sweet-sour tamarind soda or lemongrass iced tea rounds out the meal. Servers wear jet-black modernized Mao jackets, crisp white shirts, and embroidered burgundy aprons, hair tucked under stylized black caps. The bustling room marries Southeast Asian posters with Art Deco arches and tiled floors. Caught by a food photographer with a Canon R6 and 50mm prime, the glossy gleam of beef, the golden halo of shallots, and happy shouts over shared wings embody Phnom Penh’s distinctive East-meets-West hospitality and its cult Chinatown following.