Cambinos Asian BBQ

Great BBQ food and great prices… combined with the friendliness of the owner James but most importantly, the TLC given to the meats that are flavorful and fresh all the time, makes this one of the best stops for lunch in the Cypress area.
If you are in a hurry and don’t have time to sit there and wait… call ahead and order to go! Don’t pass an opportunity to experience some of the best stuff this place has to offer because you were too lazy to pick up the phone. (Besides, most of you have a damn cell phone tied to your face all day… put this guy on speed dial!)
If you have the time to sit and watch the tube and chat a little with James… by all means have a sit and enjoy this little place with great big tastes. He might even put on the channel you want to watch… unless it is football season. (Hockey is better James!)
Other reviews have stated the same in regards to the fact there are deals of all kinds on every day of the week that he is open. (Check the schedule for hours… he is closed on Sundays.) 5 dollar bowl days are a great deal without the veggies. The other fave is the free yellow cake day that come with an order… yuuuum! The yellow cake is the BOMB! Call ahead for the deal of the day and plan your lunch hour eating healthy and right at a good price. (I was not paid to say that.)
To all the whiners out there that say he takes too long with the food (which I recently read in some of the Unilocal reviews)…you didn’t think ahead and call your order in. All of his stuff comes up cooked to order and it is always worth the wait. This place is definitely about the quality over quantity by giving you a fresh, hot meal.
I have taken many family and friends to this place and all of them beg to go back again. Same reaction comes from all of them that the meat is tasty and the yellow cake complimented the dish nicely… especially if they had the chili sauce with the dish. Seems to put out the flames… haha!

Dayumm, this place is good! Don’t let the looks of this place fool you. The fried fish plate is my favorite, and the bbq is really good too.
I wish they were still in business

I just found this place recently and came to grab something to eat. Found out it is closing in a week! Wahhhhh?
This place is 4 stars, but the FREAKING cinnamon yellow cake gives it an EXTRA STAR! omfg it’s amazing!
We got the mix plate with short ribs, beef, pork, chicken skewers, rice and grilled veggies for $ 9.95. The sauce is so good! Just perfect.
We got the Monday specials $ 1 pork & chicken skewers.
They also have Daily specials.
LOL James, the owner is so freaking funny.
You get comedy and great food here! What’s not to love? I’m sad it’s closing.

I’ve actually been here a few times during the summer of 2010, yep I’m a little slow in writing my reviews lol But I remembered the last time I went, I had the Beef Short Ribs (bowl). I devoured it. My daughter had the chicken plate special, it was yummy too! We both got yellow cakes after we were done… not sure if it was included in our meals ;) lol But that was off the hook (yeah, I know that old lmao). It was moist and not too sweet, the best yellow cake I’ve had… I think I ended up eating my daughter’s cake because she was full from eating her meal… what a rookie lol
Oh yeah, the place is small, it’s tidy, not too crowded on Sundays (times that I went in) — I’d imagine dinner and lunch peak hours would be a bit crowded. It’s pretty good for Asion/​Fusion BBq… definitely go here hungry because the portions are plentiful!
I really need to go back! and soon!

I have to admit this joint is more of a «college student friendly» joint than fancy pancy meal joint.
Yes the menu is pretty cheap compared to the quantity they give you and everyday there is a special going on that helps you get your meal for cheaper!
My friend and I had no idea about the deals and decided to try this place becuase we were near Cypress College. We drive into the plaza which seemed to be quite dead I wasn’t too sure if I still wanted to eat here! But oh well, haha we walk in and we were greeted by a friendly guy!
We ordered: the mixed plate and the beef rib bowl.
The mixed plate came with chicken, chicken sckewers, pork ribs and pork and some beef ribs with grilled? vegetables on top of a bed of rice (brown or white of your choice)
mixed plate was $ 9.95
beef rib bowl was $ 6.95 We ordered two drinks and the total was $ 19.
The beef rib bowl did not come with the veges.
I know I said college student freidnly because the bowls were a lot cheaper but I decided I wanted the plate rather than the bowl becuase I have a BIG stomach haha… or my eyes were bigger than my stomach haha I ended up taking more than half togo.
The chicken skewers were tender and delicious! It wasn’t too dry or too greasey but enough.
The pork: I handed it over to my friend because I don’t eat pork… or I can’t…I mean I don’t like it haha
The beef ribs were BOMB! hahah
The veges, it was different it did have a little bit of a vinegarette taste which was interesting because I neve
The place isn’t really somewherer that will attract a lot of people though. The place is very small and there seemed to be only one person working at the time, maybe becuase it was earlier in the day. Also, I think this place is more of a… regulars joint there were couple people that came in to take togo and ended up staying and chatting with the guy that was there! :) definitely he recognizes and appreciates his regualrs not that he wasn’t nice to us or anything hhaaha
My experience here was decent but definitely I’d come for the $ 5 bowl special on thursdays. And all the reveiws complaining about «FUSION». What is the definition of fusion for you? I thought it was pretty much ASIAN BBQ because the place basically combined (=fuse) all the different Asian BBQs. There were some korean beef ribs, some japanese yakitori style chicken and pork… which I can’t name a culture to haha
DEFINITELY not a sit down fancy pany restaurant but good people serving good food I’m down!
So let me break it down for you
Monday $ 1 skewers, Tuesday 10% off entire order which I got. Wednesday free drink Thursday $ 5 bowls, and friday free cake… MUST TRY!
But for now… it’s A-​okay must come back for it though haha

I’ve read about Cambinos in the OC Register and read some good reviews here on Unilocal.Seeing as they are a good trek from the freeway coming from anywhere in Orange County I’ve been holding off on trying them. It so happens I was picking up a friend near LBTC and we needed a place to eat. Cambinos immediately popped up in my head, and my friend was skeptical from the beginning. He wondered if this was some fusion type of joint (a la Dos Chinos truck) to which I assured him no.
We strolled in around 7:30PM on a Thursday night, the joint was rather dead. There was a family eating there and another couple hanging out after they finished their meal.
The menu is your typical fair Asian BBQ and rice joint. They have BBQ Chicken, Pork, and Beef. On the night we went they were having a $ 5 special for their Beef bowl. We ordered two of those and a mix plate for myself because I wanted to sample their different kinds of meat.
We took our items to go and had to wait a little longer because they ran out of white rice and had to make more. How they made white rice in 5 minutes? I’m not so sure.
For a BBQ joint, the place wasn’t as fragrant as I had expected. There’s no smoke emanating from the kitchen and the sweet smell of marinade cooking itself in the meat. None of that.
When we got home my friends were pretty disappointed with their beef bowls. Around six or seven pieces of overcooked short ribs and top of just rice. I get that it was the special for $ 5, but they could at least throw in some vegetables or a side.
My mix plate fared visually better as I got an assortment of meats that included: 2 beef sticks, 2 pork ribs, chicken, and short ribs on a bed of rice. They had some underwhelming broccoli and carrots along with a half baked slaw of cabbage, red peppers, and onions.
The included hot sauce i was excited about when I saw him putting them into small containers for us, unfortunately it was merely Sambal Eleek.
The short ribs were okay for me, the chicken was moist but that was due to the terriyaki sauce. I’d forgo the pork ribs if I went here again, as they weren’t fall off the bone and lacked any tenderness. I suspect it was merely boiled then seared on the grill for some BBQ flavor. The winner on the mix plate was the beef stick, albeit a little anorexic on the portions (nothing compared to Siem Rieps beef sticks) but the flavor was on point.
Would I trek all the way out to Cypress on the streets again to try Cambinos? Probably not. Unless I was in the area. I have high standards for Asian BBQ and Rice type places and Cambino’s just didn’t meet them.
I was intrigued that they had sold out of the Cornish hen as I saw a family devouring theirs. Perhaps that’s the hidden secret to this joint? I’ll have to come back for that to truly find out.

Pork skewers are a buck on Mondays. Delicious! It’s marinated with sweet filipino marinade, and charbroiled to perfection.
Boyfriend got the mix plate for $ 9.95. And it’s good if you’re not all that hungry. Like I could finish it and say. hmm. enough. But I’m a girl on a diet. so ya know.
I got the grilled sole fillet plate. It comes with a sweet sauce. so good.
The brown rice was cooked to perfection.
They’re so nice. and comfortable. It’s like eating at your relative’s house. you hear them talking, these men (owner and his buddies) talk about food with such relish to each other while watching tv. And I’m gladly eavesdropping and bookmarking the spots they’re talkin about.
After I’m done with my plate, I ordered 10 more pork skewers to go. And the owner was like. I can give you more rice. I, being on this low carb thing, declined.
Then he told us about Frostbite for dessert. He said custard. I was game. Well, that’s another review.
I just wish I live by here. Food’s good and eavesdropping on men talk about bbq, donuts and dessert is just too much fun.

Like food? Like poetry? Here — let them have sex and make a haiku review:
Hidden treasure here
Tasty meat on the cheap and
Yellow cake is yum.
This only makes sense if food and poetry are a male and female coupling, figuratively. I personally imagine poetry to be the male.

This is a casual, Asian fusion BBQ place. You just order at the counter and they bring the food out to you. It was pretty empty when I went with my friend. I wasn’t very hungry so just ordered the mix plate (chicken thighs, chicken skewer, pork skewer, beef short ribs, pork spare ribs, rice, and veggies) and split with my friend. It’s about $ 10 and is probably a good one to get if you are here for the first time. I only ate the chicken skewer which was pretty good. It definitely had an Asian flavor but couldn’t quite tell which country. To me it was a mesh of Korean, Hawaiian, and Japanese.
I’ll have to come back when I’m hungry and try more stuff.

I’ve read so much on Unilocal about this place. So I was excited to check it out. I was excited for asian style BBQ and this yellow cake that everyone talks about!
Cambinos is located in a small run down strip mall, it’s a small casual restaurant. You order at the counter and they bring your food to the table. The decorations remind me of Thailand, it must be the Cambodian side! I loved it.
The order:
We got one order of the mix plate to split at $ 9.95, this plate included pork spare ribs, beef short ribs, pork and chicken skewers, and chicken all with rice and grilled veggies.
Surprisingly the grilled veggies were my favorite on the plate. The skewers I found to be a bit dry and the beef short ribs were a bit chewy. The flavors were good… and I would definitely come back for the veggies!
If you are coming here for the first time I would definitely suggest the mix plate to try out everything. Its a good sampler plate!
And the yellowcake? I wouldn’t know how good it really is because they didn’t have any that day! BOOOOO!!! I heard if you go late they run out, so I went early when they first opened… just not my luck.
So I will return for this cake and perhaps my mind will change about this place!
Daily Special:
Monday: $ 1.00 pork and chicken skewers
Tuesday: 10% off entire order
Wednesday: Free soft drink per order
Thursday: all bowls $ 5
Friday: Free small cake per order
Saturday: Mix plate $ 7.95

The boyfriend has found the love of his tummy with the Filipino BBQ. And as he found this place on Unilocal, we had to try it out and see for ourselves what it was all about. Since it’s a combination of Cambodian and Filipino cuisine, and that is how they got the CAMBINOS by combining the two.
This lil joint is inside this plaza, which was sorta hidden because of the restaurant in front of it. The place is small which they always seem to maintain pretty well. They have these two flat-​screen TV mounted on the wall with the sports channel on. And the person behind the counter was very friendly and very welcoming to us. As we were waiting for our order, their regulars came through. And as we were observing, the person behind the counter seem to know everyone that came and was asking about each others personal life. Which I thought was pretty cool, because it shows how down to earth and friendly they are.
We ordered the $ 9.99 Mixed Plate and the $ 5.99 Chicken Skewer Bowl. The mixed plate is a great combination of all their meaty selections. It was a big portion that could be shared for 2. It contained chicken skewer, pork skewer, spare ribs, and short ribs with mixed veggies and rice. While the Chicken Skewer Bowl looked so plain. It was just plain white rice and 3 chicken skewer. I just wished there was something more to it. But all in all, their meat was super flavorful and super DELICIOUS!
They do have some happy hour or specials everyday. It’s on this brochure on the counter, and every single day you get some kind of a discount which is pretty cool. With our experience, I’d say we will definitely come back for more.

The amount of food is pretty good but thats where the good parts end. I really wanted to like this place and hoping the Cypress area would impress me. The area here is really nice clean plaza. The food here is just okay. I got the mix plate and they ran out of pork. I would actually prefer to go to a hawaiian bbq spot. The menu here is really simple and complex with grilled meat, rice, and veggies. What made things worst was that they ran out of the yellow cake that people were mentioning on Unilocal.The drive for me wasn’t worth it and I’d only come back to try the yellowcake if I was in the area.
Recommendation: Mix Plate because of the variety of meats you receive.

TASTY MEAT. Lots of it.
Would’ve given 5 stars, however, I’m still not too sure of their timeliness yet, so I’ll reserve it for next visit. I had called in ahead at around 11:45 am, ordering a Mix Plate and 2 Yellow (Cup)Cakes, letting them know we’d be there at 12.
We didn’t end up getting there until 12:30 pm and were worried that our food was going to get cold. But when we got there, they haven’t made it yet. =[
So the owner (I believe) sat us down, got our waters and set down 2 Yellow (Cup)Cakes, which was TORTURE to look at and smell since we haven’t had our main meal yet. It took every effort not to take a bite out of that luscious looking cake.
About 15 minutes later, our Mixed Plate arrived and they were nice enough to split the rice/​veggies for us on separate plates. It may not look like a lot especially when the meats are by itself on a plate (when they split the order for you) but man it was filling for the both of us.
There was chicken and pork skewers, chicken thigh meat, galbi, and spare pork ribs all in their charbroiled glory. The skewers were resting atop this KICKASS vinegary sauce that was so addictive. We kept on mopping the other meats with it.
And? A steal at $ 7.95 for Saturday Mixed Plate Special. :D (Regularly it’s $ 9.99)
Oh, and the Yellow (Cup)Cakes. Holy shit! A-​m-​a-​z-​i-​n-​g. There’s a little bit of Cinnamon in it, which I’m not a fan of but it works really well in this cake. Freshly baked and plucked from their huge cupcake tray, and oh so moist. They sell a loaf version for $ 4 which I was really tempted to get but it wouldn’t have held up well in the car. =[
Will come back again. For more meats and LOAF of Yellow Cake ;D

BBQ Style Food and Lots of It!
Once again. my tastes stray from the Unilocal opinion. It could be that I came on a wrong day. Ordered the mix/​combo plate that had the various meats. I think I came here with my expectations to high. Here are the details.
1.Food 2 Stars I have had better.
2. Quantity 4 Stars Enough to feed an elephant!
3. Service 3 Stars Very Friendly
4. Value 3 Stars Lots of Food for the price
5. Ambiance 3 Stars Typical Hawaiian style fast food place.
This place is pretty cool. Just not for me. It could be I came on a wrong day. Just throwing in my 2 cents.

3.5 stars.
Get the mixed plate — chicken on skewers, kalbi, ribs and more chicken with veggies + rice. Apparently, they’re famed for their yellow cake too, but they already ran out by the time I got there. =[
My favorite was the chicken on skewers — very tender and flavorful. The rice was mushy in my opinion and the rest of the meats were slightly dry.
But for $ 8 — it’s a lot of food. =)

So…
December 30^th, 2009 hits. My wife and I have already decided to stay in our brand new house (well, new to us) with a bottle of champagne for NYE. Seeing how we are not going out to celebrate this new year’s eve, we thought it appropriate that we should dine our tonight.
A quick search on the ever-​reliable Unilocal revealed a few choices — then Cambinos Asian BBQ caught my eyes. Asian? BBQ? We liked the restaurant already. I read a few reviews, and I was sold.
As expected, no one was there. We ordered two mix plates, as we were newbs and mixed plate would be the ideal choice so we could sample various bbq.
O.
M.
G.
Let me put my fingers in the air next to my head and swear on something before I say this — because I don’t think you’d believe me:
I have never had bbq chicken as moist and flavorful as this.
The beef short ribs were amazing. I’m a Korean — I’ve had beef short ribs at various Korean BBQ places over the years, OC and LA. Believe me — these short ribs were absolutely amazingly out of this world.
The pork ribs and the chicken skewers were good, too.
But that chicken — wow. All kinds of delicious, smokey, sweet flavors were swimming around in my mouth when I bit into the chicken. I thought I was going to have a «I’ll have what she’s having» moment, IYKWIM (that’s ‘if you know what I mean).
Plenty of portions — we brought home leftovers, of course. Total damage? About $ 23.00.
The owner, James, was a very kind man and we had a good conversation. I noticed that as we ate our dinner, every single person who walked by the restaurant peered in through the glass doors and waved their hands at James behind the counter. Every. Single. One. I’m a firm believer that good food tend to come from good people. Perhaps not all of the goodness comes from the ingredients at this particular restaurant. We liked it. No, we LOVED it.
People — this is one of those hidden gems that we don’t hear a lot about. This is a shiny gem in the world of poo. You will not regret this place. Order the mixed plate and I dare you to tell me you hated it. Go on. I dare you. I triple freaking dog dare you. Tell you what — if you hate it, send me a message. I’ll punch myself in my face if you hate this place.
We’re definitely going — again and again.

Cambinos Asian BBQ and its great service. Cambodia-​Filipino backyard BBQ with style.
The workers/​owners there were super super nice. We ordered one dish to share because we didn’t want to eat too much and they actually gave two different plates with its own rice and grilled veggies.
I forgot what we ordered. I think it’s some kind of sampler plate. It’s a combination of 4 different meats of pork, chicken and beef. Or maybe just chicken and beef. The grilled veggies were delish.
Cambinos Asian BBQ– yummylicious grilled veggies!

In the true spirit of Filipino-​ism, Cambino’s takes two distinctly different things and combines them to form something new and interesting. Don’t follow? I submit to you:
Exhibit A: Jeepneys (a jeep combined with flamboyantly bad over-​decoration). Go ahead. Google ‘em. Tell me I’m wrong.
Exhibit B: The majority of «interesting» first names back in the PI (Maricar? Jobert? Jejomar? Luzviminda?). Don’t believe me? Ask you’re Filipino friend for some of the names of his/​her cousins, aunts, and uncles back in the PI. See, what’d I tell you?
Exhibit C: The tinikling (a dance combining bare feet with the added danger of two bamboo poles which are beat together, among other things). Doesn’t sound too bad? Try it out first and then we’ll talk.
Sure, at first you’re thinking they’ve combined ‘Cambodian’ with ‘Filipino’ to come up with ‘Cambino.’ It’s better than their first name, ‘Filipbodian.’ I kid, I kid. As the owner quickly explained, the name’s just that. A name. What you actually find here at Cambinos is backyard barbecue… with an Asian twist.
I was a bit skeptical when I first read my friend’s review of the place. However, I trust her opinion and had to check this place out. To say I was impressed would be an understatement. Wow! This is surprisingly good bbq, folks. Just don’t come in here expecting to find Texas, Memphis, St. Louis, or Southern Carolina-​style ribs, pork, and brisket. That’s not what this place is about.
As many other Unilocalers have already stated, start out with the mixed plate. You’ll get a sampling of their pork, beef, and chicken so you can decide on what you’ll order the next time you pop in for a meal. Since my wife was ordering the mixed plate already, I focused on one of their newer dishes, the game hen. Again, wow! All the meat is extremely flavorful, tender, and juicy. I don’t believe I had one piece of dry meat in my mouth [insert «That’s what she said» joke here]. Even the game hen’s breast meat was tender and moist. As far as the meat’s concerned… just, wow!
My only complaints about the meals (which are minor compared to the stellar meats) lie in the rice and veggies. I’m so accustomed to sticky, short grain rice that the accompanying long grain rice on my plate seemed out of place. Now, that’s just me. I’m sure a lot of other people like the rice just fine. Me? Long grain’s better for other things, I think. The grilled veggies, though very flavorful, were a tad underdone. I didn’t mind, but my daughter (who loves broccoli) had a tough time with her veggies. Again, minor complaints that I’m sure others don’t care about.
As far as service goes, I don’t think I could ask for more. Service with a smile and the willingness to answer all of my questions is all I can really ask for.
In summation, this place is pretty frickin’ delicious! Honestly, I’m looking forward to returning so that I can try more of their menu. If you’re within a 50-​mile radius of this place, you should definitely check it out. Just don’t roll up in your friend Jobert’s Jeepney. That’d just be weird…

Oops! I did it again!
Round 2: Ended my macrobiotech diet to embrace the red meat at Cambinos today. The hubby and I lunched at Cambinos and ordered the Mix Plate & The Grilled Fish Plate. I wasn’t gonna do it… I was to indulge on the grilled fish plate only, but after seeing my husband devour the meat skewers, I said, «Gimme… Me wanty!»
I grabbed a beef skewer and devoured the tender, marinated meat, savored every second. I realized I missed the mixed plate and red meat. Damn… it’s so tasty! But the grilled fish platter was amazing and a new favorite due to the citrus, garlic sauce it accompanies. I drizzled that lovely citrus sauce on the fish and rice, which gave me a sweet and sour kiss of flavors. I love Cambinos… such a fantastic bbq restaurant. Thank you, Steph, Chris D. and Sundo for writing about Cambinos. Your reviews enlightened me about Cambinos, a great place to eat in the O.C.

If you want to feel like you’ve wandered into a good Asian backyard bbq, come here. After reading so many good reviews I was anxious to try this place. We got there around 6pm on a Friday night and I was surprised to see it was empty. We were chatting with the owner and he said people usually come later for dinner. Well, better for us! They do have a fairly large menu, and at first I was thinking we could do the mix plate and fish plate, but the hubby thought it might be too much food, so we went with just the mix plate. Good thing we did, because we had a hard time finishing that between the two of us! It also didn’t help that Fridays are free mini cake nights and we ended up eating our muffin-​style cakes before we got our food. Those cakes are absolutely delish! So moist and flavorful, mm, getting my mouth watering just thinking about them!
After about 10 minutes the guy brought out our food and he was nice enough to split up the rice and veggies for us. They looked like full orders to me, actually – another reason why we got so full. The mix plate is a generous sampling of most of their meats, except for the beef skewers, but boy we can’t say we missed those, as this was some of the most tender, juicy, and flavorful bbq I’ve ever had! The teriyaki chicken, chicken skewers, pork skewers, and korean spareribs were all outstanding. The only miss for me were the pork spareribs. The citrus-​garlic marinade was great but the meat was kinda dry around the edges and I had a hard time getting down the large chunks of dry pork. That was the hubby’s least fave selection as well, but we loved everything else. This is definitely a small, no-​frills place – you get your food on paper plates with plastic utensils, but it’s clean and bright, with nice renovations throughout. And you figure since we shared our mix plate our dinner was around $ 7 per person – that’s a ridiculous deal! We’re definitely coming back, and I’m thinking of getting a bunch of their skewers for the hubby’s bday party in a couple of weeks. This is the kind of great local joint that deserves as much positive exposure as it can get, so try ‘em out and spread the word!