Wondering where to eat in Cambodia? Here are suggestions and full reviews for some favorites in Phnom Penh, Kampot, Kep, and Siem Reap.
Phnom Penh
Cambodian Food
Romdeng - Training restaurant for street kids that serves sophisticated and authentic Khmer food in a beautiful old colonial house. Great fruity drinks, alcoholic and non-alcoholic. Check out the pork rolls with fresh coconut and the grilled stuffed squid. Stir-fried ants with beef and fried tarantulas are on the menu for the masochistic (or daring). On Street 174.
Sbov Meas - Extremely Cambodian beer garden and restaurant with good food in huge portions and a usually surrealist floor-show. Great fried shrimp and sweet and sour pork, served with towers of Angkor beer. High chance of encountering dancing lady-boys, noisy Khmer birthday parties, or very loud, weepy Khmer pop music during the evening. You want authenticity, you got it.
Khmer Surin – Massive Khmer restaurant with fantastic decor and ambiance, and pretty good Khmer and Thai specialties. Try the Thai stuffed omelet and the morning glory with chicken and peanut sauce.
Malis – Super high-end Cambodian food by Luu Meng, Phnom Penh’s celebrity chef. Beautiful interior and sophisticated riffs on Khmer specialties. Often frequented by Cambodia’s powers-that-be. Try the scallop salad, braised pork leg, fried soft-shell-crab, and roasted chicken with turmeric. Jackie Chan once ate there so you know it must be awesome.
French and European
The Wine Restaurant - French fine dining in the heart of the city, on Street 19. Shockingly enough, there’s a great wine list.
Kandal House - Home-made pasta and other Western food, served alongside a full compliment of Khmer dishes. Best chicken nuggets in town if you’re into that sort of thing. On Riverside
Friends Restaurant – Training restaurant owned by street kids charity Mith Samlanh. Very good small-plates with Western, Khmer, and pan-Asian flavors. Great fruit shakes, veggie burgers, pumpkin soup, Asian style meatballs, and a rotating line-up of specials. Beloved by the NGO worker crowd.
Asian Cuisine
Warung Bali - Indonesian hole-in-the-wall with great prices and even better beef rendang, gado-gado, tofu and egg omelette with chili and peanuts, and chicken satay. Try the tamarind juice with brown sugar. Off Street 178, near the National Museum and FCC.
Shabu Shabu and Sushi Buffet – Raw shabu-shabu ingredients brought to your personal hot-pot by means of conveyer belt. Seriously. It’s awesome. There’s also a sushi buffet with some hot specialties and ice cream. A great place to see middle-class Cambodians out for dinner. Near Nagaworld casino, off Sothearos Boulevard.
Western and Mexican
Mike’s Burger House – Inn and Out Burger replica with awesome cheeseburgers, root beer floats, french fries and other US delights. On Russian Boulevard, on the way to the airport, but worth the trek if you’re craving the Taste of Home.
Cantina - Mexican food served up in a true journalist’s haunt on Phnom Penh’s riverside. Margaritas, home-made tortillas, and fish tacos alongside excellent conversation. Pull up a chair.
Siem Reap
Angkor Palm – Try the Khmer sampler platter for a taste of Cambodia without the commitment. Near the Old Market in the backpacker ghetto (you know what I’m talking about).
Touich Restaurant – Wonderful family-owned Khmer place serving refined versions of traditional dishes. Great wine list and better playlist. Will pick you up at your hotel in a jeep. Must call ahead to reserve since it’s 1. small and 2. in a very odd location. A must do in Siem Reap.
Kampot
Rusty Keyhole – British owned pub along the riverside with awesome secret-recipe pork ribs. Order in advance to make sure you get in on the meat-fest (that sounded a bit obscene). Also: great sandwiches, beer on tap. Hard to eat elsewhere sometimes.
Rikitikitavi – Great food in a very cool wooden lodge along the river. Good burgers, ribs, shish-kebab, grilled chicken salad, and Khmer specialties. Good spot to sip a pina colada if you’re feeling suitably tropical-sassy. There’s even apple pie.
Kep
Kimly – Khmer seafood restaurant in Kep’s crab market with an extensive fresh seafood menu and good prices, built over the water. Excellent crab stir-fried with coconut milk and spices, crab with fresh Kampot pepper (a must-try) and deep-fried shrimp.
Knai Bang Chatt (The Sailing Club) - Great place to watch the sun go down with a classy interior bar and good cocktails, a small private beach, and a swimming pier. Only OK, expensive food during the week, but a very good Sunday dinner buffet on the sand for $11 with a lot of seafood variety.
Sihanoukville
Coolabah Hotel and Restaurant – Aussie owned touch of class on Sihanoukville’s main strip. Awesome Caesar salad, fish n’ chips, and seafood chowder, as well as good home-made breakfasts. Try the yogurt with fruit preserves.
