Cambodia Travel Tips

Restaurant & Dining Guide

Dining Out in Phnom Penh... Phnom Penh offers an excellent selection of dining venues ranging from fine Khmer and French restaurants to American style bar & grills and budget noodle & rice shops. But the emphasis is of course on Cambodian food and Phnom Penh is an ideal place to experience an authentic Cambodian meal.

Cambodian food shares many similarities with other Southeast Asian foods, including dishes such as curries, barbeques and fish-based meals, though Khmer cookery is more delicately spiced than other regional cuisines and is rarely spicy hot. The ‘must-try’ dish for visitors is Amok - a yellow coconut curry, traditionally cooked and served in a fresh coconut.

Chinese restaurants are also very popular and the city sports a goodly number and range from budget-priced dumpling shops strung along Street 136 near Phsar Thmey to top-end restaurants such as Yi Sang. Most western cuisines are well-represented - pizzerias, home-cooked British and American food, contemporary delis and cafés, fine German, Italian and especially French restaurants. Given Cambodia's long relationship with Gallic gastronomic traditions, it is no surprise some of Phnom Penh’s finest and most interesting dining venues are French.

Many of the restaurants are clustered into certain areas of town. Dozens of places line the riverfront and Boeung Keng Kang 1 is dotted with dining venues, especially along Street 278.