Places to Eat in city

Places to Eat

---

 

The increasing affluence of at least some urban Phnom Penh is and the large foreign non-governmental organization (NGO) population of the city has led to an explosion of restaurants. Visitors to Phnom Penh are quite literally spoilt for choice.

 

Most of the foreign restaurants around town (and there are a lot of them) are expensive by local standards, but it's worth splashing out at least once on a good French or Italian meal, or at least a pizza..Many of the guesthouses around town have reasonably priced restaurants and some tasty food, but with so much decent food available in Phnom Penh it seems a shame to get into the habit of chowing down on the nearest terrace. Guesthouse restaurants are a good place for trading tales about the latest situation upcountry, but you won't meet many locals dining in these places.

 

If you want to eat up at Boeng Kale, several of the guest houses offer reasonable food. Cafe Freedom has tasty Thai food, but prices are higher than in the guesthouses. Cafe Sontiepheap, between Monivong Blvd and the International Mosque, has some pretty good pub-style grub during the day, including huge sandwiches, and at night the menu even includes Cumberland sausages.

 

Other pub-style places include the Cathouse Tavern, on the comer of Ph 118 and Ph 51, which is a Filipino style bar with mock tropical decor and good counter lunches. It opens only in the late afternoons and evenings, however, and the meals are not cheap. Tom's Irish Bar, not far from Phnom Kiev, has a basic selection of typical pub food including bacon sandwiches.

 

The good news at the time of writing is that none of the big fast-food chains grace Phnom Penh, just a host of copies including KFC (Khmer Fried Chicken?) on Monivong Blvd, Pizza House, under the Regent Park Hotel, and Lucky Burger, next to Lucky Supermarket.

 

If you are on a tight budget, Phnom Penh's many markets all have small food courts where you can eat very cheaply. Baguettes are widely available around town, and usually cost from 200r to 500r. For something to eat with them, Phnom Penh's supermarkets are remarkably well stocked. Naturally, imported items tend to be expensive. For around US$3 to US$4 you can pick up treats such as salami, Camembert and Brie. The markets are well stocked with fruit and vegetables, fish and meat, all at reasonable prices if you are prepared to bargain a little.

 

The best of the Phnom Penh supermarkets is the Lucky Supermarket, at 160 Preah Sihanouk Blvd, but prices tend to be high. Other good stores are the Seven Seven Supermarket at 13, Ph 90, the You Nam Supermarket on Kampuchea Krom Blvd and the Psar Bayon (Bayon Market) at 133 Monivong Blvd.

 

For fresh bread and cakes, the best place in town is Baker's Express, on Ph 63. It was established by an overseas Khmer family returning to Cambodia after years of running a bakery in New Zealand. It has everything from jam tarts and gingerbread men to cheesecake and éclairs. Another good option is the French Bakery opposite the Lucky Supermarket on Preah Sihanouk Blvd. Most of the city's best hotels also operate bakery outlets, but prices are higher than elsewhere.

 

Cambodian Scattered around town are numerous Khmer restaurants, which set up outdoor tables and chairs in the evenings. These places rarely have English signs and are as much about drinking beer as about eating, but they're lively places for an inexpensive meal and the food is usually very good.

 

Cook-your-own soup restaurants are very popular with Khmers and are great fun if you go in a group. Other diners will often help you with protocol as it is important to cook things in the right order so you don't massively overcook half the ingredients and eat the rest raw. On the comer of Ph 214 and Monivong Blvd is a popular restaurant with a US$2.50 all-you-can-eat deal, and nearby on Ph 214 is another place, the Dararasmey Restaurant, which always seems to be packed in the evenings.

 

Some of the best places for the Khmer experience are along Preah Sihanouk Blvd, just to the west of Monivong Blvd. On the comer of Ph 125 near Narin Guesthouse is the Chaay Heng Restaurant, which is heaving every night and seems to have almost as many beer girls as dishes on the menu. Meals are about 6000r with rice, and beer is about US$I a can. Down a block on the corner of Ph 141 is the Thong Hy Restaurant, which has better food than its rivals and extremely helpful staff, but is quieter at nights because it does a lot of its trade at lunch time. On the corner of Ph 115 is yet another place, Chez Reth, which offers the option of customizing your food, as the hand-written English menu lists all the ingredients available.

 

There are many more places around town that are worth trying. Some of the more popular areas include: south of the Psar Thmei on Ph 63, north-east of the National Museum on Ph 178 and the area of Ph 51 south of Baggio's Pizza.

 

It's a bit of a trek out of town, but on Norodom Blvd, south of the Monivong (Vietnam) Bridge are a string of restaurants dealing in 'crusty rice' dishes served with meat and vegetable stews. The food in these places is inexpensive and very tasty.

 

The reconstruction of the Chruoy Changvar bridge over the Tonle Sap river has blessed Phnom Penh with a multitude of new Khmer restaurants by opening up access to the Mekong riverfront. These are the places to eat for well-to-do Khmers, and at the weekend are packed with literally thousands of people on a big night out. Most charge USS3 and up for a dish and about US$2 for a big bottle of beer. Heading north, the restaurants start to appear about a kilometre or so over the bridge, and they range from small, family-run places to enormous complexes with fountains, neon and festooned fairy lights. The Hang Neak is probably the most popular with resident foreigners, but it is also one of the more opulent places on this stretch of road. Another good one with more than 250 dishes on the menu is the Boeng Kak Restaurant. Other popular places worth trying out include: Kompong Cham, Continental Restaurant (big, all mod cons, complete with a small zoo), Som Tam Restaurant, Neak Samot (favoured by affluent Phnom Penhois) and the Ta Ta Restaurant (Chinese-style Khmer cuisine). There are dozens more.

 

For up market Khmer cuisine, one of the best places around is the Ponlok Restaurant, on Sisowath Quay just a few doors up from the FCC. This place has good views of the river from its upstairs dining area, and the English menu takes you on a guided tour of the local cuisine. The house specialty is hotpot. This restaurant is popular with the Khmer mobile-phone set - prices are not cheap, but are reasonable when compared with the European competition on the riverfront (figure on a minimum of US$5 per head). For inexpensive Khmer food with a Gallic touch, head down to the Phnom Kiev Restaurant, on Preah Sihanouk Blvd. The restaurant has a popular garden area out front, and it does good salads and some excellent beef dishes, all between US$2 and US$4.

 

American There are a few places around town that do steaks, French fries and so on. California I is on Sisowath Quay, just north of the FCC. California II is at 55 Sihanouk Blvd, Both are popular with the local expert community. Wagon Wheel is close to Cali'fornia I and is celebrated for its inexpensive breakfasts of fried eggs and hash browns; its lunch time and evening meals are good too. 

 

Australian No-frills Aussie pub grub is available at the Ettamogah Pub on Preah Sihanouk Blvd, next to the Lucky Supermarket. The fish and chips and hamburgers are among the best in town. It also offers Internet and email services at reasonable prices.

 

Chinese While there are numerous Chinese restaurants around Phnom Penh, few of them are particularly authentic. The King of Kings Restaurant on Preah Sihanouk Blvd opposite the Phnom Kiev Restaurant is a shabby place with outside seating, but it has cheap dim sum from morning until mid-afternoon.

 

Probably the best affordable Chinese cuisine in town is at the Ly Lay Restaurant on Kampuchea Krom Blvd near the intersection of South Blvd. Another good, cheap place to try is the Shanghai Restaurant on Monivong Blvd just north of the intersection with Preah Sihanouk Blvd, The Hua Nam Restaurant at 753 Monivong Blvd (near the intersection of Mao Tse Toung Blvd) is another contender, but meals here are very expensive by local standards.

 

Continental The Foreign Correspondents' Club on Sisowath Quay has a restaurant and bar on its 3rd floor with fabulous views of the Tonle Sap river on one side and the National Museum on the other. The food here is pretty good, although portions are sometimes a little nouvelle cuisine. With great views, good music and a friendly crowd of regulars, the club is an essential stop on the Phnom Penh restaurant circuit.

 

North of the club, the riverfront is now crowded with European restaurants, all pleasant locations for a meal, but the best of them is the Rendez-Vous, on the comer of Ph 144. The menu looks small at first, but there are plenty of dishes on the daily specials board. Both theft let mignon in mustard sauce and the Moroccan chicken stuffed with pistachio sauce are excellent. Draught Angkor is US$I and wine is available by the glass. One block south is Garden Bar, which serves mid-priced European cuisine on its pavement tables, and is worth mentioning for its friendly and attentive service. There are a number of pizzerias around town and opinion is divided as to which is the best. Odds-on favorite, however, is Boggio's Pizza on Ph 51 not far from the intersection of Preah Sihanouk Blvd. Small
pizzas (a meal for one) start at around US$5.

 

Happy Herb's on Sisowath Quay is as close as you get to a Phnom Penh institution. Apparently Herb taught the local chefs to do the pizzas, and he was always happy - hence the name for pizzas with marijuana as a topping. If you want your pizza to leave you with a grin for the rest of the day (or evening), tell the waiter you want it 'happy' - those with nothing to do for a couple of days might request 'very happy'. Pizzas are about US$4 and up depending on size.

 

Other decent pizza places around town include Ecstatic Pizza (don't get the wrong idea just because of Happy Herb's), south of the Independence Monument on Norodom Blvd, and Nike Pizza, just south off Preah Sihanouk Blvd on Ph 63.

 

For a splash-out meal, Red, on Preah Sihanouk Blvd not far from the Independence Monument is a restaurant with real ambience. It's upstairs, over Perfumerie Jolie Madame, in a converted French villa. The menu is eclectic and changes periodically, but the friendly staff are happy to make recommendations. Most main courses are around US$7.

 

Out of town, over the Monivong (Vietnam) Bridge on National Hwy I to Vietnam are a couple of continental restaurants that are popular with residents of Phnom Penh, particularly on the weekends, but are unfortunately a little overpriced. Around 4.5km from Phnom Penh is the River View Restaurant. It overlooks the Mekong River and has Khmer/French meals starting at around US$5 for a main course. L'Imprevu  is 2.5km farther on, on the other side of the road. It offers French cuisine, steaks and so on in a delightful garden setting with a swimming pool, but is a little pricey. There are also bungalows for rent here.

 

French A bit of a distance out of town, La Coso isjust off Kampuchea Krom Blvd on Ph 257, but the journey there is for a very worthy cause. Established by the French NGO Krousar Thmey (New Family), all income generated goes to funding this organization’s programs to help impoverished and unprotected children both in the capital and the countryside. Along with traditional French cuisine, La Casa also does very good pizzas all served in the cultured atmosphere of an old French villa. If you are going to have just
one splash, this is the place to do it.

 

La Paillote, on Ph 130 near the Psar Thmei, is an excellent French restaurant that serves a wide selection of dishes and has an atmosphere of the Paris suburbs that is not unlike the Santisouk Restaurant in Vientiane, Laos. The menu includes some well-dressed salads accompanied by fresh bread, a wide range of steaks and fish and a mouth watering selection of desserts, such as crème brute, crème caramel and chocolate mousse.

 

L'Atmosphere is on the comer of Preah Sihanouk Blvd and Norodom Blvd, and is a French-style wine bar with a reasonably priced menu. Riverside, opposite the Garden Bar, is a French restaurant with lunch time and Sunday discounts.

 

Greek The Athena, on the comer of Ph 51 and Ph 282, can safely claim to be the first and only Greek restaurant in town. The atmosphere is surprisingly authentic with scenes from Mykonos adorning the walls

and tunes from Zorba gracing the stereo. It offers set lunches from US$4 to US$8, and sells wine by the glass to wash down your dolmades.

 

Indian The Little India Restaurant, near the Psar Thmei, has huge vegetarian thali (mixed plate) for US$3, including a drink, while those wanting meat will have to pay US$4. Down on the riverfront is the Banana Leaf Restaurant, offering a slice of the subcontinent's cuisine from US$3 and up.

 

The Indian Restaurant on Monivong Blvd near the Phnom Penh train station is another very popular option. Royal India Restaurant on the corner of Ph 240 and Monivong Blvd has perhaps the best tan door in town, but service can be haphazard - check your order before it goes in and check the bill afterwards. King's Bar is a  popular Indian restaurant down the road from the Capitol Guesthouse.

 

Italian On the Wat Phnom circle road, north of the wat, II Padrino is a spacious bar and restaurant with good pastas, sandwiches and wines. It's an inexpensive place for a light lunch or for evening drinks.

 

Japanese As is the case almost everywhere, Japanese food in Phnom Penh is expensive. Nagasaki on the comer of Preah Sihanouk Blvd and Ph 55 is reasonably authentic and has pleasant rooms with tatami
(woven matting) if there is a group of you. There's something galling about paying Tokyo prices for a meal in Phnom Penh, however. Another good Japanese restaurant is Heisei on Sisowath Quay. Midori, just
south of the Independence Monument on Norodom Blvd, is probably the most authentic Japanese restaurant in town - naturally you pay for the privilege. 

 

Malaysian It's possible to eat well for about US$3 at Mamak's Corner on Ph 61. It's a good place for an early-morning roti chanai (flat bread with dhal or curry) and a coffee. The decor is minimal, but the food is authentic. Another good Malaysian place is Singapore Chicken Rice on Preah Sihanouk Blvd.

 

Mexican Yes, it's possible to get Mexican fast food in Phnom Penh. The Mex, on the comer of Preah Sihanouk and Norodom Blvds, has takeaways and inexpensive sitdown meals. You can fill yourself up with a massive burrito for US$2.50.

 

Thai The nicest Thai restaurant in town, but one with the least marks for originality of name, is the Baan Thai (meaning Thai house), located just off Norodom Blvd on Ph 302. It is set in a multilevel wooden house, is beautifully laid out with tropical plants, and offers a choice of traditional floor seating or tables and chairs. Most dishes cost from US$3 to US$5 and the presentation of some is quite flamboyant.

 

There are some good Thai restaurants on Sisowath Quay. Here you will find Chiang Mai and EID (generally pronounced 'eed'). EID has a very loyal following. It's a small place and very basic, but it has some of the best Thai food in town for the prices, including a healthy pad thai (noodle dish) for just US$ 1.50. Most dishes range from US$2 to US$4. Chiang Mai is a few doors up. Prices are slightly higher but the restaurant is more of a dining experience, and there is more seating - the sit-down area with cushions at the back is good if there is a group of you. There is another branch of Chang Mai located near the Cambodia-Vietnam Friendship Monument.

 

Turkish The ubiquitous kebab shop has finally made it to the shores of Cambodia, although unfortunately the Istanbul Restaurant closes at 10 pm so you are not able to stumble out of a bar after midnight and pick up a chilli-sauce special. More seriously, it has a good location with a nice balcony overlooking the Tonle Sap river and pretty reasonable prices when compared to other places popular with experts nearby.

 

Vietnamese Just south of Pyco Guest house on Sisowath Quay is Saigon House. It's a small friendly place with prices that won't break the budget. There are also numerous Vietnamese soup places slingshot (noodle soup) on Monivong Blvd. 

Return	Print	Send email
Vietnam	Laos	Cambodia