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Bankea Chah
Moan Cha
Street food is good for you if you can stomach it
Foreign Correspondents' Club
A View from the Shadow of the Mango Tree |
Cambodians' diet is based on seafood and freshwater fishes and crustaceans. From the founding of the Khmer civilization to present days, the fertile plain of the Tonle Sap (the Great Freshwater Lake) and the sea have provided for proteins. Basically, we are fish-eaters, we love dried fish and rice, fish sauce and rice, and if we have the money we eat crabs and shrimps and rice. Have we mentioned rice? Yes, rice is essential to a good meal. Your average Cambodian wolfs down huge quantities of rice with relatively little meat. Fresh (and often) organic vegetables and fruits complement our meals. We have put up a list of traditional dishes that any visitor ought to try. For breakfast, as true born to the city, we have Phnom Penh noodle soups (Kouy Teav Phnom Penh). To enjoy good food, there are mainly two hang out areas: the Tonle Sap riverside that essentially caters to foreigners and route nationale 6 that caters to anybody. Route 6 is an endless highway of Khmer restaurants that sprang under the UN era. The restaurants on the Mekong side of route 6 tend to be trendier (and more expensive) then the ones on the Boeng (Lake) side.
Appetizers Nataing - Crispy rice with pork and coconut milk Nyoam Lehong - Green papaya salad Sach Ko Ang Kroeung - Beef skewers with lemongrass paste
Main Khdam Cha - Stir fried crab Kouy Teav - Phnom Penh noodle soup (beef, chicken, pork shrimps) Kouyv Teav Cha - Khmer stir fried noodles Ban Chaev - Pancakes (pork and shrimps) Moan Ang - Khmer grilled chicken Moan Cha Khnyei - Stir fried ginger chicken Sach Ko Loc Lac - Beef Loc Lac (marinated with lime sauce) Samlor Machoo Kreugn - Khmer lemongrass soup Samlor Machou Mouan - Khmer chicken soup with tomatoes Saraman - Braised beef curry with peanuts Trey Ang - Grilled fish (more than 40 freshwater and marine varieties of fish)
Chek Ktih - Bananas in sweet coconut milk Nom Norsorm Chek - Glutinous rice and banana wrap Nom Kroap Kanau - Sweet mung bean rolls Vaoye - Golden angel hair
Fruits Chek Namva - Namva banana Chek Pong Moan - Egg banana Svay - Mango Turain - Durion
Vegetables Traop - Eggplant Marech - Bitter melon Mteh - Chili Tralach - Winter melon Samdech bandos - Bean sprout
Drinks Angkor Beer - Local brew (good stuff!) Bayon Beer - Local brew (cheaper stuff) Taei - Tea
With the American dollar at 4000 riels, Cambodia is one of the cheaper countries in this part of the world. However, Phnom Penh has its share of restaurants and hotels priced for international travelers. Of course, with average salaries at US $50 a month, phnom penhers cannot really afford to dine in places for bor roteh (literally for "cart drivers" as we call foreigners). You will have no problem finding tasty morsels from around the globe from noodles to pastas, fish amok to Cart drivers: Above US $15.00 a meal Expensive: Between US $10.00 and US $15.00 a meal Average: Between US $5.00 and US $10.00 a meal Cheap: Below US $5.00 a meal
Bhoddi
Tree Arram
70 Rue 244. Not far from the southern gate of the Royal Palace. website (023) 211 376
Price: Average Crowd: A few lost tourists, NGO workers, mindful souls Go for: Spanish and Khmer fusion food in a tastefully renovated villa
Set in a quiet and meditative villa. The kitchen of this exclusive boutique hotel essentially serves the same fare as Del Gusto (Spanish tapas with a Khmer twist), complete with international newspapers and magazine as well as lighning fast internet. Try the chicken mushroom pita or the huge servings of grilled vegetables pasta. A gem of a find for elegant yet very affordable foods. Excellent service to boot and good vibrations about, what else would you need? Ah, yes, of course, they are also involved in community development projects!
Del Gusto 43 Rue 95. Not far from S-21, but far enough to avoid bad vibes. website
Price: Average Crowd: NGO workers on weekdays Go for: Spanish and Khmer fusion food in a traditional wooden house
Quite possibly the best Spanish tapas restaurant in Cambodia, without the cattle prodders. A tad overcrowded for lunch on weekdays, which means you may have to wait for a table and your food. Yummy and healthy food at cheap prices, one of the best value for money in town. Take your shoes off to enter the traditional Khmer wooden house or relax outside in the garden. Popular for Sunday brunches as well.
FCCC 363 Quai Sisowath (023) 724 014
Price: Cart drivers Crowd: UN staff, international consultants, families, tourists Go for: Buzz without authenticity
This restaurant bar hotel has been around for a while. The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Cambodia is the meeting place for UN staff, international consultants, journalists, diplomats. It has gone upscale through the years and has not retained its backpacker appeal. FCCC essentially caters to foreigners. Cambodians usually go there to meet their foreign counterparts and to discover the delicacies of exotic western food. Expect to pay US $10.00 for a pizza. The beer is expensive for us, especially during unhappy hours. The FCCC is reminiscent of the early UNTAC era and is still buzzing with the tranquility of a frontier country, but just barely. The building provides an advantageous view point on the boat races in November.
Irina 15 Rue 352. Walkable from Monument of Independence
Price: Average to Cart drivers Crowd: Russian Spetnazt Commandos Go for: Borsch and soviet era memorabilia
Irina has been around for a while, she came with the UNTAC peacekeepers and decided to stay on. Her soups are excellent. This is Russian and Uzbek food at their best, and affordable prices. A quiet place that reminds some of us of our university days in the old soviet block (yep, a whole generation of Cambodians were trained in the USSR after the war). Courteous staff dressed in Russian Navy outfit (no joke).
Khmer Surin 9 Rue 57. Walkable from Monument of Independence. (023) 363 050
Price: Average Crowd: Locals, families, tourists Go for: Mats and pillows seating
We like to take our visitors from out of town to this large three-floor Khmer restaurant. Avoid the ground floor, and go for the mats and cushions if you don't mind crossing your legs for a couple of hours. The top terrace usually enjoys a nice breeze. The service is a bit slow when it gets crowded, but the Khmer Fried Chicken (KFC!) is the best in town! You must order the fish Amok, which comes served as little nipples of coconut mound.
K'nyay website
25K Boulevard Suramarit Rue 57. Walkable from Monument of Independence. (023) 225 225
Price: Cheap Crowd: People who know Go for: Calm and quiet vegan, vegetarian and meaty foods
Translated as "people talk about it". Like few other places we have seen. Refined, elegant, yet simply down to earth and unpretentious. You sit, sipping your smoothie and wait for the food. It may take a while... But the pumkin and pear salad is an oddity, the soups are nutritious and the desserts classic Khmer. And soon, as we have done before, you fall asleep on the sofa in this quiet restaurant at the end of a sunny alley.
La Marmite 15 Rue 108 (023) 998 161
Price: Average to expensive Crowd: families, lonely guys, expatriates, francais des tropiques Go for: Real French food from the Protectorate
One of the most provincial French restaurants in town. Never really busy, nor really sleepy. Our colleagues from Paris tasted and tested it. It's a go ahead according to them. As you may well know, Cambodia was for a century under French Protectorate (the original Barang). These days the term Barang applies to pretty much anybody white. Hearty dishes from the countryside are the house specialties, adequately doused with lots of red wine. Always go for the plat du jour, the dish of the day, as it is a better deal. Otherwise, we would recommend the magret de canard au poivre vert or the escalope de porc au porto.
Mith Samlanh Friends 125 Rue 13. Not very far from the National Museum (012) 802 072
Price: Average Crowd: Families, friends Go for: Street kids and convenient central location
This restaurant is part of a program for street children, so it's all for a good cause. It teaches kids the basics of cooking and waiting tables for essentially a crowd of cart driving patrons. The portions are small but quite yummy, so the concept is more akin to that of a tapas bar with a mix of Cambodian and western dishes, and often fusion recipes. As far as we could see, the kids were doing fine and trying their best to please your average barang. A bit more expensive than it used to be, and crowded with UN staff for lunches, and guidebook holding types all the time!
Pop Cafe 371 Quai Sisowath (023) 363 050
Price: Average Crowd: Families, pasta lovers, tourists Go for: Tiramisu without the Italian bull
Although pastas and pizzas here are consistently good, the atmosphere is that of a small yet trendy family-owned Italian restaurant. Giorgio keeps his hands to his pots and pans, and is more concerned about the food than your girlfriend. This is a welcoming change from the usual blustery hair gel covered latin lovers that may be found elsewhere in Phnom Penh. Quai Sisowath is a touristy area, this place is no tourist trap. The tiramisu is superb and when it is served in style with substance, it tastes all the more scrumptious. Often crowded, but never loud.
Le Rit's Nyemo NGO 14 Rue 310. Near Boulevard Preah Norodom, close to Monument of Independence (023) 213 160
Price: Cheap Crowd: Families, friends Go for: Pots, plants and fountains
This is another café, restaurant, shop and sewing workshop run by a non-governmental organization which aims to help women's socio-economic reintegration into society. There is just one menu priced at $6.00 that includes appetizer, main dish, desert, and coffee. The French Mediterranean food is usually good, but this is tricky as you do not really have much of a choice. The waiting staff stand at attention and seldom leave patrons more than a nano-second unattended. The decor is an exquisite mix of greeneries and fountains.
Romdeng
74 Rue 174 (092) 219 565
Price: Average to expensive Crowd: Families, tourists, Khmer food lovers Go for: Authentic traditional Khmer cuisine served by former street kids
Romdeng is also part of the NGO Mith Samlanh which runs programs for street children, so pigging out is all for a good cause. It teaches kids the basics of cooking and waiting tables for essentially a crowd of cart driving patrons. Honestly, the food served here has no equal in any other restaurants in Cambodia. You would have to eat at Cambodian homes for this level of refinement and deliciousness. If you want to go to a Khmer restaurant, this should be the one. The beef curry Saraman (mistakenly translated on their menu as Khmer Muslim curry!), is on a par with our grandmothers' cooking. Also try the pomelo and mango salads. Forget the fried spiders, it's all for show and nobody likes them. Neatly decorated villa with a mini pool for kids and far fewer guidebook holding types than at Friends.
The Shop / Chocolate 39 Rue 240 (023) 986 964
Price: Average to expensive Crowd: Lords of poverty fighting poverty Go for: Sandwiches, cakes and killer Belgian chocolates
Frankly speaking we couldn't care less about the crowd here. Anybody that is anybody in the development business has lunch at the Shop. The shop itself has not pretense, and serves great breads and pastries and lychee smoothies at reasonable prices. Weekdays noon to 2pm are best avoided unless you are taking away. Our tip is to order your sandwich to go from the Shop and eat them at the cute and cosy Chocolate factory (from the same owner) a couple of houses away on the same street.
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Across the Japanese Bridge on Route 6 |
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Boeng Meas Golden Lake Route Nationale 6. 2km from Chroy Changwa bridge. Boeng side. (011) 822 223 (023) 982 223
Price: Average Crowd: Families, friends Go for: Laid back good food
This popular restaurant offers good food at reasonable prices. It is particularly suited for large simple dinners. Beer girls can be very annoying, whether you are trying to enjoy romance or negotiate business deals. Yet, it is nice to have a good selection of alcohol and drinks. The staff and the beer girls of Boeng Meas remain at a respectable distance giving patrons the necessary privacy. Away from the main hall, a couple of huts on stilts are also available for quiet meals.
Hang Neak The Dragon Route Nationale 6. 3km from Chroy Changwa bridge. Mekong side. (012) 888 061 (012) 888 107
Price: Average to expensive Crowd: Families, friends, parties, weddings, tourists Go for: Fish pond
A hugely glitzy restaurant with a big fish pond complete with bridges and fountain sculptures. Fish food is on sale so you or your children can feed carps that will then be fed to you. The Dragon's dining hall is so long and wide that you can jog around it while waiting for your dishes. It is a big restaurant, with a multitude of small private rooms and an armada of staff to tend to your wishes. Famous and beautiful singers entertain patrons nightly.
Molop Svay Thom Shadow of the Tall Mango Tree Route Nationale 6. 4km from Chroy Changwa bridge. Mekong side. (023) 982 504
Price: Average to expensive Crowd: Families, friends, dates Go for: Quiet riverside tables under mango trees
A few years back the mango tree was recognized as the best fare on route 6. Its hearty ban chaev (pancakes) still attracts aficionados particularly on week-ends. The restaurant is divided in two parts: one section is located by the side of the highway and the other one overlooking the Mekong. Needless to say that the few tables by the river are usually booked. The mango trees, the vines, the river breeze and the sunset on the islands are very conducive to romance. Ah, yes, in case you wondered, Cambodians may enjoy the occasional flirt too.
Rumchang Route Nationale 6. 4km from Chroy Changwa bridge. Mekong side. (023) 982 504
Price: Average to expensive Crowd: Families, friends, dates Go for: Succulent Khmer traditional cuisine
This restaurant offers excellent fare in a sunny setting. Fresh khdam thmor or Mud crabs (unfortunate translation, since we actually call them stone crabs) may be stir fried with a sweet sauce or beer. We give this dish simply the title of "best ever" in Phnom Penh. You are better off picking your own crab (just ask the waiter for the bigger ones!). Crab is not a pauper's meal. It takes fishermen hours to hunt down the critters in the mud and sand. Depending on availability, expect to pay at least US $15.00 per kilogram. For US $20.00 per person you can order the following delicious selection: chay yor (fried rolls), sach koh chakak (beef skewers), ban chay (pancakes) and crabs. The cuisine is excellent and is reasonably priced.
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