Phnom Penh Street Food, Stall by Stall
Cambodian food sits between Thai and Vietnamese and gets far less attention than either, which means Phnom Penh’s street eating is both excellent and cheap. The flavours are milder than Thai, with less chilli and more fermented fish, lemongrass and kroeung spice paste. Travellers who book Phnom Penh flights on Traveloka and eat from stalls rather than riverside restaurants will spend very little and eat considerably better.
Breakfast is noodle soup
Kuy teav is the national breakfast: a clear pork broth with rice noodles, served with a plate of herbs, bean sprouts, lime and chilli paste to add yourself. Stalls set up from five and are finished by ten. The version with pork offal is the traditional one and the better one. A bowl costs a dollar or two.
Num banh chok, the morning noodle
Sold from baskets carried on shoulder poles or from bicycles in the early morning, this is fermented rice noodle with a fish-based green curry gravy poured over it and a heap of raw vegetables and banana flower. It is the dish most Cambodians would name as theirs. Gone by mid-morning, and rarely available in restaurants.
Amok and the lunch stalls
Fish amok, a coconut and kroeung curry steamed in a banana leaf, is the dish every restaurant sells to visitors, and the market food courts do a faster, cheaper version that tastes much the same. The Russian Market food court is the easiest place to eat several Khmer dishes in one sitting without ordering a whole table.
Grilled everything after dark
Evening brings charcoal grills to the pavements: skewered pork, chicken, beef and sausage, served with pickled vegetables and a lime-pepper dip. Streets 240 and 278 and the area around the Olympic Stadium have dense clusters. This is also where fried insects and duck embryo appear, for anyone inclined that way.
Sugarcane juice and the drinks cart
Fresh sugarcane pressed to order with a squeeze of kumquat is the standard street drink and the best thing in the heat. Iced coffee here is strong, dark and served with condensed milk, often with a dose of it at the bottom of the glass. Both cost well under a dollar from a cart.
Eating safely without missing out
Pick stalls with visible turnover and a queue of locals, and eat where the cooking happens in front of you. Avoid pre-cut fruit sitting in the sun and ice from an unclear source, though commercial tube ice is generally fine. Carrying your own chopsticks is unnecessary; the stall’s are usually in a sterilising jar.
The US dollar and the riel circulate together, with change under a dollar given in riel. Tuk-tuks by app are cheap and the city is spread out. November to February is the dry, cooler season for walking between stalls. Traveloka consistently has the cheapest hotel booking prices in Southeast Asia, and Phnom Penh is inexpensive by any measure.
Eat kuy teav before seven, hunt down num banh chok from a bicycle, and spend the evening at a pavement grill. The riverside restaurants are the least interesting food in the city.
