Street Food in Phnom Penh

There’s a lot written about street food in Bangkok, and it’s very much deserved; street food in Thailand is delicious!  However, this leads people to discredit street food in the neighboring countries.  And so, we dedicate this blog post to the less-frequently discovered – yet tasty – street food of Phnom Penh.

We decided the best way to discover the food of Phnom Penh streets was to dedicate a day, driving around the city, tasting food.  While most visitors will hit up the Russian Market for their street food kicks, we’ve never been that impressed.  Instead, we traveled along some of the main arteries of Phnom Penh and found the following:

• On Norodom Blvd we had “Bok Lahung.”  This papaya salad with ground peanuts, dried shrimp, and some lime juice is the best!  Our favorite.
• In Hun Sen Park we ate “Satch Baitong” (Green Meat).  Contrary to the name (and look), it’s actually quite tasty, especially when dipped in spicy sauce!
• Behind the National Museum we had bright red Grilled Chicken Wings with lime and pepper sauce.  Very delicious, but – unfortunately – very little meat on the bones.
• Near St 278 (the Golden Mile) we tasted a Khmer beef sausage.  Kind of terrible, so it was left on the road for the dogs.  Maybe we just chose the wrong one…
• Near the Chinese Embassy we regularly eat “Low Chaa” for breakfast, lunch, and/or dinner!  Short, flour noodles are fried with oyster sauce, morning glory (Cambodian greens), and a little bit of meat, topped by a fried duck egg.
• Behind the Phnom Penh Sports Club, near the Dike Road, is “Pork and Rice.”  A Cambodian dish we wish was served for more than just breakfast, this dish consists of double-grilled pork, pickled vegetables, scrambled eggs, and chili sauce over rice.  Really, it’s the Cambodian version of huevos rancheros.
• Also near the Chinese Embassy are “Fried Bananas.”  Fried in a batter made of sugar, coconut milk and rice flour, these snacks are served with sugar – excellent!
• We did find one delicious snack at the Russian Market: Pineapple Shake.  Ask for it without sugar and sweetened condensed milk, if you want a healthier version.

There’s even more delicious street food to be had all over Phnom Penh.  However, we’ll leave you to explore on your own!

New Direction

Well friends, we've decided to change the overall direction of our blog.  Rather than just rambling on about our travels and daily lives, we want to provide a more useful resource: a travel guide.

Yes, there are lots, and lots!, of travel guides out there, but we hope we'll be able to offer something a little different.  Most of the travel guides - especially for Asia - that we've run across, tend to give information about all travel destinations and tourist sites.  All this information tends to be a bit overwhelming for the casual traveler on a short-term trip with limited funds.  Our goal will be to sort through all that and give you a list of the must-sees...and the must eats!

We're viewing ourselves as a cross between all our favorite travelers: Rick Steves (Europe Through the Back Door), Anthony Bourdain (No Reservations) and Ian Wright (Globe Trekker).

Hope you find this information helpful, should you ever plan to visit us!  If not, at least you'll be keeping up with what we're seeing and doing.

Look for a new post, coming soon (we promise!).

Happy Traveling!
Daron and Kirstin