Eating Out in Phnom Penh
It’s easy enough to find Cambodian fare anywhere but we usually bring out guests to either Malis, Khmer Surin, or Sugar Palm.
The Mekong River and the Tonle Sap Lake have the most abundant variety of fresh water species in the world and you should try their specialties like the amok fish and the river prawn.
What’s noticeable with a small city like Phnom Penh is that when it comes to international fare, they are pretty authentic. When you go to a Vietnamese restaurant, your pho is cooked by a Vietnamese. When you go to a Japanese restaurant, a real Japanese chef would roll your sushi. When you go to a Lebanese restaurant, the Lebanese chef would serve you your hummus and taboulehs. When you go to an Italian restaurant, an Italian would cook your pizza the way they do in Rome. And when you go to a French restaurant, the French chef would serve you like a real French gourmet.
Budget in Phnom Penh
You can rent a car or taxi for the whole day for around $25 to $35. But you may also get a tuktuk (motorcycle trailer) for only $10 to $15. For food and lodging, Phnom Penh is the sort of city where there is something available for every budget.
If you’re going shopping, if you have a hundred dollars, it would take you far and if you spend all of it, you would need to buy another suitcase to carry all your purchases back home!
Phnom Penh in a Nutshell
Cambodia’s gaping contrasts are evident in Phnom Penh – the city introduces you to the magnificence of the great Angkor civilization as well as the horrors of the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime.
The city sits at the confluence of the region’s three great rivers – the Mekong, the Tonle Sap, and the Tonle Bassac. It is the capital of Cambodia and offers a wide range of cultural and historical attractions. It is also the gateway to the land of Angkor in Siem Reap, as well as the pristine beaches in the south (Sihanoukville and Kep).
Phnom Penh remains one of the few cities where one could just stroll leisurely in the park, fly a kite, enjoy the wind through your hair, watch the river flow along the bank, nurse a cup of coffee for half a day in one of the al fresco bars by the riverside, or stare wondrously at the colored fountain at the Independence Monument for hours.
Toe is an expatriate based in Phnom Penh. More of her adventures in Cambodia can be found on her personal blog.
