Phnom Penh Food Guide: Where & What to Eat

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Phnom Penh has Cambodia’s most diverse food scene by far — the full range of Khmer cooking alongside a genuinely international restaurant scene built up by decades of NGO workers, expats, and, more recently, a wave of serious local chefs.

Khmer dishes to try

The same staples found across Cambodia — amok, lok lak, nom banh chok — are all here, often executed at a higher level than in smaller towns given the capital’s more competitive restaurant scene. Bai sach chrouk (grilled pork over rice, typically eaten for breakfast) is a Phnom Penh specialty worth seeking out at a street stall.

Where to eat

Riverside (Sisowath Quay) has the highest concentration of restaurants aimed at visitors; BKK1 has a more local, expat-driven cafe and restaurant scene with excellent coffee shops; and the areas around the Central and Russian Markets offer the best cheap street food.

Street food and markets

Psar Thmei (Central Market) and Psar Toul Tom Poung (Russian Market) both have strong food stall sections, with meals running $1-3 — some of the best value eating in the city.

Frequently asked questions

What is Phnom Penh’s signature dish?

Bai sach chrouk, grilled pork served over rice and typically eaten for breakfast, is considered a Phnom Penh specialty.

Is Phnom Penh’s food scene better than Siem Reap’s?

It’s more diverse and internationally influenced given the capital’s larger expat population, though both cities have strong Khmer food.

Where’s the best street food in Phnom Penh?

The food stall sections at the Central Market and Russian Market are reliable, cheap options.

Related guides

Named restaurants across price ranges

Malis, on Norodom Boulevard, is the benchmark for elevated modern Khmer food in an elegant garden courtyard — mains run $8-16, and dishes like the fish amok and beef lok lak are done with more finesse than the tourist-menu versions elsewhere. Romdeng, run as a training restaurant for former street children, serves genuinely excellent Khmer classics (including its famous fried tarantula, if you’re curious) at moderate prices ($4-9 mains), with proceeds supporting the program. For a casual, local-favorite lunch, Boat Noodle near BKK1 does cheap, fast Khmer noodle soups for $2-3 in a lively, always-busy setting.

Markets and street food

Psar Thmei (Central Market) and Russian Market both have food sections where you can eat alongside locals for $1-3 a dish — look for stalls with a steady stream of Khmer customers as the simplest quality signal. Night markets, including the one near the riverside, are a good low-pressure way to sample a wide range of small dishes (grilled skewers, noodle soups, fresh fruit) without committing to a full sit-down meal.

A note on adventurous eating

Phnom Penh’s food scene rewards a bit of boldness — beyond the tarantula at Romdeng, look out for prahok (fermented fish paste, a foundational Khmer flavor), num banh chok (fresh rice noodles with fish-based green curry, best eaten in the morning), and grilled river fish sold by riverside vendors in the evening. If your stomach needs an easier landing, the international restaurant scene around BKK1 covers everything from Italian to Japanese at prices similar to Western cities.

Combining a market visit with sit-down dining

A good day of eating in Phnom Penh mixes both worlds — a market food stall lunch at Psar Thmei or Russian Market for $2-4, followed by a proper sit-down dinner at somewhere like Malis or Romdeng in the evening, giving a real spread of the city’s food culture without spending heavily at every meal.

Dietary restrictions and vegetarian options

Vegetarian and vegan travelers will find solid options at most sit-down restaurants aimed at foreigners, including Romdeng and several BKK1 cafes, though fish sauce and prahok appear in many traditional dishes by default — it’s worth specifically asking for a fully vegetarian preparation rather than assuming a dish is meat-free.

Cooking classes as a food-focused activity

For travelers who want to go deeper than eating alone, Phnom Penh has a smaller but growing cooking class scene compared to Siem Reap’s more established offerings — several restaurants including some near BKK1 run half-day classes covering Khmer staples like fish amok and lok lak, typically $20-30 including a market visit and shared meal.

Coffee culture in Phnom Penh

Cambodian coffee, traditionally served strong over ice with sweetened condensed milk, is worth trying at a local cafe alongside the more familiar specialty coffee scene that’s grown in BKK1 in recent years — the contrast between a traditional $1 iced coffee from a street stall and a $3-4 pour-over at a modern cafe says a lot about how quickly Phnom Penh’s food and drink culture is evolving.

How Phnom Penh’s dining scene reflects the city’s history

Phnom Penh’s food culture carries visible layers of French colonial influence (visible in its bakeries and some fine-dining menus), Chinese-Cambodian trading heritage around the older market districts, and contemporary international influence from its growing expat community — a more layered culinary history than Siem Reap’s more singularly Khmer-focused food scene, worth exploring specifically if food history interests you as part of your trip.

A practical note on restaurant reservations

Higher-end restaurants like Malis benefit from reservations, especially for dinner on weekends, while more casual spots like Romdeng and Boat Noodle generally accommodate walk-ins without issue — a quick message or call from your hotel earlier in the day is usually sufficient for the reservation-preferring restaurants rather than needing to book days in advance.

How to build your own food-focused day in the city

A well-paced food day might start with a traditional iced coffee and breakfast noodles at a local stall, move to a market lunch at Russian or Central Market, and finish with a proper sit-down dinner at Malis or Romdeng — a progression that mirrors how many Phnom Penh residents actually eat across a typical day, from quick and local to more considered and social by evening.

For travelers with extra time, seeking out a specific neighborhood’s food stalls (BKK1’s cafe cluster, or the area around Central Market) rather than relying solely on named restaurant recommendations often surfaces genuinely excellent smaller finds that don’t appear in standard guides.

Phnom Penh’s food scene, less internationally famous than Siem Reap’s but arguably just as rewarding, deserves genuine attention rather than being treated as a mere stopover meal between sightseeing stops.

Phnom Penh Food Guide: Where and What to Eat