Restaurants in Phnom Penh
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A
Friends
The delightful Friends restaurant is run by the Mith Samlanh Friends NGO. Staffed by street youths training for the hospitality industry, it offers healthy international dishes and delicious fruit cocktails.
reviewed
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B
Romdeng
Also under the Mith Samlanh Friends NGO umbrella, the elegant Romdeng specialises in traditional food from the provinces and offers a staggering choice of traditional Khmer fare.
reviewed
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Van’s Restaurant
Located in one of the grandest buildings in the city, the former Banque Indochine, you can still see the old vault doors as you make your way to the refined dining room upstairs. Dishes are beautifully presented with a decorative flourish, and menu highlights include sea perch carpaccio, tender veal and Grand Marnier soufflé. Cheaper set lunches available.
reviewed
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C
Baitong
Promoting itself as a Thai restaurant, it offers a range of Mekong flavours, including Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese. The prices are very reasonable and options include a buffet lunch for around US$3. It acts as a bit of a hub for the NGO community with a resource library and meeting rooms.
reviewed
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D
Khmer Surin
Popular with tour groups thanks to the atmospheric ambience with floor cushions, flowering plants and antique furnishings, this restaurant serves reliable Cambodian and Thai food. Set over three levels, it is still possible to find a quiet corner.
reviewed
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E
Boat Noodle Restaurant
This old wooden house, in a leafy garden brimming with water features, offers some of the best-value Thai and Cambodian food in town. With tasty noodle soups for breakfast and special set lunches each day, it’s worth a visit.
reviewed
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F
Jars of Clay
Scones in Cambodia? Yes, and they aren't half-bad. Just one of the baker's delights to be found in this café near the Russian Market.
reviewed
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G
Lazy Gecko Café
This little eatery serves international dishes. Throwing some weighty support behind the JCA (Jeannine's Children Association) Orphanage, it hosts a quiz and raffle night on Thursdays and loads guests and donated goods onto an orphanage-bound minibus on Saturdays, where they can enjoy dinner and a performance by the children.
reviewed
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H
Malis
The leading Khmer restaurant in the capital, Malis is a chic place to see and be seen. The garden is the most atmospheric, but air-conditioned dining is available in the maze-like building. The original menu includes beef in bamboo strips, sand goby with ginger and traditional soups and salads. Popular for a boutique breakfast, as the menu is a good deal at US$1.50 to US$3.
reviewed
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I
Java Café
One of the most popular cafe-restaurants in the city, thanks to a breezy balcony and air-conditioned interior. The creative menu includes crisp salads, homemade sandwiches, towering burgers and daily specials, plus health drinks, fruit shakes and coffee from several continents. It has recently expanded downstairs with some comfy couches and more great cakes.
reviewed
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J
Shop
If you are craving the local deli back home, then make for this haven, which has a changing selection of sandwich and salad specials. The pastries and cakes are delectable and worth the indulgence. Almost next door and under the same management is the Chocolate Shop (35 St 240), a highly dangerous spot for recovering chocoholics open from 8am to 8pm.
reviewed
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K
El Mundo
A mellow riverfront establishment, which grinds up great coffee. The menu includes a range of global food and pastries, plus there’s an upstairs lounge for movies. Newly opened next door is Chill, the capital’s first dedicated ice-cream lounge, with original homemade flavours. It is open from 8am until midnight.
reviewed
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L
Slek Chak
Owned by the legendary Preap Sovath, pretty much the Robbie Williams of Cambodia, this place doesn’t look much from the street, but venture inside for a dining experience that includes a zesty frogs legs and quails eggs in a sugar palm and black pepper clay pot or a fish egg soup. The lunch buffet is just US$3.
reviewed
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M
Metro
Metro is one of the leading spots on the riverfront strip thanks to a striking design and an adventurous menu. Small plates are for sampling and include rare-pepper tuna and tequila black-pepper prawns, while large plates include twice-cooked duck with lychee. It also pulls a well-heeled Khmer crowd.
reviewed
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Del Gusto
Following the same formula as the Boddhi Tree Umma with a similar Mediterranean/Asian menu, the Del Gusto is set in a creaky old villa that whiffs of the colony. The old French building is perfect for the classical and jazz music that fills its space, adding a relaxed groove to the laid-back ambience.
reviewed
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Lotus Blanc
Fifteen minutes from the city centre, this restaurant acts as a vocational training centre for youths who were found scouring the area's garbage dump for a meagre living. Run by French NGO, PSE-Pour un Sourire d'Enfant (For the Smile of a Child), it serves Western and Khmer cuisine.
reviewed
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Café El Mundo
If you're on a mission to mellow after a frantic day, sneak inside this café and the madness of Phnom Penh will feel like a world away. The mezzanine level has wall-to-wall lounges, which makes staying here all day a very tempting prospect. Fruit teas and West meets East food.
reviewed
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N
Goldfish River Restaurant
Sitting on stilts over the Tonlé Sap, this restaurant may not be designed to impress, but the menu offers authentic Cambodian food with a generous breeze for free. Crab with black pepper, squid with fresh peppercorns; the selection is dizzying with more than 300 dishes available.
reviewed
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O
Boddhi Tree Umma Restaurant
This is heaven compared to the hell of Tuol Sleng across the road. The lush garden is the perfect place to seek solace and silence after the torture museum. The impressive menu includes fusion flavours, Asian dishes, sandwiches and salads, innovative shakes and tempting desserts.
reviewed
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P
Riverhouse Asian Bistro
Remodelled as a contemporary dining space, the new menu here veers towards Asian fusion, with light bites and hearty mains, including a superb value beef tournedos or a tasty mix of skewers. It gets very busy at the weekend when diners warm up for a night at the upstairs lounge.
reviewed
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Q
Nature & Sea
Perched on a rooftop above the lively 278 strip and with views over Wat Langka, Nature & Sea has excellent fruit shakes including passionfruit and honey blends. The specialities are savoury whole-wheat pancakes and fresh fish in English, Australian, French or Italian styles.
reviewed
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R
Tamarind Bar
Very Moorish you might say, as this place brings the magic of the Maghreb to Phnom Penh with some classic Moroccan tajines and a small selection of tapas, plus some French influences. Downstairs is an inviting bar with high ceilings, while the rooftop offers al-fresco dining.
reviewed
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Hang Neak
Swanky Khmer restaurants line NH6 on the east side of the Chruoy Changvar Bridge and offer a unique and authentic dining experience for less money than likely at first glance. Try Hang Neak or Heng Lay, which both host local Charlie Chaplin-esque comedians and karaoke stars.
reviewed
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Garden Center Café
Relocated to the Wat Phnom area, there is less garden, but it is more central than before. It remains an expat favourite thanks to the big breakfasts and huge portions of home-cooked food. Most mains come with a side salad, plus there are Sunday roasts and tasty desserts.
reviewed
