Eat/drink like the locals, Phnom Penh

This is a perfect example of missing out on something if you are afraid to try it. I had noticed these odd little dumpling-like fritters being fried up in huge woks at many a backstreet food cart before jumping in and giving them a try. Ok, it is embarrassing going up and asking for something (well, pointing at them anyway) and having no idea what you’re going to get, but the payoff is just too great to pass it up. This particular cart was on a filthy dirt road just around the corner from our hostel and was quite busy with locals stopping in for an afternoon snack.

Favorite Dish: They were more than happy to dish us up a plate for us for 1,000 riel (a quarter) and it was one of the tastiest snacks I’ve had on the trip. They have a gooey consistency inside and a bit crusty on the outside and they give you a nice sweetly spicy sauce to dip them in too.

If there’s one thing that irritates me more than traveler’s eating at McDonald’s while in the culinary paradise of Southeast Asia, it’s the preponderance of Coke addicts. Why drink this banal concoction when there is a plethora of local beverages to sample? The young girls that work these are a real pleasure too. It's tough work grinding the cane by hand but they are always full of smiles while doing it.

Favorite Dish: One ubiquitous pleasure is the sugar cane drink. You’ll know you’ve found one when you see the press that the vendors use to squeeze the juice from the cane. It’s a refreshing drink and though full of sugar, it can’t be worse for you than the acid-like colas people are guzzling. And at 500 riels (12 cents), they’re a lot cheaper too!

As is typical of me when traveling, beer can be a factor in my picking a restaurant. This little hole-in-the-wall had Angkor beer on draft. We had passed another place as there were just way too many flies cohabitating the premises. This one was not a lot better but they had a fan that seemed to keep the pests at bay. We decided to try some food as the owner seemed a nice enough guy and was genuinely happy that two tourists decided to give his joint a go.

Favorite Dish: We ordered a salad of banana flowers (2500 riel or 62 cents each) and since it was so cheap, we got two of them. Our mistake was going with his suggestion of getting it with chicken, which turned out to resemble what was left of making up the daily soup special. It was stringy and dry but I tried my best to make it look tasty as I ate a polite amount. It came with a fantastic samla machou (free!), a hot and sour fish soup that would have been more than enough for a lunch. It’s a shame, you never seem able to order this soup on its own, it’s just included with many meals at local eating places. Mugs of the local Angkor beer were 2000 riel/50 cents) apiece. A small bowl of peanuts was 1000 riel and maybe a safer bet if you’re stopping in merely for the beer!

The local food stalls have to be given a try though at times, one can go beyond the boundary of what one should try. We saw these gorgeous looking fried bananas and asked the local woman selling them for a portion by pointing. She likewise pointed to something she felt went well with the requested item. Not wanting to look uninformed, I nodded yes and we walked off with not only the bananas but some kind of odd looking fried fish.

Favorite Dish: Since it was cooked, I figured it couldn’t do me any harm. Well, before it was cooked it evidently had fermented a bit during storage. This is evidently an acquired taste for the locals and they love it and I must say, the odd sour flavor did go well with the sweet bananas. But later that night, the fermented part of my snack obviously didn’t agree with my stomach. I guess it’s not only an acquired taste but an acquired immunity to the bacteria that goes along with this fermentation (spoiled!?) process. Advice: go for the friend bananas (500 riels or 12 cents) and skip the salty fish (1000 riel).

Rice is a fundamental food in all these countries. Is like bread for us in Europe. We eat it in every meal.
It's cheap and filling, healthy and everybody likes it.
If you go to a market, you will find many kinds of rice, many more than those you can find at home.
But when you order in a restaurant, there is only a "plain rice" dish... maybe the others are for gourmets...

You will find here many street stalls with a wide variety of local food. Don't ask me what exactly did I eat, as I couldn't answer that, but I survived, and I must say it was delicious and probablu much healthier than the rubbish we eat in the wester world.
Besides, it's really cheap. I never spent more than 2 USD, including the Angkor Beer!!

I usually dine in a local vendor around town where I found out that it's cheap and different.
Another place that I should recommend is Russian Market (Toul Tom Pong Market) . I was having a lunch there before went off to genocide museum.
Maybe you wanna try 'The Best Coffee In Phnom Penh' for a coffee lover and for some other local meal you can get it just right infront the place itself. Should I category it as restaurant or just a kiosk? ermm I donno.......

There seem to big on seafood. Most people seem to venture to the sea food places. The guid that I hires seemed to suggest that I got to some of the sea food restaurants.

I found some veyr nice and cheap and excellent restaurants right outsdide the Ankor Wat in Siem Reap. In Phnom Phen my driver took me to some restaurant right by the river that had a huge selection of sea food on the menu.

Favorite Dish: I being a vegetarian my selection was limited. But there was quite a bit.