Our Lost Plate in Phnom Penh

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One of the best ways to know a country is through its food and cuisine. Cambodia and the Khmer people have a long and proud civilization dating back thousands of years. The Khmer Civilization was once one of the most advanced in the ancient world and lay hidden away from the world until some Portuguese explorers sailed up the Mekong looking to trade with what they thought would be some small jungle villages.

Little did they know they had stumbled upon a hidden world, a bustling civilisation, a city of millions hidden away in South East Asia.

Know before you go. Our top tips for visiting Phnom Pehn

Visiting Phnom Pehn is a brilliant idea for your holiday in Cambodia. The Cambodian capital is alive with restaurants, culture and has something for everyone. If you plan on visiting Phnom Pehn we have the best travel tips for Phnom Pehn here.

Where to stay in Phnom Penh

There are so many places to stay in Phnom Penh. You will find accommodation in Phnom Penh from budget all the way to absolute luxury. We have decided to recommend both the properties that we stayed in while visiting Phnom Pehn.

  • Luxury Accommodation The Plantation is one amazing destination in itself. 2 pools, 2 restaurants gym and a day spa on site. The pool is a real highlight with cabanas on one side and sun lounges on the other side with the bar and restaurant at the end. The hotel is locked away behind the walls blocking out the hustle and bustle of Phnom Penh. The rooms are well-appointed with rain showers, wifi, air conditioning and a fully stocked minibar. For more information and bookings click here
  • Hostel The Rachana Hostel is centrally located to the Royal Palace and the Riverfront. The Rachana offers rooms for doubles and families. The rooftop bar and washing facilities are available. We booked our Killing Fields and S21 Museum tour through the front desk. Located close to restaurants, bars and convenience stores. For more information and booking click here
Plantation resort and spa in Phnom Penh
The amazing pool area at the Plantation

You will find many other options from rooms, apartments and hotels with booking.com on the map below

Booking.com

What is Khmer cuisine?

Enough of that, let’s talk about the food! We love doing food tours, and a food tour in Phnom Penh was on our itinerary. Khmer food uses as much from the land as possible.

Cambodian cuisine uses flavours, spices and other ingredients from certain regions. Varieties of flour are only sourced in certain parts of the country, making it completely unique. The cuisine is very region hearty and filling.

Who did we go on our food tour of Phnom Pehn with?

We headed out with the Lost Plate Cambodia tour to eat some of this Khmer food while in Phnom Penh. The tour starts by tuk-tuk with a hotel pick-up that delivered us to the first restaurant where our guide and another participant was waiting. We’ve never been on a food tour in a tuk-tuk so we were all really excited.

Stop number one – Num Ban Chok

The first stop provided us with a taste of a curry that has been made since the 5th century. The yellow curry (Num Ban Chok) was a mix of fish stock from a certain fish caught in a certain place in Cambodia. This shop is well known in the area for making this soup and locals come here to have it knowing that the chef is very particular about exactly what goes into her soup.

The soup had noodles and lotus stem in it. It was served with a side plate of mint, garlic, shallots, turmeric, various herbs and ginger that can be mixed in for extra flavour. We all loved to put in the different condiments to see how it changed the flavours and which ones we liked the most.

Do I need travel insurance in Cambodia?
We always say if you can’t afford travel insurance you can’t afford to travel. Get your travel insurance now to protect your epic holiday in Cambodia from any small hiccup.
For Australian travellers, we recommend Fast Cover Travel Insurance
For worldwide travellers, we recommend AXA Travel Insurance

Stop number two

From here our guided tour headed to what can only be described as a village themed restaurant. Walls lined with bamboo and farming instruments, thick low wooden tables and cushions to sit on the ground.

This is how the Khmer would do their meals. Here we were served Shrimp wrapped in a birds nest which is a food for the rich. This was accompanied by a spicy banana blossom salad, red curry and rice. This restaurant was nice and tranquil. We all enjoyed learning about how a traditional Cambodian family would live in a home like this and how they would catch their dinner.

Back into the Tuk Tuk which was an adventure itself as you whizz through the busy streets of Phnom Penh smelling a mix of car fumes and street food jumping at us. The city is rather beautiful at night as the local life food scene becomes evident.

Did I mention that your tuk-tuk will have an esky, chilly bin, cooler or whatever you call it full of cold beer and soft drinks for you on the trip?

Stop number three

Next stop a local corner restaurant to try some Pig Stew in Gravy with duck eggs and tofu, minced pork with eggplant and fermented fish paste and rice. The fermented fish was the most interesting dish with an amazing balance of texture and taste. It was good to sit among the locals and eat.

Stop number four

We whizzed off through the back alleys and small streets to the next destination. It was amazing to get such a unique look at this local side of Phnom Penh. This time we arrived at a restaurant where the owner-chef takes her inspiration from the food of the north.

We had a platter of meats, vegetables and noodles. This was all to be wrapped in lettuce and eaten dipped in a peanut seafood sauce. For me, this was my favourite dish.

Do I need travel insurance in Cambodia?
We always say if you can’t afford travel insurance you can’t afford to travel. Get your travel insurance now to protect your epic holiday in Cambodia from any small hiccup.
For Australian travellers, we recommend Fast Cover Travel Insurance
For worldwide travellers, we recommend AXA Travel Insurance

It was fresh crisp and extremely tasty for all. We also enjoyed a local drink called Sour Morning. It was very tasty and went down very nicely.

Stop number five – Phnom Pehn night market

We headed to a Phnom Penh night market where we had some Cambodian doughnuts with pandan dipping sauce. This stop I think is just to please the Westerners who do the tour as a desert is not a dish recognised by Asian people as such. The local market doughnuts were light and fluffy and pandan custard was thick and creamy. The perfect Cambodian street food combination.

Phnom Penh Cocktail
Local Rum Cocktail

And to finish the night – stop number six

The tour was concluded at a rooftop bar where we sampled a local rum cocktail. It was strong and tasty, typical of most south-east Asian cocktails. We were presented with a local silk-lined small bag for coming on the tour.

If there is something you would like in it let the team know and they will get a couple of extras for you.

With full bellies and a better understanding of the Khmer food’s rich history, our tuk-tuk dropped us back at the hotel. A Phnom Penh food tour is a great way to taste the culture of Cambodia.

How to get to Phnom Penh

Phnom Penh International Airport is located 10 kilometres from the city centre. The airport is serviced by a number of international airlines both budget and full service.

The cost to get into the city centre from Phnom Penh Airport starts at $4USD for a tuk-tuk or $8USD for a car.

Buses arrive daily from both international and domestic locations. Most notably from Siem Reap (Angkor Wat) in the north and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam.

From within Cambodia, you can also book private cars and transports. We booked a 4WD from Battambang to Phnom Penh for $75USD

We hope this article from us here at Wyld Family Travel has you inspired to visit Phnom Pehn in Cambodia and book a Lost Plate food tour. For more amazing ideas on where to holiday in Cambodia click through to our Cambodia Destination Guide page for more brilliant inspiration. Also, don’t forget to visit our Food Tour page for more articles on food tours around the world.


Some more travel inspiration for your trip to Cambodia


1 thought on “Our Lost Plate in Phnom Penh”

  1. Very cool post. We’ve been to Phnom Penh twice with our motorbikes and we totally had a blast, especially when it comes to food. We really enjoyed noodles, night market was cool, barbeque and of course, a cup of fried insects.

    Reply

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