SE Asia Trip Part 7 – Siem Reap Restaurant & Food Tour

Siem Reap Night Market Food Stall

Besides seeing the temples in Angkor and the museums and memorials in Phnom Penh, we also wanted to sample the food in Cambodia. In Siem Reap, we visited a very nice restaurant the first night and took a food tour the second night.

When we went to Hanoi in 2018, we had an amazing food tour. I reached out to our guide from that tour when I was planning this trip and he gave me some recommendations. They included Cuisine Wat Damnak and the Siem Reap Food Tour so I booked both.

Cuisine Wat Damnak was on the other side of the river not too far from the Siem Reap Night Market, which we visited first. I recommend making a reservation as it is fairly small and every table was full when we were there.

The restaurant offers both a tasting menu and an a la carte option. We decided on the tasting menu with meat.

For an eight course tasting menu, $45 seems both cheap in general and on the expensive side for Cambodia. Everything was locally sourced and delicious. The drinks were also very good. I didn’t get a picture of everything as we were just enjoying our meal. I did get some pictures of the cocktails we tried and the frog legs soup.

The next night we went on the Siem Reap Food Tour. Our tour guide was actually an American from Boston who has lived in Cambodia for 15 years. He picked us up in a tuk-tuk and that is what we used to get around the various neighborhoods of Siem Reap.

After the tour, our guide sent me a list of the foods we tried so I’ll match the description up with my pictures.

Jean nom pang: Bread that has been spread with prohet (fish paste) and deep fried then topped with papaya pickle and sweet fermented soy beans.

Nom katchai: Chive cake. A large rice flour dumpling filled with garlic chives that is boiled then fried and topped with a fried egg.

Nom ban chok. Also known as Khmer noodles. A coconut based broth seasoned with fermented fish, turmeric and galangal served on a bed of fresh rice noodles, banana flower cucumber and various herbs and leaves. The method of making rice noodles evolved in Cambodia centuries ago. We also tried the chicken curry version.
Ko ang: Cambodian barbecued beef served with dtuek prahok, a popular dipping sauce made from fermented fish.

Road 60 night market. A central part of local nightlife, the market has existed in this spot for almost 10 years. Here we ate some prahok krasang and stuffed frog. We also had some nom kruk, lovely cakes made from rice flour and coconut milk and stuffed with corn and spring onion. And some pniew and lychee.

Bong-aim. A collective word for dessert in Cambodia. Here, coconut milk is served with crushed ice, and condensed milk and whichever “fillings” you choose. We had sticky rice, a coconut milk based pudding, and yawt, a small cake made from duck egg and wheat flour.

We also tried a couple of Cambodian beers:

We really enjoyed the tour and were stuffed when we were dropped back at the Park Hyatt.

Up Next: Park Hyatt Siem Reap Park Executive Suite Review

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