Shhh... Don't tell anybody, but Phnom Penh is a great place for food. Not only do you have the fascinating Khmer cuisine, but the city is literally studded with tiny French, Italian, English, and even Russian and North Korean restaurants. After decades of eating simply to live, the Khmers seem to have begun living to eat, and the excitement about food in the city is almost palpable. For local flavours, a good place to start is evening at the Psar Thmei, where every evening a few vendors sell some low-key street food, including the delicious looking grilled squid above, and some noodle dishes:
However my favourite market was the Psar O Russei, Phnom Penh's largest. There you'll find everything ranging from roast piglets:
to ladies specializing in ingredients specifically for the countless varieties of samlaw, Khmer-style sour soups:
And this being Cambodia, there is a truly mind-boggling variety of freshwater fish:
Inside the market building you'll find fresh(ish) meat:
dried fish:
and a dark but inviting food court that must be the greatest conglomeration of Khmer food in the world:
I would highly recommend these stalls to anybody visiting the city. The selection was great, the prices cheap, and the stalls were actually much more sanitary than their outdoor brethren.
There are several fun markets within the downtown area alone, some specializing in raw ingredients:
and others featuring prepared food, such as grilled snakehead fish:
and deep-fried treats:
The waterfront along the Tonle Sap is also a decent place to grab a snack:
Especially if you share the Cambodian love for eating deep-fried insects:
But food is more or less everywhere in Phnom Penh:
And one particularly ubiquitous eat is sugarcane:
The stuff is peeled:
then squeezed through a frightening looking machine to produce some of the most refreshing liquid known to man:
A few more food pics can be seen here, and more, generally less food-related photos can be seen here.