After a long day of visiting temples and ruins, there is nothing more rewarding than having good foods that hit the spot.
Are you feeling hungry yet? Same here.
During our whole stay in Siem Reap, we were escorted by the hotel’s driver who took us to the temples and other locations that we wished to go and see. We kind of hired him for the whole time that we were there just because we already trusted him and after all, he’s a hotel’s employee, I don’t think he’s going to do anything that will jeopardize his job right? He was a really nice guy too. After visiting Angkor, we asked him to take us to a place where we can have authentic Cambodian foods. He took us into a restaurant not too far from the temples. You have options in the restaurant if you want to dine in the area with air condition or the room with fans…interesting.
We ordered papaya salad, chicken and fish curry served in a coconut husk, pad thai, and a lot more. I wouldn’t say I was impressed by the food. I am by no mean an expert when it comes to Cambodian foods, but I felt the food was lacking. I think it’s safe to say that even our Cambodian friends did not enjoy it, because after that, we never set foot in a Cambodian restaurant again.
We found our food haven in the streets of Siem Reap just few blocks from our hotel. The Bon Om Touk was ongoing so there were a lot of stores and street foods!
Let me start by saying the Cambodian noodles that we had is bomb! It was made by sautéing onions and greens, adding meat, adding noodles, mixing all the ingredients in a pan, then adding special sauces and spices – at least that’s how I saw them made it. You can even ask them to put eggs in it! It was so good! We had to literally buy it an hour before going to the airport so we can bring some home. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t let us bring it. We were instructed to dispose of it at the airport. My heart was broken.
My taste buds also fell in love with the coconut ice cream that we had.
The highlight of my food adventures in Cambodia are the street foods. It’s cheap, it’s very tasty, and it just makes you keep coming back for more! If you get a chance to visit Cambodia someday, make sure you try their noodles!
