Khmer cuisine might not yet be taking over the world, but Cambodia is slowly gaining a rep for its great food. And among this genre is its street food, with Kampot offering some of the best within the Kingdom.
For the uninitiated Kampot is one of the most popular places for tourists in Cambodia, with guests drawn for its history, beaches, party vibe, as well as its food. In fact some might argue that when it comes to bang for your buck this town is arguably the best in the country.
It is also but a mere three hours drive from the capital, or if you are feeling really adventurous is also on the southbound Royal Cambodian Railways network.
So, what is the Kampot street food scene? In essence it can be split into at least three categories, namely true street food, western orientated street food and restaurants that are so damned cheap they might as well be street food.
Finding the best Kampot Street Food
With the riverside dominating Kampot unsurprisingly it is also the Mecca for dining within the town. This means that whilst options are a little bit spartan during the day, when the sun starts to set this all begins to change when the vendors and carts start to arrive.
As the cooking starts you are immediately drawn by the aroma of Khmer cuisine, not to mention witnessing Kampot truly come to life. Options wise much of what is on offer is not all that dissimilar to places such as Sihanoukville, or Battambang.
What makes Kampot stand out though when compared to other towns is that great seafood on offer, as well as the fruits, most famous of which is durian. This notoriously stinky fruit is not only cheap and plentiful in Kampot, but also its second most famous export, after pepper.
Depending on how long you stay in Kampot at least one night can be spend vendor hopping and trying an array of street food.
The best Kampot food markets and courts
As well as what you might call traditional Kampot street food, there are also a number of markets, night markets and food courts that offer a similar, but also fairly unique street food experience. These are littered around the whole town, but are most prevalent around the town centre and where all of the tourists hang out.
Said food courts offer all the main favorites, such as fried noodles, rice and Khmer BBQ, but also “tourist friendly” dishes such as fruit shakes and of course vegan options. Interestingly many also provide Khmer variants on western classics such as hamburgers and pizzas, with results best being described as mixed at best.
My personal favorite in this genre was Khmer Food Cafe (KFC), who did actually sell fried chicken. When asked about the choice of name the owner laughed and said words to the affect of “its brings in the Barang”.
Restaurants in Kampot
As a town popular nor just with visiting foreigners, but also with large expat population the restaurant scene in Kampot is not just eclectic, but high quality and extremely good value.
This means that quite often there are restaurants with huge menus that offer great dishes in a restaurant environment for the same price as if you were sitting outside. These are chiefly manifested in the many Happy Pizza style joints, that no pun intended previously offered more than just food. Nowadays though they are just great value restaurants.
And as with anything there is also an economies of scale element to food here, with one able to get a steak in a famous restaurant, such as Kampot Pepper and Seafood for as little as $10.
So, while food might not be your principal reason to visit, you will not only not go hungry here, but might also find yourself highly impressed by the Kampot street food scene.
Author: Gareth Johnson
Gareth Johnson is the founder of Young Pioneer Tours and has visited over 180+ countries. His passion is opening obscure destinations to tourism and sharing his experience of street food.
