Mekong Mornings Food Tour with 15+ Tastings

Meet your guide outside the National Museum of Cambodia and prepare for four hours and 15+ tastings through the heart of Phnom Penh. Before the midday heat settles in, we'll explore busy markets, street vendors and local eateries serving the dishes that fuel the Cambodian capital each morning. Khmer cooking has absorbed centuries of regional trade, neighbouring Southeast Asian influences and French colonial rule, but what emerged is unmistakably Cambodian.

Before we get started, our tour reflects the local cuisine and the limitations of traditional eateries mean we unfortunately cannot cater for every dietary restriction. Here's an honest appraisal so nobody is disappointed:


✔ Suitable for lactose intolerance and mild nut allergies
⚠ Possible for pescatarians, gluten intolerance, no pork and no seafood diets, though some tastings will be unsuitable.
✖️ Unsuitable for vegan, vegetarian, and halal diets.

Plunge straight into Psar Kandal, one of Phnom Penh's great everyday markets. Weave between traders surrounded by tropical fruit, fresh herbs, vegetables and wriggling seafood, stopping to taste whatever seasonal fruits are best that morning. Then attack our first snacks: nom kong, Cambodia's crisp, chewy doughnut, and golden nom kroch, fried until crisp around a sweet mung bean centre. From here, follow the locals to breakfast with num banh chok, soft rice noodles piled with herbs and vegetables beneath a fragrant Khmer-style gravy.

Keep moving through the market and track down a specialist steaming nom putu bambu. Soft rice cakes are steamed inside tubes before being showered with fresh coconut. Nearby, we'll get a closer look at how Cambodian noodles are prepared and learn why rice and rice noodles have been at the heart of Khmer cooking for generations. There are 15+ tastings to conquer, so consider this the warm-up.

Now loosen the belt. Pull up a chair for some of Cambodia's heavyweight classics, starting with amok trey: tender fish cooked with coconut and aromatic kroeung, the fragrant spice-and-herb paste fundamental to Khmer cooking. Follow with samlor machu moan, a bright chicken and lemongrass sour soup that hits salty, sour and fragrant all at once. Then comes beef lok lak, tender stir-fried beef paired with Cambodia's unmistakable peppery dipping sauce.
French colonial rule also left Phnom Penh with one particularly delicious habit: bread. Tear into nompang pâté, a crusty Cambodian baguette packed with savoury fillings and fresh accompaniments. French bakery technique, thoroughly commandeered by Khmer appetites.

Arrive at the Central Market to explore a new set of vendors. Crunch through nom kong Kampong Cham, a savoury shrimp cracker, before tackling num koum, sticky rice with coconut and sesame, and num bot, its savoury cousin filled with mung bean and pepper.

Our final tasting to conclude on is ta-pae, fermented rice paired with fresh coconut. Sweet, gently boozy and unlike anything we've eaten so far, it's a fitting finale to four hours spent exploring just how much Cambodian cooks can do with rice, coconut, fish, herbs and a serious appetite. From the morning chaos of Psar Kandal to steaming noodles, fish amok and Khmer sweets, this is Phnom Penh from the plate up.