Well I figure with 34 views and no posts this is either

- reckoned a silly question
-nobody can be arsed to give me an indicator of what I should expect to pay for food

Can I make this easier I wonder...

She's eating a rat, how much is a BBQ Rat on a Stick?

This is one of them black spiders they like to deep fat fry, whats a bag of these things cost?

This is a bit more normal, going rate for street vendor Noodle Soup please?

I forget the Thai name for a pakapow made with noodle rather than rice, but looks like this have this in Cambo too, how much do you reckon this would set me back?

Meat on a stick?

I've not eaten reptile yet, so I am actually quite keen to try BBQ snake, are they cheap or expensive?

Maybe you all eat at fancy western restaurant for about $10 a meal, if so please confirm and I'll take me food price questions elsewhere

Many thanks!

Just out side La Croisette on street 144 & Sisowath Quay you will find Mr How's Noodle cart. Mr How has been cooking up a storm for around 8 years.

Mee Char - Fried Noodles (maybe there is another Khmer word for it)

veggies & noodles - 2500 Riel
beef - veggies - noodles 2500 Riel
Beef veggies noodles & egg - 3000 Riel

Noodle cart arrives around 1.30Pm and stays until around 7 Pm. - 7 days a week - schedule may change due to weather and public holidays.

Ah ha, wicked, now thats my sort of restaurant He even reminds me of Nod at the Papaya eating place on Ko Phi Phi, if a little chunkier!

Not that I am looking to be Cheap Charlie, but when there's decent food around for less than a dollar, whats the point in spending $10 on a pizza which aint gonna fill you up? I have a large appetite and if I ate constantly at the classier places I'd not be able to afford the rent

you'll find the cheapest food on the moving food stalls i guess- most of them have just snacks though
starts at 500 riel a piece, like for some fried rice pancake thing for example
a few of them would fill your stomach

when you go to one of this "garage/livingroom" kind of places that are established, you'll pay like 1000 riel for a plate of rice (some might charge 1500) and additional 2000 - 3000 riel for a plate of veggie/meat mix

im sure there are cheaper as well as more expensive places, also depending on the area

you can get a baguette with chicken for 3000 riel and a soup for around the same

any place you go will offer you free iced tea
an iced coffe w/o milk is usually 1500
with milk 2000 riel

anyway, around 7000 riel a meal you will find a great selection as well as quality
it is easy to find decent food, as there are food carts, little eateries and restaurants almost everywhere

have fun

p.s. mr how's noodle cart sounds good

Although I applaud the goal to eat at lower prices as many of the western establishments do, in fact, serve the same overcooked food for the same overpriced prices. After living here for quite some time, I have never been able to eat a khmer meal from anywhere without being sick in the end. Although I appreciate the culture and again, the cost savings, I find that in the end, the extra money I spend is saved in the medication bills and time off from working due to having to spend a day in the WC recovering!

Although there is on Khmer place near sorya where you can eat well and cheap, as well as an Indian/Halal place up by Lyon D'Or that serves a huge amount of food for less than 3USD and quite tasty and never been sick!!

best of luck!

Cheers Newgirl, useful prices there, along with Anthony's mention of Mr How I reckon I can suss out some fairly accurate eating costs

Sorry to hear about your Khmer food problems Thorazinedc! I hear Cambofood is not as spicy as Thai food and I seemed to get on alright there, so I'm not expecting any nasties, but who knows how its going to swing?

Thai food did lead to one phenomenon which gained a reputation with some of the NK farang, this was the shart. This is a cross between a shit and a fart; an expected expelling of gas followed with an unexpected small leakage of additional moisture :sicksmiley:

Happened often enough to get a name, but not often enough to put down the food

It was the (far too large) mango smoothie I had when I first landed in Bangkok which caused the most damage in that area

Things I found more perturbing where like, the parts of animal you'd find on some of the meat-on-a-stick varieties... chicken neck? But there's no proper meat in that, it's all bone! 20Baht for a bone on a stick

There is a bunch of Chinese restaurants around Central market, running up from Sorya to Monivong. Last time I paid 7 usd for 3 people, food and drinks. Never gotten sick there.

it probably wasnt really due to the spiciness that ppl got sick really. it's the non-sanitary preparation that does the job on most extra cheap meals as the food preparer does not wash his/her hands thoroughly enough after visiting the loo and then touching the food. even my khmer translator just took an MC due to typhoid, which is what u get if the water u drink had contained feces..yukk

as for the mango smoothie, i think the culprit was the ice.. ice is dangerous here.. have a look at where the water comes from to make the ice and then where they actually put the ice blocks.. a lot of the time, the huge ice blocks are stored on dirty floors, etc..

and sometimes you have to be wary of the glass of water you are served as well..one time a tourist glugged his glass of water only to discover a frantic wriggler at the bottom.. eek

I was in Cambodia for about a month (Dec 08/Jan 09) after a short stay in Thailand.I quite often used the street vendors.I only ever bought food that had been well cooked. I bought from the same people on a daily basis.They worked as volunteers for the Cambodian Light Childrens Association.This gave them a small income for themselves and they used their equipment to cook for the children.I usually bought a bowl of veg soup for 1000 riel.I also had something like lychees in a bowl with ice and sweet thick milk for about 1000 riel.I usually ended spending more because I had many "helpers" who obviously were a lot more hungry than me.In fact I found it almost impossible to buy any food in a public place without giving it away .It is quite possible to eat on $3 a day if you eat local food.

Good cheap sanitary food outlets are easy to spot.

They are the local restaurants with severe moto parking isuues on the footpath and street.

Khmers are human too and get sick the same as foreigners. They too are selective.

Look for the crowds.

The foodhalls at the major local markets are inexpensive and sanitary even if they look dodgy. I have been ill more often after eating 'western' food, I put that down to poor refrigeration practices. Local food is prepared with fresh ingredients daily.

Don't expect to eat as cheaply in Cambodia as you would in Thailand. Cambodia is not really a cheap place to live in.

I eat at home primarily. Fresh meat and veg bought daily at the local market. Market produce is fresh. The meat at the market is warm because it was alive not that long ago. You will have to kill the fish yourself. Spiders and snakes are not cheap as they are fast food fun snacks.

The mobile noodle carts are good. i don't know where you live but the quality doesvary from location to location. Again, go with the crowds and don't eat at places setup next to standing blackwater or trash.

bon appetite!

Hmmm... I think I may have to disagree... see, I know how big that smoothie was as I actually held it and consumed it, I fear you may be envisaging something smaller

I remember the vendor encouraging me to drink about a third of my cup so he could pour the rest of the mango from his blender into my cup, filling it back up to the top. The amount of ice I have had since (given it goes into the beer on a very regular basis) offsets the ice theory for more of a fruit-overload in my mind, given it was well over half a litre of pureed fruit pulp!

Wal has hit the nail on the head with the looking for the crowds thing; places with consistently lots of people are good for two reasons -

1) They wouldn't be that busy if they where dishing out crap food

2) Giving the amount of food turn-over the busier places will have, you can be fairly sure your plate/bowl will be pretty fresh, and not warmed-up yesterday's remainder!

I haven't gotten sick from eating street food in Thailand in years. During my year and a half in Phnom Penh I didn't eat from stalls often, mainly because there aren't many Cambodian dishes I like.

But everyone I know who's spent time in both countries (and this includes Khmers), say that Thai street food is much more sanitary. I don't think the issue is the freshness of the ingredients, it's the way they wash the dishes. In Thailand if they don't have a tap nearby they can use, there is always a large water bottle with which they can refill the dish washing basin on a regular basis. For whatever reason (probably cost), they seem to wash more dishes in the same water in Cambodia.

Some hotels in this part of the world have been known to advise their guests to avoid street food, in the hope of keeping those dollars in house. But what they don't tell you, is that hotel executive and sou chefs are constantly being pushed to keep costs down. They buy in bulk and keep large quanties in their fridges and freezers, and try to make them last. This is why food in big hotels is always tasteless. And it's why your chances of getting food poisoning in one of these establishments are probably no better, and maybe worse, than many other places.

I'm going to agree with the last post - without meaning to inspire further wrath from all those devoted street-stall eaters, the key issue in Cambodge is sanitation. they don't quite have a handle on it here compared to vietnam or thailand in my opinion.
just a few weeks ago i stood watching an extremely busy provincial eatery to see what the food preparation was like - flies all over the food, poor washing of cooking pans between dishes, and the cook who would pick up a serving bowl, check to see if it was dirty then wipe all around the inside with his fingers to clean it out - before serving up the food in it.
some people have iron guts and others don't. but i don't buy the 'lots of Khmers are eating there so it must be ok' theory. Lots of Khmers are sick alot, too, and don't necessarily understand how bacteria works.

This washing up thing sounds a bit worrying...

Maybe one should pack their own bowl and spoon when acquiring rice and chicken porridge?

Or ask them to give you the bowl before putting the food in it,and wipe it out as best you can with some tissue. Wipe down the water glass and the utensils too. The latter is pretty standard procedure amongst the locals, at least in Thailand. Probably not ideal but better than nothing.

Not under USD 3 for the day, but you may very well want to check out this from The Phnom Pen

Wargu Bali. most dishes are $1.25 and taste GREASSSSSSHHHHH!