The floating villages are fishing villages, and people eat well there: grilled lake fish, prahok, water snake, duck eggs, sticky rice from the roadside. What they mostly don't have is restaurants for visitors, and the few that exist charge for the view. Here is where you can eat, what it costs, and what the villages themselves would order.
Kompong Phluk
One restaurant, on stilts at the edge of the flooded forest, with a wooden deck out among the trees. Most boats stop there at sunset and it is a fine place for a cold drink with the light going. The menu is fried rice, fried noodles, fish, a few Western dishes, at $7 to $10 a plate, two or three times town prices, partly because everything arrives by boat and partly because your boatman is paid to bring you. No need to book unless you're a big group; ask the boatman to stop. Our sunset tour passes it on the way to the open lake, and we'd rather spend those twenty minutes on the water, with our own snacks.
Kompong Khleang
No tourist restaurant at all, which is part of its appeal. Village shops sell packaged snacks, drinks and the occasional bag of grilled bananas; at the dock you may see grilled water snake and salted duck eggs for local customers, and dried fish on racks everywhere. If you're spending the day, the road in passes Dam Dek, a market town with proper Khmer restaurants and a market worth a wander. Our Khleang tour always stops on the way out for kralan, sticky rice roasted in bamboo, and for fresh doughnuts from the roadside stalls. Those twenty minutes are better than any floating restaurant.
Chong Kneas
Several floating restaurants on the open lake, the biggest with a crocodile pen underneath. The boats stop there as a matter of routine. Fried rice, beer, a view of the sunset with a few dozen other boats in it; expect to pay town prices times three, with a share going to the driver. You can stay on the boat.
How to eat well on the lake
- Order what is cooked in front of you and served hot. Grilled fish, fried rice, anything from a wok.
- Skip raw salad and ice from a bucket. Bottled water, sealed.
- Try what the village eats when it's offered: grilled snakehead fish, prahok with rice, sticky rice from the bamboo, a salted duck egg. Ask your guide; most are proud of it.
- If you want a real meal with the lake, do it the other way round: sunset on the water, then dinner in town. That is what our street food day is: the village and the sunset, then the night market stalls with a guide who knows which ones.
Vegetarian and vegan guests are easy to feed on our tours; tell us when you book. Our questions page covers allergies and the rest.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a restaurant at Kompong Phluk?
Yes, a stilted restaurant with a deck into the flooded forest, where many boats stop for a drink at sunset. Main courses around $7–10. Good for a beer with the view; expensive for a meal.
Is there a restaurant at Kompong Khleang?
No tourist restaurant. Shops sell packaged snacks and drinks, and on the road in you pass Dam Dek, a market town with ordinary Khmer restaurants. Our Khleang tour stops for sticky rice and doughnuts on the way.
Is the food at the floating villages safe?
Choose things cooked in front of you and served hot, skip raw salad, and drink bottled water. That advice is the same for any countryside restaurant in Cambodia.
Can I bring my own food on the boat?
Yes. Snacks and water are fine on any boat. Our tours bring snacks and water; the street food day adds a proper dinner afterwards in town.