Restaurants and other businesses abound in Phnom Penh, although the city remains poor. Food stalls are also common in Phnom Penh and can usually be found in and around the Central Market, O Ressei Market and Tuol Tom Pong Market. Khmer cuisine is very similar to Thai, but with fewer spices involved.
National specialities:
• Popular dishes include soup and salad, almost always incorporating Cambodia's favourite flavours of coriander, lemongrass and mint.
• There is a plethora of sweet dishes, such as sticky rice cakes and pudding.
• Succulent fruits include banana, coconut, the durian fruit (known for its distinctive odour), jackfruit, longan fruit, lychee, pineapple and Rambutan (which has translucent white flesh) fruit, to name just a few.
• Grilled fish, or fish cut up, rolled in lettuce or spinach and dipped into fish sauce.
• Khmer cuisine is unique in its use of prahok, a fermented fish paste.
• Showing its French influence, also expect plenty of roasted turtle and frog legs.
• Rice noodles.
• The most common skewer or brochette is golden sapek: small pieces of pork tenderloin alternated with strips of pork fat and rounds of Chinese sausage, cooked on a grill over hot coals.
National drinks:
• Palm wine.
• Tea.
• Choum (a rice-based spirit).
• The local beer is called Angkor.
• The most popular Khmer drink is soda water with a squeeze of lemon.
Legal drinking age: There are no age-restrictions.
Tipping: Tips are appreciated in hotels and restaurants where no service charge has been added, and by tour guides.

The major hotels offer entertainment, and weekly Apsara dance performances are often held from November to March in some hotel gardens. The Holiday International Hotel is a popular nightclub which also offers a karaoke bar and casino. For further information, contact Diethelm Travel (see Top Things To Do).

Antiques, woodcarvings, papier mâché masks, brass figurines, kramas (checked scarves), material for sarongs and hols, and items and jewellery made of gold, silver and precious stones are Cambodia’s best buys. Visitors are advised that there are strict controls on the export of antiques - and stone carvings in particular. The Central Market, Tuol Tom Pong Market and the Old Market are among the best places for buying jewellery and the Fine Arts School sells many of the above goods in its shop. Clothing and materials are available at the Central Market.
Shopping hours: Mon-Sun 0800-2000.