Poipet Street Food Guide
When it comes to places to visit in Cambodia Poipet tends to be a pass through, rather than a place to stop. This is though quite a shame, with the city having much to offer, not least Poipet street food.
And it is fairly easy to reach, being just a few hours from the tourist Mecca that is Siem Reap, being on the Phnom Penh to Bangkok train route, as well being a border post with Thailand .
Why visit Poipet
In actuality there is a whole heap of tourists that come to Poipet, although almost all of them are gamblers, principally from Thailand. Here you will find casinos everywhere, which at times have caused controversy, particularly with regards to the fir that occurred.
One of the other main reasons to come here is the markets on both the Poipet and the Aranyaprathet sides of the border. These are both heaven if you are looking for either a clothes bargain, or some cross border trade.
Photo by Poipet Town-ទីក្រុងប៉ោយប៉ែត
The other principal draw to visit here is one that many western tourists tend to miss out on and that is cutting down the journey from Bangkok to either Siem Reap, or Phnom Penh and visa versa. This is because aside from the casinos there are good hotels, decent restaurants and a cracking Poipet street food scene. All for which feel make it a decent place to stop.
Poipet Street Food
The pinnacle of Poipet street food is the main food market which offers not just the best in the city, but one o the best street food areas in Cambodia.
To read about street food Battambang click here.
Said market is located next to the “famous” Circle K depending on what night you come here you will see up to 10 full rows of street find stalls, BBQ peddlers and seats for you to eat at.
This incudes pretty much every Khmer variant that you can think of, as well as, as you might expect various Thai street food options. And the whole Khmer-Thai marriage does not stop there, with vendors taking Thai Baht, Khmer Rial, as well as US dollars.
So to the Poipet street food itself, well as we have said there is so much here that it would be impossible to list it all, so we will merely go for the best of the best.
These include both fresh and fried spring rolls, whose sauce is much more spicy than you might get in Phnom Penh. And then there is the squid! Thai and Cambodian squid tends to be huge, cheap and really good. The squid here was as tasty as any I have had on either side of the border, with $5 being enough to fill you up.
Perhaps my favorite element here though was the quirky candies, sweets and drinks. This again provided a huge mix of Khmer and Thai classics, with the later featuring the spinning semi-frozen bottles of beer and sift-drinks of Bangkok fame.
So, overall while you might not change your holiday plans to visit the town, you also do no need to fear going here, nor rush through, of nothing else for the Poipet street food.
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.
