OK, so while I already have a favorite seafood restaurant in Kampot, I now a new entry for best Khmer Seafood BBQ – which is a completely different genre! And that is Reatrey Oyster.
Located in downtown Kampot where all the barang hang out you cannot miss the Reatrey as not only is it usually full, but there are also often hordes of people just waiting to get in. That of course and the sites and smells of them BBQing fresh each day.
This is the place to go if you like Khmer Seafood BBQ! Not to be confused with Kampot Pepper and Seafood – which I also like.
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What the Reatrey Oyster?
Down in Kampot, Reatrey Oyster is the kind of place you only really find if you know what you are doing or follow the locals. This is not some polished riverside restaurant but a proper Khmer seafood joint, plastic chairs, smoky grills, and tables constantly full.
It started as a small, family run oyster and BBQ spot serving workers and has grown purely on reputation rather than marketing. You come here for cheap, fresh seafood straight from the coast, grilled the Khmer way. It costs next to nothing compared to tourist spots, but the flavors are bigger, louder, and far more authentic.
Reatrey Oyster Menu
The menu at Reatrey BBQ is far from eclectic, but what they do they do well and they are good at. This is simple Khmer BBQ, but with the immense and intense flavors of Kampot thrown in for good measure.
Think squid, clams, shrimp, crash fish, as well as a smattering of river and selfish gotten locally. Don’t forget that while Kampot is kinda on a river they are less than an hour from the heaven that is Kep seafood market. They also do banging Khmer style fried rice and Fred noodles, as well as getting a bit kinky with things like raw shrimp (I will get to that later).
Example menu
Crab fried rice (small) $6
Clams – $3
Raw shrimp – $8
Squid $7
Beer $1
Which means even when you truly got for it, it is hard for two people to crack the $30 mark. My personal bill? $25.35 – not all that bad for an oil crisis in 2026!
Click to read about street food in Kampot.
And how is the food at Reatrey Oyster?
After my recent dalliance with Khmer Beef BBQ I am slowly but surely falling back in love with the different varieties of Khmer BBQ. Basically everything here is served fresh and to the table as it becomes ready, with you then having two of the best sauces available to mix it with. These are namely Kampot pepper with lime (calamansi would be even better) and sweet Kampot Chilli. For some reason this is only mainly a thing here, but is so good that people always take some away.
OK, so the food! Firstly one of the main reasons that I even came out to Kampot was for the squid, which for here was just perfect. In China I find they cook the crab out of out of it, but here it is creamy, melts in your mouth, but still has that BBQ twang to it. The muscles/clams were of an equal ilk.
And then there was the raw shrimp. I am actually pretty into raw shrimp, often having it after it is soaked in Soju, or in Yangon with chilli. Here you have it as is, but obviously washed with red, or green chilli sauce. Again a food that really should not work, but really just does.
The fried rice here too, done Khmer style was also out of this world, with their “small” portion not only being huge, but also awash with so much crab meat. Once again adding some Kampot Sweet Chilli only made things better.
Alas I did not the time, or the gut to try any of their signature oysters, although they looked amazing in both raw and cooked fashion. And I think it is fair to say that everything on the menu You’d expect to be done well.
Where the Reatrey Oyster?
Reatrey Oyster
Address: J55J+RGW, Kampot, Cambodia
Phone: +855 98 682 929
Hours: Daily roughly 5:30pm to midnight
Location: Near the Durian Roundabout area in Kampot town, best found by heading towards the riverside and asking locally if needed, as signage can be minimal. Well worth the trek as you will not see this place listed.
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