The Street Food Anlong Veng scene is actually pretty robust considering just how remote the place is. Known more as the last hideout of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge than as a culinary haven its key location on the Thai border, the casinos and all the traffic that both bring mean decent eats here.
That though is far to say that it is not exactly eclectic, mainly being restricted to Khmer BBQ, beef BBQ and some pretty good num pang. Weirdly though there are also a few decent coffee shops and even a Khmer take on western food.
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What the Anlong Veng?
Anlong Veng is a small town in Oddar Meanchey Province right up on the Thai border and for a long time it was about as far off the tourist map as you could get. Its claim to fame, or infamy, is being one of the last strongholds of the Khmer Rouge, with Pol Pot himself living out his final days here before dying in 1998.
For years this place was effectively a rebel holdout, cut off from the rest of Cambodia and only fully integrated after the movement collapsed. The legacy of that time still lingers, with former cadres, war sites and a slightly rough around the edges feel, but these days it is peaceful, sleepy and slowly developing.
Click to read my Anlong Veng Guide.
Street Food Anlong Veng
Anlong Veng is one of those cities that does not really do “proper restaurants” as such, with pretty much all offerings being of the street food variety. The vast majority of the action with regards to this comes in Anlong Veng Town, which is pretty much two main roads that intersect with each other. This is differentiated from the “historical” border area which was where the Khmer Rouge hung out.
This area is filled with outdoor style restaurants and street food areas. Much like other rural Khmer areas beef BBQ is a big deal with at least two or three eateries roasting a whole cow of a nighttime. This is a real Khmer classic and involves different cuts of beef served with veg, garlic, prohok and Khmer pepper with lime. Traditionally this is cooked ever so slightly medium rare and is a real Khmer food gem.
Khmer style noodles, such as mi cha which is more ramen style and lort cha which is thicker and heavier, are available everywhere and all day. I made particular use of them for breakfast, not at all put off by the extra spice that they have in the north.
While not strictly street food there are also some great places offering a Khmer take on western food. Here we had burgers that were OK, nuggets that were decent and pizzas that were surprisingly good. Unlike in Kampong Chhnang these were not frozen disasters but seemed fairly fresh. And of course if all else fails then there is always 5 Star, as well as the Seoul Noodles franchise, both of which have somehow made it as far as Anlong Veng.
The further up to the tourist sites that you get the more limited food offerings become, although vendors will cook up some ramen noodles in a bowl mi cha style. Aside from this the offerings are street vendors doing num pang, the Khmer take on banh mi. These usually come with processed meat, spring onion and spices on a slightly sweet piece of bread. Not the best in the world, but they certainly do a job.
Nightlife of Anlong Veng
While the street food Anlong Veng scene is limited it is frankly mad in comparison to the nightlife of the town. Previously there was a casino and a bar, although both have since closed after tensions and border issues with Thailand.
What appears to be left are said street food joints, which of course also sell beer, as well as a few massage parlours. Said places seem to be more of the happy variety than the therapeutic one, with one wondering how exactly that works in a town with few people and even less passing trade.
The casino is another interesting point, with it being as our guide put it “a bit bombed” during the war. Funnily enough while we found that kind of funny she was actually not wrong at all as that is exactly what it was. Kind of wish I had stayed there back in the day when I had the chance.
