As a rural backwater and the former refuge of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge it is safe to say that Anlong Veng is not exactly a place you accidentally end up at. No, it is place you go looking for (or at least I do).
Alas when you do get here though in general you will find food options somewhat slim. That is though with the exception of some relatively decent street food and beef BBQ, as well as a slightly randomly western Restaurant in Anlong Veng, namely Heng Heng Pizza.
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What the Anlong Veng?
Anlong Veng sits up in the far north of Cambodia right by the Thai border and feels every bit as remote as that sounds. Once the last stronghold of the Khmer Rouge, this was where Pol Pot holed up until the bitter end, and where much of the movement finally collapsed in the late 1990s.
These days it is home to around 70,000 people if you include the wider district, most of whom are farmers, traders or involved in cross border business. It is dusty, quiet and still very much off the tourist trail, with most visitors coming specifically for the dark history rather than by accident.
Click to see my Anlong Veng guide.
Heng Heng Pizza
Anlong Veng is basically split into two locales, the main town, as well as as the bits near the border where the casino is or was, as well as the historical sites related to Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge. Heng Heng Pizza is located in what we could refer to as the town, just by the intersection.
A fairly unassuming place it is an open place restaurant with all of the signage in Khmer. Thankfully we of course had Khmer speakers with us so it was deduced that they did a bit of western scran.
Much like most “Western Restaurants” in the boonies of Cambodia there is a fair bit of mix and match on the menu. This included pizza, chicken burgers and nuggets, Korean style noodle soup and of course the Khmer classic Lok Lak. This is pretty standard for this kind of restaurant.
Click to read about street food in Anlong Veng.
And how was the food at Heng Heng Pizza?
Overall very decent without being earth shattering of any kind. The Lok Lak was great, but then it is hard to get this done badly anywhere in Cambodia to be fair. From the western food point of view the nuggets were done very well, while the pizza was surprisingly good. Amazingly they tasted fresh, rather than being simply frozen and reheated.
I personally also went for the Korean Seoul style noodles which were very soupy, huge and awesomely spicy. Overall a top notch meal and one that was surprisingly good when you take in the slightly strange surroundings.
So, if you do go on the Khmer Dark Tourism pilgrimage then the best western restaurant is Heng Heng Pizza! Click to read about my Cambodia Tours.
