Romdeng Restaurant

What to See at Romdeng

Provincial Khmer Cooking

Romdeng’s menu draws specifically on recipes from across Cambodia’s provinces rather than the standard Phnom Penh restaurant staples — a deliberately wider lens on Khmer cuisine than most tourist-facing menus offer, including vegetarian options alongside meat, seafood, and the restaurant’s well-known insect dishes.

The Training Kitchen

Like Friends the Restaurant, Romdeng is staffed by trainees and graduates of Mith Samlanh’s hospitality programme for former street children and at-risk youth — a paid, supervised vocational pathway rather than informal volunteering.

The Setting

A relaxed dining room and garden courtyard near the National Museum, popular with both visitors and Phnom Penh residents looking for Khmer food beyond the standard amok-and-lok-lak rotation.

How to Get to Romdeng

Romdeng is at 21 Street 278, in central Phnom Penh.

• On foot: Walkable from the National Museum and riverside area
• Tuk-tuk: A short ride from anywhere in central Phnom Penh

Practical Tips

• Reservations are recommended for dinner
• Adventurous eaters should try the deep-fried tarantula or stir-fried red ants — both genuine Cambodian provincial dishes
• Pair with Friends the Restaurant on a longer trip to compare the two Mith Samlanh kitchens
• Proceeds support Mith Samlanh’s vocational training programmes directly

Nearby Attractions

• Friends the Restaurant — Romdeng’s sister venture, also run by Mith Samlanh
• National Museum of Cambodia — a short walk away, with its own evening Apsara dance show