Being neighbors theres a lot of Vietnamese restaurants in Cambodia? What though is the best Vietnamese restaurant in Phnom Penh? That would be Magnolia Restaurant.
And this is while ignoring that some of the best Cambodian dishes and indeed Cambodian cuisine borrow quite a lot from Vietnamese food.
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Cambodian vs Vietnamese food
Cambodian and Vietnamese cuisines share more than just a border—they have many dishes that reflect their intertwined histories and cultures. Take banh xeo, a crispy rice flour pancake stuffed with pork and shrimp. In Cambodia, it’s called banh chao, and while the fillings may vary, the core of the dish is the same, reflecting the shared culinary roots.
Another example is nom banh chok—Cambodia’s beloved rice noodle dish, often compared to Vietnam’s bun rieu. Both dishes revolve around light, fragrant broths and fresh herbs, though Cambodia’s version leans on a fish-based curry sauce, while the Vietnamese version often includes crab or tomatoes.
Both countries also enjoy fresh spring rolls. Known as gỏi cuốn in Vietnam and nem in Cambodia, these delicate rice paper wraps are filled with fresh vegetables, shrimp, and noodles, though dipping sauces differ slightly.
Which one is better? Well to me Vietnamese if the best in the region.
What the Magnolia Restaurant Phnom Penh
Located in downtown Phnom Penh and within walking distance of places like 172 and the riverside in an area surrounded by good restaurants (and Mad Monkey). The restaurant itself has a nice open plan, but extremely well covered outdoor area. There is also an inside area, outside bar and a team of well dressed waiters and waitresses to look after you.
In fact it is pretty damned nice, even bordering, but just missing fine dining. I have never seen the restaurant empty and it tends to attract and electric crowd.
The menu Magnolia Restaurant Phnom Penh
Without doubt the best thing about this Vietnamese restaurant its huge and very ecliptic menu. This is as opposed to restaurants specialising in one or two dishes, like the restaurants in Vietnam that do not call themselves “Vietnamese Restaurants”. I digress.
This means that the menu at Magnolia features all Vietnamese classics that would not usually be found under one roof. This includes a huge selection of pho, as well other classics like banh mi and well pretty much any other Vietnamese dish you might be able to thing of. This led me to ordering a Cambo-Viet shared dish in Lok Lac. And while it might be controversial one I feel the Vietnamese do this better, with the beed a bit rarer and more importantly a hint of butter.
Other than that some frog, as well as bits of pork and even deep fried duck were added to the table. All was well laid out and tasted great.
Price wise it is a fair bit more expensive than Khmer food, but still cheap by international standards. In the 3 of us ate and drank for just shy of $50.
Drinking at Magnolia Restaurant
The drinks menu is equally as eclectic as the food with juices of every persuasion, yogurt drinks and all the regular soft drinks. Booze wise theres beers, wines, but most sexily a great cocktail list priced at just $3.50.
I personally locked back a Long Island which was excellent value, as well as a Lychee Martini, which was just about as pretentious as I would have wanted. Another factor that truly shows just how greta value $48 turned out to be….
Address of Magnolia Restaurant
Magnolia Vietnamese Restaurant,Phnom, #55 Oknha Pich St. (242), Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia 12207
You can check out my Cambodia Tours here.