Category Archives: Kep

Food Trip Friday: Seafood Fiesta in Kep

A couple of days ago I wrote about the Quaint Seaside Town of Kep. There are three big reasons why I like going to Kep, Cambodia. One, to relax. Two, to get away from the crowds. Three, to stuff my face with seafood. Lol. I know the last reason sounds a bit crude, but yeah, that’s exactly what we do when we go there.

There are a couple of pleasant restaurants around Kep, mostly located on the resorts in the area. But we prefer going to the shacks lined up beside the crab market. These little shacks are really very basic when were talking decor or ambiance, nor should one expect some debonair singer with marvelous baritone belting out a romantic song in the background. Nope, all you get a little shack right on the oceanside and seafood. What it lacks in ambiance, is more than made up with really really good food and very affordable prices.

The last time we went there we tried out the last shack coz our usual place, KimLy’s was a bit full. And were glad we did. Here’s what we had one time for lunch.

Kep Seafood

buttered shrimps

Kep Seafood

steamed fish with light soy sauce

Kep Seafood

shrimp & squid in tomyum soup

Everything was delicious, at least the one I tasted. The kiddo demolished the steamed fish all by herself. So I’m guessing it was that good.

An entry to

Quaint Seaside Town of Kep, Cambodia

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Kep, Cambodia.

Kep Cambodia Photos

This place is on top of my ‘to go to’ places for weekends. Whenever we feel like just unwinding and escaping the city, eat seafood, this is where we go. I’m kinda amazed right now coz I’ve been there several times, yet I never really got around to featuring anything much about Kep. You can attribute that to me being totally relaxed and lazy after every time we go there. These are snapshots from a recent weekend visit there.

Kep Cambodia

fire tree lined street..

Kep Cambodia

view from our bungalow balcony..

Kep is a coastal city located less than 200 km southwest of Phnom Penh and also once considered the popular getaway place for well to do Khmer’s in the 1960′s. The small city used to have it share of French style villas, but are now mostly rundown. Thankfully, in the recent times, Kep has seen a resurgence and now becoming a good alternative to Sihanoukville. It’s a few hours drive from Phnom Penh, via two routes (1) National Rd 3-Kampot City-Rd 33 (2) National Rd 3 – Rd 31 thru Kampong Trach. We prefer using N3 (very good road)-Kampot-Kep. Buses also service Kep via Kampot.

Kep Cambodia

gorgeous sunset @Vanna Bungalow poolside

Kep is just charming, picturesque, quiet and just calming all around. If you want to escape the chaos, noise of bigger cities, you’d find your little haven here. This is definitely not the place to find noisy bars with those bugera v5 amplified sounds. While Sihanoukville is always busy, humming with activities and usually crowded, Kep is the opposite. So, its not hard to understand why we like escaping here.

Kep Cambodia

When it comes to accommodations, Kep has a few choices. We love going to Kep Lodge, Vanna Bungalows and Veranda-Resort, but there are more and more choices cropping up around town. Prices are mostly mid-range (though there is Knai Bang Chatt for luxury lovers) and most resorts here offer swimming pools and bungalow style rooms. I think resorts with pools are in demand in Kep because the beach there is not really very good for swimming, although you may opt to go to the nearby Rabbit Island (Koh Tunsay) for your gorgeous beach fix.

Kep Cambodia

A place you don’t want to miss in Kep would be the Crab Market. Buy cheap fresh seafood, have them steam or grilled, then head over to those picnic huts with hammocks some near Kep Beach or drive a bit more and rent one of these huts and have a picnic. Crab Market also have a couple of restaurants beside where you can sample really really good seafood. Will post more about the crab market next.

Kep Cambodia

You can check out this Kep City website for more info.

Cambodia Snapshots: White Lady Statue in Kep

Cambodia Snapshots: Shrine at Kampong Trach Cave

Relaxing Kep Cambodia

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I’ve been hearing a lot of good things about Kep, Cambodia that I didn’t stop bugging Hi-ace to go there. He’s usually always so busy and we could only go somewhere when there is a holiday, so the Labor Day was our ‘Kep’ time. I promised myself I’d eat a lot of seafoods and really take advantage of the time to de-stress.

We just took the bus going to Kampot which passes by Kep. Travel was pretty straightforward and quick. We left around 7:30 am and before lunch time we were already in Kep. My first impressions of the place, it was soooo quiet and so unlike other Cambodian towns where you’ll be confused by gazillions of moto’s, in Kep the streets were wide and almost devoid of any traffic. I was still on the bus but I already had the feeling it was going to be a super relaxing holiday, just what I needed.

We stayed at Kep Lodge, a quaint little place about 700 hundred meters from the main road, with airy bungalows nestled among the greens and a really nice view of the Gulf. A plus was the infinity pool which Chinks enjoyed to the fullest. Me? I just loved the hammock on the bungalow’s veranda. Perfect for lazing around.The lodge also has a restaurant with friendly and attentive staff, with lots of books you can borrow, no foosball tables here but the billiard table was great and the bar serving a good variety of drinks and cocktails.

There’s not much in terms of entertainment in Kep. So if you’re in the mood for a wild party best head over to Sihanoukville, coz Kep is really a place to relax, be lazy, enjoy nature and of course, seafoods.It’s quiet, serene and it reminds me so much of our place in Bicol. No wonder this place is where the Khmer elite used to vacation before the Khmer Rouge years.

Yes! Seafoods! You can either go to the seaside shacks fronting the provincial capitol building, or those lining the road in front of Kep Beach. The staff in Kep Lodge gave us a map of places to go in Kep, and they also recommended we dine at the Crab Market. And that’s what we did for the next two days, eat a lot of seafoods. If in you’re eating there try KimLy Restaurant and Kep Thmei Restaurants.

It was a really, really lazy and relaxing weekend and for sure well be going back there sometime soon. I’ll be uploading more photos once I get a hold of the copies coz my desktop has been acting up..

Food Trip Friday 09: Seafood Lunch, Kep Crab Market

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One of the reasons I wanted to visit Kep was Seafoods! And it didn’t disappoint. It may be a little bit pricier than in Sihanoukville, but the food was definitely worth it! We got there around lunch time, the receptionist at Kep Lodge gave us a map and recommended we have our lunch at the Crab Market. These are all shacks cum restaurants lining a portion of the beach.

Since it was on lunch hour, almost all restos were jampacked and I we were already starving. We settled on the not-so-crowded Kep Thmey Restaurant. Hi-ace wondered if the food will be any good coz how come this was the only one not full. But whatever, we were hungry so we ordered..

Ever tried fried crab? My first time and it was sooooo good! This was one of those few times that I felt the urgent need to eat without spoon or fork! Fresh crabs were stir fried with vermicelli, a bit of chili sauce, and topped with peanuts and spring onions. Truly yummilicious.. That’s one Khmer cuisine trademark, adding peanuts to dishes, it adds a lot of flavor and crunch..

Deep Fried Fish. I forgot to take a photo of the sauce. But this one was good too.

Prawn Soup with Mint..Made me sweat but it was really good too..

And we got free pineapple slices too.

We also finished off a big pot of rice. Even Chinks (who loathes getting her hands dirty when eating) ate with her hands lol! Total bill? 83000 Riels about $21.

Lui in Penh

living in Phnom Penh & getting to know Cambodia

Category Archives: Kep

Food Trip Friday: Seafood Fiesta in Kep

Quaint Seaside Town of Kep, Cambodia

Cambodia Snapshots: White Lady Statue in Kep

Cambodia Snapshots: Shrine at Kampong Trach Cave

Relaxing Kep Cambodia

Food Trip Friday 09: Seafood Lunch, Kep Crab Market