Houb Houb is a minimum once a week for me. Lunch or dinner, I'm always up for it. Believe me, when you find yourself going back that often, you know you've found a winner.

A Menu That Knows What It's Doing

What I love here is that the menu is varied enough to please everyone without turning into an encyclopedia. I run the other way when I see a endless menu — more often than not it signals mediocre dishes executed at scale. At Houb Houb, the selection is calibrated and with photos you choose quickly.

Some Non-Negotiables

After dozens of visits, my order is well and truly locked in:

• The chicken soup — so comforting. A clear broth that's both fragrant and simple—perfect poured over steamed white rice.
• The pork and fish omelette - Fair warning: this one delivers a full flavour explosion. The kind of dish you try once out of curiosity and find yourself ordering on every visit after that.
• The Cambodian fried spring rolls — like mum used to make with a generous taro filling, true to the traditional Cambodian recipe.

The Group Dining Find

Houb Houb has a large air-conditioned room upstairs, with big tables designed for sharing. That's exactly what I love about Khmer food: order several dishes, pass them around, taste everything. The space actually supports that — you're comfortable, you can take your time, and you're not crammed in.
It's the address I recommend without hesitation when someone asks where to eat with a group in Phnom Penh without any fuss.

At Houb Houb, the drinks menu is reasonably priced — fruit juices, coffee, beer. My favorites are the coffee with milk and the mung bean with pandan.

The $3.50 Lunch Deal

The lunch here is one of the best-kept practical secrets in town: several dishes are available from $3.50, including the chicken soup, the pork and fish omelette and the nom banh chok — the Khmer rice noodle soup that is, quite genuinely, Cambodia's national dish.

The most direct comparison I can give you: Houb Houb is the real Khmer food you'd get at Romdeng — the same authenticity, the same respect for the recipes — but in a more comfortable, more polished setting. If you want uncompromising Khmer cooking in a slightly more relaxed environment, this is exactly the balance you'll find here.

A Hidden Lane Worth Knowing

The location is ideal for anyone who already frequents the area. Houb Houb sits in the small lane where I've already pointed you to Mauu! and especially the Korean cosmetics shop My Beauty Station.