So, there is a Lotteria Phnom Penh. I had noticed it a few months ago whilst visiting AEON mall. I’m not gonna lie it made me really quite excited, but I am not mall fan, nor that into fast food, so had not gotten around to trying it.
What the living hell is Lotteria
If you’ve got this far I will assume that you probably know what it is, but I will give a brief intro anyway.
Lotteria is a Korean/Japanese burger franchise. Huge in Japan, Korea and rather randomly Vietnam. I had first tried it at Shenyang train station. Introduced to me by a Kiwi, me and hime loved it, the American we were with did not.
Fast forward a few years and I was to discover it was the biggest fast food joint in Vietnam. Turns out the Koreans are a big deal in Vietnam.
For more on Lotteria in Vietnam click here .
To read more about which countries McDonalds is in click here .
Is Lotteria your favorite burger restaurant then?
No it is not, but I do love the Asian fusion burger type scene. I would not want to eat Lotteria every day, but it makes a very pleasant surprise. In Vietnam they have gone heavily local including an array of rice dishes. Much like McDonalds in the Philippines and the McDo spaghetti!
To read about McDo in the Philippines click here .
Lotteria in Phnom Penh!
Today I pretty much got up and decided I wanted to go to AEON Mall and eat a Lotteria burger. Turns out there are 6 locations in Phnom Penh, but none in the rest of the country. All located at malls.
I suspected that it might have come due to Vietnamese influence, but I was to be surprised.
A very Korean Burger!
There were a few normal burgers on the menu, such as a burger/cheeseburger, but also some curveballs, namely teriyaki and bulgogi. The menu was also devoid of rice dishes and proudly displayed its Korean heritage. This was no Vietnamese clone.
Food was duly ordered, with us going for the aforementioned teriyaki and bulgogi. Bulgogi literally means “fire meat” in Korean. I had previously tried a bulgogi burger at a McDonalds in Seoul.. I am a big fan of trying whatever the local McDonalds burger is. It’s kinda my thing. I remember it being very good, but how would Lotteria fare?
The Burgers at Lotteria Phnom Penh
The teriyaki burger was ok, but the bulgogi burger was out of this world. Two patties a black bun and bulgogi sauce. Bulgogi makes everything taste better it is just one of those things.
I also tried the fried chicken
It was ok, but my first love is and will always be Colonel Sanders. The meat was perfect, but the coating was no KFC. In fact it most reminded me of the chicken at Dicos.
To read more about the abomination that is Dicos click here .
But overall not bad. I’ll add that I might have appreciated it more had I not wolfed down fried and a double bulgogi burger.
How expensive is Lotteria Phnom Penh?
There’s a big bloody reason why fast food is not huge in this part of the world, but street food is. Basically going to KFC, Burger King, or indeed Lotteria is a middle class thing. Street food is high quality and cheap.
And I shall demonstrate thus! Two burgers, two pieces of fried chicken, two fries and two cokes came to $17. Now if you are from the west this might not sound all that bad. Keep in mind a beer is 50 cents here and a big baguette (Num Pang) filled with meat barely touches a dollar.
Overall Lotteria Phnom Penh was a nice change and a nice treat, but now it is out of my system i’m in no rush to go straight back there.
