Pencil has always been hit n miss with fresh food. Lucky is the best supermarket for fresh produce.

Pencil is always relatively empty compared to most Lucky Supermarkets, Thai Huot, Bayon... They suffer from a rather bad reputation indeed. I even wonder how they succeed in staying in business.

recently seen at pencil

Cheese and dead roach, anybody? Seems Double Gloucester really is a strong cheese at Phnom Penh's Pencil supermarket.

Well,

Lucky market re-freezes its meet every night!!!

I recently bought a leg of dog from pencil only to get it home and find out that it was actually some kind of rubbish sheep product. And to top it off, the pus sauce I bought to go with it was cold. Yuck.

I shop at Pencil the majority of the time and love it for one of the reasons mentioned above, there's nobody else there. Nice and peaceful and no fighting for space to push your trolley, plus no aggressive tuk-tuk drivers outside badgering you. Yes, you do need to check dates on products but hey a few days beyond is not going to kill you. Fresh food can be better at Lucky and Bayon usually but I bought snow peas from Bayon recently and they were well "off". The staff are helpful and friendly at Pencil and they stock a good range of products from home.

^

I use pencil on Norodom to buy Asia Europe Bakery buns for burgers and hot dogs almost daily - as it's closer to my bar than the bakery itself.

I wouldn't buy fresh produce there. The place smells and the staff can be observed sleeping in strange places.

Plus their cashiers are damn unfriendly.

I once got approached by a girl with fat bottom who asked me for my phone number, does that count?

In fairness, it's not just Pencil who suffer from stocking/selling out of date food. I've come across this issue in plenty of 'marts' around town.
Pencil is safer because you don't leave with trolley injuries, it would seem folk shopping at Lucky have just been told nuclear war is about to break out.

Pencil is the most depressing place in Phnom Penh.
(But it is cheaper for most things than Lucky)
Affulenza?
Got to get in and out quick as you can...think I would end up committing suicide if I stayed in there too long.
LOCAL MARKETS FOR FRESH PRODUCE SURELY?

AusKhmer is great, they have 2 retail outlets now, I forget the address

Personally, I demand Swiss standards of shopping when living in Cambodia, with hygenic trolley handles, recycled ventilation systems and rice-paper disposable bags designed by Bennetton.

Anything else is purely shithole, ass of the world.

Modern Shopper,
Phnom Penh

I once bought a tub or two of ice-cream at Pencil st214 and when I opened it at home I realised that it had previously totally melted. My ice-cream had become a miserable heap of crystallised blob. The movie I wanted to watch lost a lot of its fun.

But I do enjoy strolling upstairs, studying the various household items (nice glasses, plates, cutlery, plastic ware, toilet brushes, etc...). They don't melt as easily and have a longer shelf life.

"Freshly frozen" and "Fresh Produce" not sure what is fresh about either...

Certain stalls at the local markets beat the 'super' markets anyday. Natural Garden on St 63 is pretty good too.

@Foobar if I have to do the shopping I use the segway to get around the isles, otherwise the butler does it for me.

barf

I totally reccomend BKK1 Market for fresh fruit and veg. It is fun and colorful and super affordable. Check it out.

And pencil has a bumpy road outside which is jolly annoying

I only buy womens clothes at pencil.
If I find that they dont fit me they cheerfully exchange the items.

yeah around here.. better to kill your own meat.. it's going to be a while before supermarkets catch up..

Still cross dressing are you marklathem

Five years in Cambodia & I dont know where Pencil SM is.

Be careful buying in Bayon they turn the fridges off at night, also watch the bread there for mould. And the staff suck.

I have found AusKhmer Foods (AK Foods) to be the best. Friday nights they do wine tasting and often have some food samples out.

Owned and operated by Aussies.

Next, Lucky is not too bad, but I always go to the local market in Takhmoa for fresh produce. It is fresh and super cheap, never had a problem.

Pencil doesn't have the A/C on.
Less people shop there 'cause it's hot in there.
Now, they can't afford to keep the lights on.
Even lesser people.....
It's a vicious cycle.

BTW...Pencil has a new store open in Toul-Kork area.
Maybe the new one's better.

Still, I like Pencil SM.
It's the only store with little bit of conscience I think...It's the only store that gives your money back if you find something wrong with the product you buy there.

that rocks soph... thx

qqq

**< too many drugs >** correction

I went shopping at BKK #1 Market on Sunday, late in afternoon, and the lady who was selling squid had them all laid out on the ground at the end of the day, with a bucket pouring water over them.

The ground at that market is kind of skanky, to understate things.

I think that's an 11-Secret-Herbs-and-Spices thing goin' on there, but I chose not to partake.

Tastily yours,
Foobar

In May last year I fell asleep in the bathroom of Pencil on st214 and when I woke up it was 11pm! Anxiously I walked towards the dark exit, afraid of being shot or attacked by a guard, but stumbling through the empty aisles I realised that several staff members (amongst which the nigh guard in his company uniform)were sleeping in those large open horizontal freezers, on top of slabs of smoked salmon and using Cremo ice cream tubs as a pillow. They did use thick bathroom towels as some sort of bedsheet, which you can buy upstairs.

Alright, that's not true but this could happen here in PP, right?

I bought a packet of pasta, baby tomatoes, fish and red cabbage there two weeks ago.
When i opened the bag pasta it was full of some type of food ant or flea, the tomatoes were bad all the way through, the red cabbage was off and soft when you cut into it. The only thing that was edible was the fish - but i had nothing left to eat with it.
Ist & last time

In one of my few trips to Pencil, there were tons of roaches crawling all over the bulk foods section.

They've got a good selection of alcohol....100% Agave tequila for like 22$

Never bought any food from there because it was overpriced and expired.

I do love walking around Pencil super market upstairs and seeing how many staff I can wake up as they sleep in the shelves. Funny they go right back to sleep after you leave the isle.