Eating Out in Siem Reap

There are many fascinating nuggets about this South East Asian country which is home to some of the most scenic locales in the world. But the food... Siem Reap is Cambodia's food capital, they say, so here are your options, foodie traveller, when visiting

 

Text: Rubina Khan

With over 284 Hindu and Buddhist temples, including the Angkor Wat, the largest religious architectural site in the world that spans over 400 acres, Siem Reap is the tourism capital of Cambodia whilst Phnom Penh is the designated capital of the country. The Angkor Wat temple, built by the Khmer King Suryavarman II, in the first half of the 12th century, was dedicated to the Hindu God Vishnu initially, and later transformed into a Buddhist temple towards the end of the century and is considered a Hindu-Buddhist temple today. Angkor Wat drives all tourism into the country with its architectural charm and mysterious 900-year-old history. Siem Reap is synonymous for being a temple town, with the temples vying for your attention and darshan, the most famous being the Ta Prohm, Bayon, Preah Khan temples, and the BanteaySrei and Bantea Samre temples, aside from Angkor Wat of course. But I think Siem Reap is more of a puja and pet-puja town with restaurants, bars and hotels serving some of the most sumptuous food and cocktails money can buy, be it on the streets by the river or in the finest establishments in the city. The Khmer cuisine is fresh, simple and locally sourced, and tastes so good that you want to fly back for more! Fish and beef are a Khmer favourite, used in their amok curries and LokLaksas is the Chet Chien, which is bananas dipped in a sweet batter, and then deep-fried, and the fermented and pickled prahok fish paste that is an everyday delicacy. You can learn Khmer cooking at Pou in Wat Bo, led by Cambodian Chef Mork Mengly where the Tuna Fried Rice is fabulous. Cambodia is one of the few countries in the world that does not have McDonalds.  The better for it!Street 08,or Pub Street as it is known, is a 100m stretch of road, buzzing with bars like Angkor What? (a fun pun), restaurants and clubs, with Paper Tiger being the first restaurant and bar to open here in 1999. Miss Wong is the bar to go to on Street 26, which also has bars like the Laundry and SO 26 on the same street. UpperCrust brings to  you some of the best places to eat, drink in Siem Reap.

Romiet

Achasva Street in Wat Bo Village is the best location in town, overlooking the Siem Reap River, and that’s where the Romiet restaurant and bar is at. A part of the artistic and green luxury boutique hotel, the Treeline Urban Resort, romiet means turmeric in the Khmer language and its menu comprises re-imagined regional Khmer and plant-based dishes led by Cambodian Chef Chantrea Roathvita. He is a culinary artist who creates traditional Khmer dishes with modern flair and flavours like the Duck Noodle Soup with boneless roasted duck leg, fresh rice noodles, duck liver wontons, in a duck broth full of chive flowers, bean sprouts, ginger, leek, coriander, shallots and garlic, as well as plant-based foods of the most delicious kind like Nom Krouk, a traditional coconut rice dumpling served with carrot ketchup, avocado puree, watercress and micro herbs. Nom Krouk looks like a South Indian paniyaram but it tastes like Nom Kruk. With its open design, communal seating and portions designed for sharing, you can observe Cambodian street life whilst dining indoors or al fresco at Romiet. It’s green and dreamy when it rains, but the seduction of the flavours wafting from the bowls and plates on your table will leave you with no desire whatsoever to observe anything or anyone, except consume the delicious food in front of you. Everything on the menu is delicious, especially the Red Braised Duck Leg with radish, shiitake mushrooms, carrots and bokchoy served with rice, salmon and cucumber ribbons with ponzu and rice crisps, Khmer Beef Skewers with lemon grass and vegetable pickle, and vegan dishes like the Wok- tossed Green Vegetables with Cashew Nuts, the Vegan Cauliflower Curry with Khmer kroeung paste (made from lemon grass, turmeric, galangal, garlic, onions, and makrutlime leaves) with cauliflower, sweet potatoes, kaffir lime, fresh coconut milk, pumpkin, eggplant, cashews, vegetable stock, annatto oil (a natural food colouring made from annatto seeds which come from the Achiote tree, also known as the Lipstick Tree) served with rice. The Mango Sticky Rice is beautifully plated – I saw someone admiring it for at least two minutes and then slowly digging into it with her spoon. Several of the dishes on the menu can be adjusted for vegans and vegetarians – you just have to ask. Evenings spent at Romiet, chatting with the beautiful and kind staff, watching the Cambodian world go by is a delightful memory you’ll hold on to for a while.

Romiet is open every day for lunch, dinner and in-betweens; 12 noon to 10 pm.

Treeline Urban Resort, Achasva, Stree Wat Bo Village, Krong Siem Reap 17252, Cambodia

Ph: +855 63 961 234

 

 

Seed

Seed, a breakfast restaurant, is also a part of the Treeline Urban Resort that serves a fusion Eastern and Western menu using locally sourced ingredients from Cambodian open-air markets. Taste is paramount at Seed, but Chef Chantrea Roathvita champions originality, creativity and sustainability at Seed just as much as he does at Romiet, by using the freshest, locally grown ingredients, whenever possible. Apart from the regular farmhouse eggs, pancakes, Khmer Kuy Teav Noodle soups and Indian parathas, Seed’s breakfast menu has three banging vegan dishes – Vegan Bangers and Mash made from chickpeas, mushrooms, spinach and herbs, and hash browns made from roasted potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, broccoli and vegan breadcrumbs, the scrumptious Green Goodness Toast topped with green pea and avocado guacamole with a side of green salad and snow peas and the Spicy Scrambled Toast, spiced like an Indian egg bhurji with cauliflower puree and micro herbs. And the French toast is sweet heaven. Not vegan but heaven nevertheless! And the best part is, Seed welcomes everyone, not just the in-house residents of Treeline. What did I love the most at Seed? The Vegan Bangers and Mash of course!

Seed is open every day from 6 am to 10.30 am for breakfast.

Treeline Urban Resort, Achasva, Stree Wat Bo Village, Krong Siem Reap 17252, Cambodia

Ph: +855 63 961 234

 

Wat Chocolate

The delicious Wat Chocolate | Temple of Cacao on Angkor Night Market Street is the first Cambodian chocolatier that set up business in the country in 2019. Made from Mondulkiri cacao beans, in a bean-to-bar artisanal factory in Siem Reap, each bar tastes like no chocolate you have ever had before with seductive flavours like Kampot Pepper, Kaffir Lime, Bird Chilli, Pandan and Galangal. I discovered Wat Chocolate in my Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor room quite by chance which led me to visiting their factory on a hot summer's day. I watched the entire process of making chocolate unfold inside their factory – how they select and measure the beans by size, how they are roasted and ground, and then mixed to a consistency in varying percentages of dark and milk chocolate with their many flavours, setting them into the Wat moulds and finally, the packing and storing of the ready chocolate bars, candies and spreads. The bars range from 65% with 35% sugar to 100% dark chocolate with no sugar and the vegan and cashew milk bars range from 46% to 49%. Some of their products are palm-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free and vegan, and they all taste divine. The best part was the tasting process, of course – the candied orange, ginger and mango barks, truffles and the bars. Their orange candied chocolate barks are made from the waste of juiced orange rinds collected from hotels, which is a very sustainable and earth-friendly recipe that uses every bit of the fruit to make delicious chocolate. I wish I had bought all twenty-one of the Wat flavours, but I love the Kaffir Lime, Kampot Pepper, Coffee, and the 100% Dark Ebony. The guided, one-hour walking factory tour costs $5.50 and is free for children.

Wat Chocolate is open every day from 2 pm to 5 pm, except Sunday.

Angkor Night Market St, Krong Siem Reap 171200, Cambodia

Ph: +855 96 687 0538

 

Trorkuon Khmer

Trorkuon Khmer is a breakfast and all-day restaurant where you can swing your scrumptious breakfast any way you like, on an outdoor jhoola table, soaking in the morning sun amidst the pink lotus flowers, and watch the pool make diamonds out of its dancing waters. Or laze about inside late afternoon, after touring the temples with fresh fruits and coconut water. Trorkuon is housed within the leafy confines of the splendid Jaya House River Park Hotel on River Road in the Treang Village of Siem Reap, which is also the first plastic-free hotel in Cambodia, thanks to the hotel’s Managing Director, Christian de Boer. The hotel’s design speaks to green luxury, with a social conscience and Trorkuon’s artistic centrepiece is testament to that. 24,000 matt-black stones, with a solo red crystal, symbolising a beating heart, are suspended by a waterfall of recycled fishing twine that embrace the auspicious cannonball tree inside the restaurant. The Khmer Curry with vegetables, chicken, butterfly pea flowers and brown rice at Trorkuon was my first delicious Khmer meal in the country, followed by many more. The Smashed Avocado with Pistachio Dukkah on toasted nut bread, with steamed tofu, topped off with pistachio dukkah is the yummiest way to start your day. The Beef Kwi Tiev, a Khmer breakfast noodle soup with vegetables, is a big favourite of mine. You can choose your meat and customise it with the staff who are wonderful and so eager to make your dining experience special every single day, and they succeed. The Ginger Sautéed Rice with ginger paste, a grilled chicken thigh and a chilli dip also makes a good breakfast choice, alongside the fresh fruit platter of dragon fruit, papaya and litchi, carrot juice and the aromatic Cambodian coffee.

Trorkuon Khmer is open every day from 6 am to 10 pm.

Jaya House River Park Hotel, River Road, Treang Village, Siem Reap Slor Kram Commune Siem Reap, Cambodia

Ph: +855 639 62 555

 

The Little Red Fox Café

Hup Guan Street in Kandal Village (the back street of cool) is known for its artisan shops, cafés and restaurants as also for the friendliest little café in Siem Reap – The Little Red Fox café. This is where you will find baristas Visal Tha and Ros Kosal taking pictures of people and whipping up delicious Hipster Turmeric & Kampot Pepper and Beetroot lattes with balanced elan, kids enjoying bagels whilst their parents enjoy their coffee date. The leafy entrance belies the happiness and style secrets waiting for you inside the café that houses a hair salon upstairs, for which you need to book an appointment at least a week ahead. Red Fox was opened in late 2014 by two Australians, David Stirling and Adam Rodwell who wanted to bring the Aussie café culture to Siem Reap, with everything they love about Cambodia, and almost a decade later, Cambodians love Red Fox. Interestingly, the café also catered Angelina Jolie’s directorial film in 2017, First They Killed My Father – a historical drama about survival in the terror times of the Khmer Rouge. The cafe’s merchandise shelf ranges from Red Fox Tees for $10 to Coffee Scrubs and the Blazin Fox Hot Sauce for $6. This is the happiest café where you can enjoy Peanut Butter Pancakes, Scrambled Tofu, Funguy & Temp-tress with Kombucha, Foxy Affogato, Wine, Chilli Mocha or my favourite hipster lattes. And it’s the foxiest café to be seen at!

TheLittle Red Fox is open every day from 7 am to 5 pm, except Wednesday. 

593 Hup Guan Street Mondul 1 Village Siem Reap, 17252, Cambodia

Ph: +855 16 669 724

 

Elephant Bar

Are you even in Siem Reap if you haven’t had an Angkor Sling at the Elephant Bar at the Raffles Grand Angkor with tapas? The first Sling was created in the long bar at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore in 1915 and the Angkor Sling is an iteration of the Singapore Sling cocktail, like it is in every Raffles destination. Kulen Herbal Gin, Cointreau, pandan and galangal syrup, cherry brandy, lime juice, Kampot salt, fresh pineapple juice, topped off with soda water is what goes into the making of an Angkor Sling. With its very own bespoke Elephant Bar Dry Gin, the bar is busy every night, with Happy Hours, Ladies Night on Thursdays, Éclair High Tea on Saturday afternoons. You start your day at the hotel with a champagne breakfast at Café Angkor, with Kampuchea Noodle Soup, Khmer Fried Rice, and the most divine Bean Flour Cake wrapped in Banana Leaf and Khmer Doughnuts made from sticky rice, palm sugar and sesame with Cambodian coffee and end it at the Elephant Bar with Airavata, a signature cocktail made from rum, coconut passion, lime juice, crème de banana and pineapple and coconut juice. The design language and the name of the bar honour the elephants that kings and nobility of yore rode, and dismounted at the very spot the bar is constructed on today.

Elephant Bar is open every day from 4 pm to 12 am, with separate timings for the Éclair High Tea.

Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor, 1 Vithei Charles de Gaulle Khum, 17252, Siem Reap Cambodia

Ph: +855 63 963 888

 

Banlle

Banlle is a fantastic vegan restaurant on Street 26 with its very own kitchen garden that fuels their plant-based menu. Banlle is a restored, traditional and wooden Khmer two-storeyed house, with an al fresco first floor under the shade of tropical trees, and the ground floor dining enclosed in glass, with a cocktail and juice bar. Banlle only serves simple and fresh vegan and vegetarian cuisine, mixing traditional Khmer dishes with western flavours. Chef Pola Siv uses a mix of seasonal vegetables, flowers, roots, beans and herbs – all grown naturally in the garden surrounding the restaurant, as well as from a few select organic surrounding farms. The climate-conscious chef chooses to serve authentic Cambodian cuisine made with European culinary techniques to create dishes with local produce, chemical-free vegetables, herbs, spices and from foraging in local forests. He wants diners to know that cooking creatively with vegetables is endless, without compromising on taste and flavours, and he’s proving it diner by diner, including me. The first vegan dish I ever ate in my life was Banlle’s Spaghetti with Smoked Dry Mushroom in Alfredo Sauce made from cashews, which is brilliant from the first forkful and I was hooked! The Frozen Lime Pie with Mango Sauce, and the Vegan Fish and Chips made from banana flowers, seaweed, and vegan tartar sauce is a deliciously terrific spin on the British classic. Four Khmer Cambodian vegan dishes, seven Western vegan dishes, seven vegetarian dishes and seven desserts make up the 25 dishes on the small, but very flavourful and inviting menu at Banlle.

Banlle is open every day for lunch from 11 am to 2 pm and then from 5 pm to 9.15 pm for dinner, except Tuesday.

Street 26, Krong Siem Reap, Cambodia

Ph: +855 85 330 160

 

Jomno

Jomno is a beautiful little restaurant on Wat Damnak that serves modern Khmer cuisine, led by Chef Seiha Chomnab, who has won several street food festival competitions and has educated himself with European culinary techniques at the École d’Hôtellerie et de Tourisme Paul Dubrulein Siem Reap. Jomno, meaning tidal breeze in Khmer, is the chef’s tribute to the kingdom’s growing street food scene, tracing historical roots through food. Jomno is where I had Fish Amok, the national dish of Cambodia, made from fresh water fish from the Tonlé Sap Lake. The Tonlé Sap is the largest freshwater lake in Southeast Asia, belonging to the Mekong River system and every restaurant in the city that serves Fish Amok and fish dishes procures the fish from this lake. The Vegan Meatball Lok Lak was fabulous, made of mushrooms and served with turmeric and coconut rice pilaf and a salad.

Jomno is open every day from 10 am to 10 pm.

Wat Damnak Siem Reap, 17525, Cambodia. Ph: +855 92 762 539

 

 

Paris Bakery

On the corner of Wat Bo and Street 26 on the main road is Paris Bakery – part boulangerie selling pâtisseries and viennoiseries, and part café with indoor and outdoor seating, serving savoury crêpes, pastas, sandwiches, coffee, juices and smoothies. The Chocolatine Brownie here is my favourite – it’s a brownie inside a croissant for $1.75! And the divine coconut and chocolate tarts – they are sliced to the size of a 250 g cake and are for $3 each! I looked forward to going to Paris Bakery to pick up my midnight munchies each time, I enjoyed it even more than the previous time. Paris Bakery is very well priced for the quality and the portion sizes of its items. And it gets even better –  after 6 pm, there is a 50% off on all pâtisserie and viennoiserie items.

Paris Bakery is open every day from 6 am to 9 pm.

Corner of Street 26, 618-155 Wat Bo Rd, KrongSiem Reap 00026, Cambodia

Ph: +855 17 600 014

 

Phare Circus

Phare (pronounced ‘far’) Circus is a show without animals where you should expect the unexpected. Phare performers, who are students of the Performing Arts School in Battambang, use theatre, music, dance and modern circus arts to tell Cambodian stories –  historical, folk and modern, in a manner most entertaining and acrobatic. Phare Ponleu Selpak– meaning the brightness of the arts in Khmer – is a non-profit arts and circus school located in Battambang, Cambodia that empowers children, youth and communities through artistic, educational and social support programmes. Phare Ponleu Selpak believes passionately in the power of the arts as a tool for human development and social change. The pre-show entertainment with little kids performing on stage starts at 5.30 pm and goes on till 7.30 pm. You can enjoy the best Cambodian street food like banana fritters, Kralan (sticky rice filled inside a bamboo) Noodles with iced coffee, Lok Lak, Amok, Nom Krouk made by some of Siem Reap’s top local chefs priced upwards of $1 and a bar serving up interesting cocktails and Angkor Beer. You can browse through the Phare boutique selling locally produced crafts and souvenirs like a wooden Ibis, the national bird of Cambodia and the Cambodian krama scarf till the Big Top opens for seating at 7:30 pm. The Phare live performance commences at 8 pm. I was assigned the best seat in the house, the one that Leonardo Di Caprio had sat in, by the very kind Craig Dodge of Phare, and I was enthralled with the show. To say it was one of the most impressive and humorous live one-hour acts I have ever seen will be an understatement and a disservice to the talented performers and their passion for the arts. Anyone who watches the Phare Circus cannot not love it, including Harrison Ford and Leonardo Di Caprio, such is the magnetic and agile energy of the world-class talents at Phare. Each ticket purchased, priced from $18 upwards, supports Phare Ponleu Selpak in many fiscal ways, from salaries of the performers, to the circus equipment, accident insurance, but more importantly providing free arts education programmes in circus, visual arts, music, theatre, animation, dance, and graphic design to children and young adults. Delicious food and a show, yes please!

Phare Circus is open every day from 5:30 pm to 9 pm.

Intersection, Ring Road, South of the, Sok San Rd, KrongSiem Reap, Cambodia

Ph: +855 92 225 320

 

Palm Cake Lady

On the way back from visiting the Banteay Srei – a 10th-century Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva and Parvati, my remork driver Tola and my guide Tola, yes, both were named Tola, requested a stop in the Preah Dak Village, to buy steamed palm cakes, a traditional Khmer dessert. Mrs Chanthou, an erstwhile remork driver for Jaya House River Park Hotel in Siem Reap, changed her career path during the pandemic by opening a palm cake stall in the Preah Dak Village, also known as the Palm Jaggery Village. Cambodians consider the palm tree as their national identity as it reflects the extent of the Khmer territory from ancient times till today. The sugar palm is the national tree of Cambodia, and it grows wild on roadsides and intermittently on rice fields. It is also on the Khmer Riel note. The palm tree became the symbol tree of Cambodia in 2005 by a royal decree issued by King Norodom Sihamoni of Cambodia. According to both the Tola men, she’s famous as she makes the most delicious palm cakes in Siem Reap, and her fortunes have turned for the better as the popularity of her palm cakes have reached far and wide. Palm cakes are made from a mixture of palm sugar, palm fruit, rice flower and fresh coconut milk, encased in a banana leaf, whilst steaming and sprinkled with freshly grated coconut when packed in reusable palm leaf woven boxes. The cake is airy and sweet, but not overly so and everyone loves them.

CWVH+CHW, Preah Dak, Cambodia

 

 

Brown Coffee Treeline

The coffee revolution and the café culture in Cambodia started with the establishment of Brown Coffee in 2009 by Cambodian businessmen. Brown is akin to being the Starbucks of Cambodia with over 20 outlets in Phnom Penh and two in Siem Reap. Everything about Brown is authentically local, from the cutting edge design, the beans to the flavours and the food. Brown Treeline on the main Achar Sva street across the Siem Reap river, and on the corner of Street 23, is always teeming with happy people drinking coffee, seated inside and outside, despite the summer heat. The Sago Iced Coffee is a refreshing and delicious way to beat the temperatures after a temple run. Brown is where you’ll find creative and artistic people, Cambodians on a date drinking the best coffee money can buy. And if you still need your Starbucks fix, there are two outposts in Siem Reap. 

Brown Coffee Treeline is open every day from 6:30 am to 9 pm. 

Street 23 Corner, Street Achar Sva, Wat Bo Rd, village, Siem Reap Cambodia

Ph: +855 70 556 651

 

Haven

You want to eat everything on Haven’s menu, which has Asian, Khmer and international dishes with vegan and vegetarian favourites. The story behind Haven on Chocolate Road is as sweet as the name of the road it is on and it will make your heart melt with happiness. Haven is a training restaurant and social enterprise that Sara and Paul Wallimann, a Swiss couple started in December 2011, to create new life prospects for disadvantaged young adults. They were on a world trip in 2008-2010 when they came to Siem Reap and realised that not all children were orphans living in orphanages, but they lived there because their families thought they would be better off there than with them. Once they came of age and had to leave the orphanage, they had nowhere to go and that’s where the idea of Haven was born to give the kids a safe place to turn to and help them transition from institutional living to living in the real world. The 16-month training programme is free of charge for all their students who live in a trainee house where all their expenses like housing, medical, bicycle expenses are taken care of and they even get a trainee allowance. Even after they graduate, the programme helps them in getting gainful employment. The Khmer Fish Amok in a spiced coconut curry with noni leaves, vegetables and mushrooms with steamed red rice is awesome as is the Somlor M’Chou Kroeung which is sliced beef with morning glory, hot basil, Khmer spices and tamarind paste with red rice, served by staff wearing ‘Love makes us family’ tees. Haven’s open garden setting with floor and ceiling fans makes you feel easy and breezy, and with great food coming your way, helping definitely tastes better.

Haven is open every day from 10 am to 10 pm, except Monday.

Chocolate Rd, Krong Siem Reap, Cambodia. Ph: +855 78 342 404

 

1932

1932 is the only restaurant in Siem Reap where you can feast on dishes served to the Khmer kings and queens of yore. 1932, housed within the historic Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor serves Khmer cuisine which Cambodians eat at home, interpreted with contemporary flair, alongside original recipes handed down by generations of royal chefs, gifted to the hotel by royal decree. 1932 is named thus as Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor opened its doors in the Old French Quarter of Siem Reap in 1932. The restaurant’s décor, gold-engraved dinner plates and service takes you back in time to the regal era of the Khmer empire with its lavish presentation of the Khmer dishes. The fact that 1932 is located 500 mts. directly opposite the Royal Residence of the Cambodian monarch, King Norodom Sihamoni, when he’s in Siem Reap, adds to the royal allure of the dining experience. The Royal Khmer Cuisine Starters (Nhoam Chamross) are delightful – Green Mango Salad with fresh water prawn, kes fish & sweet basil, Siem Reap Vegetable Spring Roll with pineapple salad & chilli sauce and the Duck Breast Salad, with toeuk trey dressing & pea flower, as was the Num Ornsorm, which is Cambodian sticky rice stuffed with banana. I loved the mains of the Lotus Leaf Steamed Duck Breast (Khnop Tear) with lemon grass, ginger, coriander & Khmer spices and rice and the Grilled Banana Blossom – they were as delicious as they were decadent. The fragrant herbs and spices used in these dishes are procured from the kitchen garden on the grounds of the Raffles hotel. You will find a Khmer favourite, or all, from the Royal Khmer Sweet Platter of Steamed Banana with Coconut Milk, Pink Layered Cake, Pumpkin Custard, Black Sticky Rice with Mango, and Coconut Ice-Cream. Cambodians love sweets, but they don’t over-sweeten their traditional desserts, which is wonderful. And if you love wine, then Socheata, 1932’s sommelier, will pair your food with over 400 vintage wines from around the world from their cellar.

1932 is open for dinner every evening from 6.30 pm to 10.30 pm.

Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor, 1 Vithei Charles de Gaulle Khum, 17252, Siem Reap Cambodia

Ph: +855 63 963 888