siem reap cuisine

Angkor Wat is Cambodia’s top attraction but Siem Reap, the gateway to Angkor, has much more to offer than the temple itself. In addition to famous spiritual landmarks, this city is also a commercial and cultural center that has a unique and rich cuisine. Let’s follow along and learn about a series of amazing restaurants and cafes in Siem Reap with diverse culinary menus. From traditional Cambodian to European and Vietnamese dishes, all are served in a very eye-catching decorated space. Continue reading to find the answer to ‘What to eat in Siem Reap’.

Sunset over Angkor Wat, Siem Reap. Credit: Shutterstock
Siem Reap has an amazing street food culture. | best places to eat in siem reap
You can find great restaurants on Pub Street. | best places to eat in siem reap
A night market in Siem Reap. Credit: Shutterstock
Bakong My Village cafe and restaurant in Siem Reap. | best places to eat in siem reap

Now, let’s explore culinary culture in Siem Reap – A journey immersed in flavors with us.

Amazing restaurant in Siem Reap (# where to eat in siem reap)

The neighborhood near Old Market is home to many restaurants | best places to eat in siem reap

What to eat in Siem Reap? Like other tourist destinations, the food in Siem Reap is very diverse due to the cultural interference of many countries. You can find a lot of foreign dishes in the city such as Indian, European, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Japanese, as you stroll along the streets. So looking for good food in this historic city is never a problem. If you want to eat like the locals, visit sidewalk eateries at night markets or on the streets far away from the center. Another option is trying a slightly more expensive flavor, you can visit restaurants in the bustling Old Market area. Below are a few mid-range restaurants and popular eateries specializing in local dishes that I enjoyed during my recent trip to Siem Reap.

Khmer Kitchen Restaurant (# best places to eat in siem reap)

On the sunny afternoon just arriving in Siem Reap, hungry stomachs motivated us to wander the streets to find a restaurant. The first one we found was closed for Christmas, and the second one wasn’t open yet. So, we ran to the third restaurant on the list Khmer Kitchen Restaurant.

Khmer Kitchen Restaurant was once reviewed by the New York Times | best places to eat in siem reap

What to eat in Siem Reap to experience traditional culinary culture and feel delicious? This is one of the local restaurants with the most beautiful locations in the Old Market, it is located right at the beginning of the intersection with the Old Market.

This restaurant specializes in serving traditional Cambodian dishes such as Khmer Curry, Fish Bread Crumb (deep-fried river fish), Amok (fish curry), and Lab (this one is really delicious). The price range of this restaurant is around $2.5 – $10. I was totally impressed with the super large space of the restaurant with two or three houses connected together. The architecture of the entire complex follows the style of an old French residence with a characteristic yellow color.

A rustic vibe and super delicious meal at Khmer Kitchen Restaurant make me remember it forever | best places to eat in siem reap

Another plus point is that the staff at the restaurant are very friendly and welcoming.

  • Address: Street 2 Thnou the corner of Street 9, Old Market Siem reap, 17255, Cambodia.
  • Hours: 9 AM – 11 PM

Krong Angkor (# best local restaurants in siem reap)

Pub Street is the party center of Siem Reap. This walking street has many chill bars and eateries. What restaurant in Siem Reap lets a lot of people fall in love with it? While wandering, we came across Krong Angkor located at a junction with a huge frontage and bustling with tourists. Without further ado, we decided to have dinner here.

Pub Street walking street in Siem Reap | best places to eat in siem reap

Even though I randomly found this restaurant on a walk, the food at Krong Angkor is unbelievably delicious. The restaurant serves a variety of Western and Asian dishes such as tom yum, seaweed soup, sushi, pad thai, and seafood fried rice.

Super spicy beef and bean salad | best places to eat in siem reap
The deep-fried beef sesame is an exotic dish you must try | best places to eat in siem reap

Having eaten at the restaurant twice, we chose the following dishes: Deep fried beef sesame (this dish is similar to beef jerky but tastes much better), seafood fried rice, egg fried rice, sweet seaweed soup, blood cockles, and salad beef with spicy cowpeas. On average, a meal for four people costs about $20–30. In terms of price, dishes range from $4 or more but are high quality and savory for our tastes.

A menu page of Krong Angkor | best places to eat in siem reap

The restaurant space is open like a pub. Upstairs is a bar with vibrant live music. After the meal, you can go upstairs to chill with friends.

  • Address: Street 08, Krong Siem Reap 17259, Cambodia, in Pub Street area (near Miniso)
  • Hours: 5 AM – 1 AM

មីគាវសាច់ទា រស្មីស្ទឹងមានជ័យ – Restaurant with super delicious roast duck

Temporarily putting aside traditional Cambodian cuisine and Western dishes for two days in a row, this time we chose to appease our hunger with a bowl of Chinese-style roast duck noodles.

Chinese roast duck noodles | best places to eat in siem reap

In the early morning, when we caught the bus back to Phnom Penh, we struggled to find a place for breakfast because the trip to the capital took more than 6 hours. Recommended by an employee from the shuttle service, we quickly crossed the street to grab a bite at this noodle shop.

The restaurant opened very early, perhaps we were the first customers coming in on that day. It is similar to a local restaurant with very simple tables and chairs. I ordered a portion of roasted duck noodles with a savory broth. The chewy noodles combined with crispy green vegetables created a wonderful hot bowl of noodles in the chilly early morning weather. The prices of the dishes are super affordable, only about $2.5 per dish, quite cheap compared to dishes in the Old Market.

| where to eat in siem reap

| where to eat in siem reap
  • Address: 9V69+HQ2, NR6, Krong Siem Reap, Cambodia (opposite Virak Buntham Express Samki Market Siem Reap)
  • Hours: From 5 AM

Food courts in Riverside Night Market

What food in Siem Reap is delicious and cheap? When night falls, on both sides of the road along the Siem Reap River are the lights of street vendors shining on the roadside. After eating at Pub Street, realizing that our appetites were still not satisfied, we continued to explore Siem Reap street food.

Which food in Siem Reap is delicious and affordable? | where to eat in siem reap

Both locals and tourists gather here to enjoy street food, from fried rice, egg noodles, rice noodles, rolled ice cream, grilled jerky, and banana cakes. The food here meets the requirement of being delicious and affordable. Loud car horns and invitations from restaurants create a bustling night market atmosphere, giving me a different feeling of excitement compared to eating at regular restaurants.

Vendors with many types of dried fish | where to eat in siem reap

The food at the market is super affordable. Our group ordered a grilled jerky and banana nutella cake for only 5,000 riels (USD 1.24) each.

*List of some other restaurants that I haven’t been to yet:

  • Tavern siem reap
  • Pou restaurant
  • Khmer kitchen
  • Wild spring rolls
  • Nick restaurant
  • The brothers
  • Elia Greek Kitchen

A cool cafe in Siem Reap (# best places to eat in siem reap)

The entrance of this cafe has two huge statues

Bakong My Village is a cafe and restaurant located in Bakong District, about 15km from Siem Reap City towards the capital city of Phnom Penh. To arrive at this cafe, you have to pass through old trees and walk on a red-dirt road of the village, where every time a car passes by, a layer of dust clings to your mask. Perhaps, because of such a remote location, this restaurant is only frequented by local people, and that day, we were the only foreigners who came here.

Bakong My Village has beautiful scenery with rustic country-style decorations. The special feature of this cafe is the misty, lush garden. The owner has been skillful in creating a tropical garden full of plants and flowers, accented with a mist of smoke. When I entered the space, I thought I was lost in a fairyland.

The misty fairyland garden I mentioned

Surrounding the fairy garden are pavilions with tables and chairs for visitors to enjoy the food and drinks. Here, you can also order Khmer and Western dishes from the restaurant. Meat and vegetables are grown and raised by local people, so you can rest assured that there are no chemicals. Looking at the menu, I saw that the price would be a bit more expensive than the shops in the city (from $6 or more), so I just ordered some drinks (about $2 – $2.5). Drinks are also quite good.

Another plus point of the shop is its large space, inside the cafe and restaurant area is a small landscape with a lake surrounding the mounds. Connecting one bank to the other are rustic wooden bridges, just like Vietnamese villages. Visiting the cafe in the afternoon, I was able to catch the peaceful sunset scene here.

The afternoon light streaks the sky with beautiful colors

If you want to enjoy various activities such as fishing, riding a boat or an ox cart, shooting an air gun or playing bow and arrow, visiting a flower garden, visiting a farm, and many more, you can purchase a $1 tour ticket for the recreational area next to the cafe.

What to eat in Siem Reap with two days of traveling around the city is not really enough for me because there is so much that I didn’t have time to visit. Each restaurant, each dish is an interesting cultural story that I want to tell you. For me, Siem Reap is not only a place that attracts tourists with famous historical relics but also a great destination for those who want to immerse themselves in the traditional, unique flavors of Cambodian cuisine and are also passionate about the tastes of other countries. Let the flavors of Siem Reap make your journey unforgettable.

Siem Reap cuisine

 

Some best day tours, trips, activities and transfer services, tickets in and from Siem Reap you can refer to

Are you looking for more Siem Reap travel guide and top things to do in Siem Reap: Tours, activities, attractions and other things? Read more: Siem Reap itinerary 4 days — What to do in Siem Reap in 4 days? And Siem Reap travel guide here.

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