Siem Reap for Foodies

"Breakfast on a cold bowl of Nom Banh Chok The beloved Cambodian breakfast dish of nom banh chok is a love-it-or-hate-it dish for most foreigners, who would probably prefer to have this cold to luke-warm noodle dish served hot. The process of making these rice noodles is depicted in bas reliefs on Angkor temples, suggesting that the dish dates back to the Khmer Empire and traveled to Thailand at the end of the Angkorian era. In Thailand, there is a similar noodle dish called kanom jeen . In Siem Reap it's typically served at street-side stalls and by roaming women vendors who carry baskets of ingredients on their shoulders. Like anything in Cambodia, you can expect to find an array of versions buta favorite comes with a yellow kroeung curry, a mound of thinly sliced banana blossoms, pickled cucumber, and fresh fragrant green herbs."

"Old-School Retail Therapy While cute souvenir shops and even haute couture boutiques exemplify the changing face of the retail scene in Siem Reap , the city’s famous Old Market remains a heady hub of traditional trade and commerce. Located right in the heart of town, Psar Chas is amply stocked with lots of things that you might want to buy—as well as plenty of things you probably do not. That said, perusing the labyrinthine aisles full of silverware, silks, handicrafts, spices, stone carvings, and other assorted ephemera is worth a couple hours of anyone’s time. Stay calm and haggle politely with a smile on your face, and you're sure to find a bargain or two."

"Opened in 1932 in the historic Royal Khmer compound, this landmark hotel was the first luxury lodging in the area, catering to well-heeled adventurers intent on visiting the storied ruins of the temples at Angkor. Everyone from Charlie Chaplin and Charles de Gaulle to Jackie O and, more recently, Angelina Jolie have slept within its dramatic, art deco walls. Just a short walk or tuk-tuk ride to central Siem Reap , the hotel, now part of the Raffles collection, features 15 acres of manicured gardens with more than 20,540 species of tropical plants, making it a relaxing oasis after a day spent exploring the temples. Following a major restoration by David Grace Designs in 2019, the 119 rooms, suites, and villas—some set in the original main building, others overlooking the garden or pool—are now a vision of French windows, hardwood floors, and marble bathrooms with Italian tiling and oversized rain showers.Some have added perks like furnished terraces, high ceilings, or four-poster beds. Elsewhere in the hotel, features like the 1929 metal-and-timber elevator, art deco black-and-white tiles, and classic conservatory have been refurbished but maintained. The large central swimming pool is ringed by loungers, while the tucked-away spa has a sauna, Jacuzzi, and six treatment rooms for excellent, regionally inspired therapies. Both in-house and outside guests frequent the six drinking and dining options, which include the legendary Elephant Bar, the elegant Restaurant Le Grand (serving both Western and Royal Khmer cuisine), and the completely renovated Apsara Terrace, which offers a dinner-cum-cultural dance show three or five nights a week, depending on the season. The on-site gallery and boutique showcase high-quality local goods."

"Sample Cambodian snacks on a street food tour The excellent Cambodian chefs from River Garden hotel, who offer the Cooks in Tuk Tuks cooking class, also run a fun street food tour that gives you a great insight into Cambodia's culinary culture. Partly on foot and partly on tuk tuk, the tour starts at a few street food stalls where you can sample some popular late afternoon snacks before venturing into a local market. The tour ends at a very local street food destination that few tourists ever get to with a roadside picnic—a quintessentially Siem Reap experience!"

"Sample Cambodian snacks on a street food tour The excellent Cambodian chefs from River Garden hotel, who offer the Cooks in Tuk Tuks cooking class, also run a fun street food tour that gives you a great insight into Cambodia's culinary culture. Partly on foot and partly on tuk tuk, the tour starts at a few street food stalls where you can sample some popular late afternoon snacks before venturing into a local market. The tour ends at a very local street food destination that few tourists ever get to with a roadside picnic—a quintessentially Siem Reap experience!"

"Taste Siem Reap's own brand of infused rice spirit Expats Lionel Maitrepierre and Joëlle Jean Louise drew inspiration from traditional Cambodian rice spirit, which is potent and medicinal-tasting and not always safe for foreigners to drink, and the fruit-infused rums from Joëlle’s home Mauritius, when they developed Sombai. The Siem Reap -based couple started producing their range of quality rice spirits, which they infused with Cambodian fruits, herbs, spices, and roots, in 2012. You'll see Sombai's distinctive hand-painted bottles all over Siem Reap, and many bars offer cocktails made with Sombai's rice spirits, however, it's much more fun to visit their tasting room and infusion workshop, where you can taste the full range of eight blended flavors (for free), before buying the beautiful bottles with Cambodian cotton kramas tied around their necks. The spirits can be sipped straight as aperitifs, combined with spirits to make cocktails or drizzled over ice-cream or cake to create a heady dessert."

"Sampling contemporary Cambodian 'tapas' Serving contemporary Cambodian 'tapas' - essentially, smaller sized plates of traditional Cambodian dishes - has become something of a trend in Siem Reap 's restaurants in recent years. It's a great idea as they're ideal for sharing and allow you to sample an array of dishes instead of two or three. A number of restaurants offer tapas-style Cambodian selections, including Marum restaurant, which actually specializes in contemporary Cambodian tapas, and AHA, a wine bar and restaurant in the Old Market quarter, however, I love this selection at the beautiful Samar Villas and Spa, an intimate boutique hotel that is a member of Secret Retreats."

"Learn to make Khmer cocktails at Asana Most visitors to Siem Reap will sign up for a Cambodian cooking class but very few have discovered Asana bar and its fun Khmer cocktail making classes. Located in one of the last traditional timber houses in the old town of Siem Reap, laidback Asana bar is owned by Siem Reap-born jazz-loving Sophari ‘Pari’ Ung and her French expat architect spouse Guilhem Maitrepierre. Pari invented the Khmer cocktail and in these relaxed classes she or her sweet Cambodian staff teach participants about Khmer ingredients such as tamarind, turmeric, lemongrass, and wild ginger, before showing them how to make a couple of her cocktail specials, such as the Asana Sling, made with gin, triple sec, cointreau, grenadine, cherry brandy, bitters, lime, pineapple juice, and Sombai’s Galangal-Tamarind rice spirit. If you're feeling creative, you then get a chance to mix your own cocktail. If not, the staff will teach you another Asana specialty. Unlike a lot of cooking classes, which non-cooks can find a tad nerve-racking if they don't have knife skills, Asana's 90-minute cocktail class couldn't be easier. After, you can recline on the stuffed rice sacks that are Asana's sofas and keep on sipping or pop around the corner to Miss Wong for more. I recommend you have a restaurant pre-booked for dinner. Pari is very generous with her pourings! Classes are offered daily at 6pm ($15 per person) by appointment only, but it's essential to book ahead."

"Learn to make Khmer cocktails at Asana Most visitors to Siem Reap will sign up for a Cambodian cooking class but very few have discovered Asana bar and its fun Khmer cocktail making classes. Located in one of the last traditional timber houses in the old town of Siem Reap, laidback Asana bar is owned by Siem Reap-born jazz-loving Sophari ‘Pari’ Ung and her French expat architect spouse Guilhem Maitrepierre. Pari invented the Khmer cocktail and in these relaxed classes she or her sweet Cambodian staff teach participants about Khmer ingredients such as tamarind, turmeric, lemongrass, and wild ginger, before showing them how to make a couple of her cocktail specials, such as the Asana Sling, made with gin, triple sec, cointreau, grenadine, cherry brandy, bitters, lime, pineapple juice, and Sombai’s Galangal-Tamarind rice spirit. If you're feeling creative, you then get a chance to mix your own cocktail. If not, the staff will teach you another Asana specialty. Unlike a lot of cooking classes, which non-cooks can find a tad nerve-racking if they don't have knife skills, Asana's 90-minute cocktail class couldn't be easier. After, you can recline on the stuffed rice sacks that are Asana's sofas and keep on sipping or pop around the corner to Miss Wong for more. I recommend you have a restaurant pre-booked for dinner. Pari is very generous with her pourings! Classes are offered daily at 6pm ($15 per person) by appointment only, but it's essential to book ahead."

"Tuck into Cambodian food in a traditional house The Sugar Palm restaurant is the first Cambodian restaurant that many visitors to Siem Reap try, and it often becomes a favorite. The food is some of the most delicious, traditional, home-style Cambodian food in the country. It also happens to be served in a very traditional, Khmer teak-wood house, with high ceilings and wide verandahs—oozing atmosphere. Everything on offer is scrumptious, from the amok trei or fish amok, to the hearty Cambodian chicken curry. If you're not a fan of pungent and sour flavors but want to try one of Cambodia's quintessential ingredients, prahok (fermented fish), then this is the restaurant to do it. The prahok k'tis (a minced pork dip made with prahok) is a fairly tame albeit still very tasty iteration of the dish. The owner-chef, Cambodian-New Zealander Kethana Dunnett, is often around if you have questions about the cuisine. Kethana is the go-to person for celebrity chefs -- from Gordon Ramsay to Luke Nguyen -- when they are in the country filming food programs, and she certainly knows her stuff."

"Try refined Khmer cuisine on the riverside Chanrey Tree's location on the leafy riverside makes it a lovely spot for both lunch and dinner. Delivering refined renditions of authentic Khmer cuisine, you'll find some of the same dishes on the menu that you'll see at the Sugar Palm, along with dishes that don't feature on other restaurant menus, including many of the owner’s mother’s recipes. I love starting with the crispy sticky rice with natang - a dip of minced pork, shrimp, coconut milk, and peanuts. It comes with fried tempura-like frangipanis and vegetables. Chanrey Tree is also the place to try char kroeung, a quintessential Cambodian dish of pork, chicken or beef stir-fried with kroeung, a paste that is the basis for many dishes. The basic yellow kroeung is made from lemongrass, turmeric, galangal, lime, garlic, and spring onion. Try the char kroeung with frog's legs if they're in season. They're wonderful! Another dish I adore is the free-range Khmer chicken, roasted with honey, rice brandy, young jack fruit and lemongrass, and served with a deliciously-pungent prahok (fermented fish) dip and fresh vegetable crudites. The restaurant itself is a stylish space consisting of a traditional Khmer timber house with a contemporary extension. If you're a people-watcher, sit in the front courtyard. If you enjoy the buzz of a chatty room, book a table out the back. Note the impressive sleek kitchen as you stroll to your table. Book a day ahead during high season."