10 of our best addresses
to make the most of your stay in Siem Reap!
1/ A breakfast served by the Bayon Pastry School, Pastry School
Our favorite pastry in Siem Reap! Located in a small alley perpendicular to Taphul Street, the Bayon Pastry School café invites you to relax on its sofas in a green and family setting.
Founded in 2014, the Bayon school offers young disadvantaged girls motivated by the pastry profession a one-year training course financed by NGO donors and by sales from their coffee shop.
We advise you to accompany your chocolate passion tart with their excellent homemade lemonade. And if you are in Siem Reap for the weekend, take the opportunity to stop by the Sunday Brunch, where delicious options await you as well as free access to board games! A delicious and healthy return to childhood.
Location : Taphul Village, Krong Siem Reap
Hours: Monday to Sunday 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
2/ A shopping trip to Kandal Village
After waking up with the best coffee in the city, at Red Fox or with juices from The Hive, stroll through this charming neighborhood mixing art galleries, spas, and fashion stalls and social initiatives. Khmer products and cosmopolitan design come together to satisfy all your desires and all budgets.
It is in this dynamic and artistic village that you will find our Soieries du Mékong store. Opened in January 2017, it invites all curious people to learn more about traditional hand weaving and to discover our silk creations in a colorful and cozy decor. You can also drop off your donations of supplies for the Children of the Mekong centers!
Lieu : Hup Guan Street, Kandal Village, Siem Reap
Hours: every day from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
3/ Gourmet lunch at Sala Bai Hotel and Restaurant
Take advantage of your stopover in Siem Reap to have lunch in a gourmet restaurant at a very reasonable price! A hospitality school that trains around a hundred disadvantaged young Cambodians each year, Sala Bai has opened a restaurant and a hotel so that students can put their knowledge into practice. Its magnificent refined and graphic architecture has been designed in a pragmatic manner in order to optimize all the components of this interesting and attractive social project. As an added bonus, you can visit the school to experience the warm and dynamic atmosphere that reigns there.
Please note, the School only opens its doors for breakfast and lunch service! If you are looking for a gourmet restaurant for an evening full of flavors, go to the illustrious Wat Damnak, open in the evening only (reserve in advance, however, the restaurant is often full).
Lieu: Ecole Sala Bai, Wat Svay Village, Tonle Sap Road, Siem Reap
Hours: Monday to Friday, 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. for breakfast, and 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. for lunch.
4/ A cultural outing in 1961
1961 is a creative space in every sense of the word. Both a coworking space to help develop ideas through meetings, an art gallery and a cabinet of curiosities intended for sale, this place is a true collaborative and inspiring platform! Admire the works of art and browse the different art magazines available over a coffee. We recommend an introduction to yoga at sunrise amid large paintings in a magnificent wooden room to start your day off right!
Lieu: 211 Osaphear Street, Upper West River Side
Hours: every day from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Yoga classes Monday to Friday at 6 a.m.
5/ A traditional cooking class at Champey
Located opposite the Old Market, the Champey restaurant offers delicious traditional Cambodian cuisine in a simple and pleasant setting to learn how to make a perfect Amok like a true Khmer. After the request of a few customers concerned about not being able to find the same flavors at home, the restaurant decided to offer those interested a visit to the old market in order to discover local products followed by a cooking class under the eye of a recognized leader. The chef brings unrivaled friendliness and laughter is quickly heard in this class where you come out with a dish to taste straight after and with an explosion of flavors on the palate!
Location: opposite the Old Market next to the Amok Restaurant
Times: Two lessons of 3.5 hours, the first from 9.30 a.m. until 1 p.m., the second from 3 a.m. to 6.30 a.m.
Contact : mail, reservations@angkorw.com ; tel, 8855 (0)11 566 455
6/ A moment of relaxation at Sokkhak Spa
After a digestive stroll in the city center, what could be better than a massage and quality treatment with the Sokkhak Spa to end your day in style! Classified by Trip Advisor as the first spa in Siem Reap, this establishment is run by a warm and professional team, who with their skillful hands and equipped with life-saving oils for your skin, leaves you in an almost daze when you leave the SPA. The treatments are made on site using local fruits and vegetables. And a small recommendation from the editor: a visit to the Sokkhak restaurant before the massage allows you to benefit from a 15% discount and a free tuktuk to get there.
Ps: If you are really in a hurry to relax and there is no more room at the Sokkhak Spa, try the Khmer Relief Spa, whose massages in a refined setting and with natural and local products are also highly recommended .
Location: Sokkhak Spa, on Sok San Road, next to X bar.
Hours: 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day
7/ An insect tasting aperitif at Bugs
Do you want to try entomophagy, the solution of the future to feed some 9 billion earthlings by 2050?
Bugs is THE best place to enjoy a grasshopper appetizer and taste the little silkworm cupcakes among other things. For the more adventurous, the special mix allows you to try a wide variety of insects, cooked in refined and delicious sauces that have nothing to do with the insects on sale on Pub Street!
In addition, the manager is passionate and will be happy to help you analyze what is on your plate. A good address for gourmet-adventurers!
Lieu : 351 Thmey Village, Angkor Night Market Street, Krong Siem Reap
Hours: every day from 5 p.m. to midnight
8/ A moving and funny show at Cirque Phare
This is perhaps the least hidden attraction but surely one of the best in Siem Reap. It fully deserves its place on our podium because anyone who leaves Siem Reap without having seen the Cirque Phare misses an unforgettable show! A show that is at once terrible, poetic, acrobatic and impressive, it features a troupe of young Cambodians full of energy and humor serving moving stories. We highly recommend the Sokha show which traces the history of the founder of the NGO, the Phare Ponleu Selpak school from which the artists come. Indeed, behind the makeup and the smiles, there is a strong social project: that of channeling the energy of young disadvantaged Cambodians by teaching them the professions of circus, drawing, music and sewing, and by making them aware of various societal problems.
Location: Circus Ring Road Lighthouse, south of the intersection with Sok San
Contact : Phone for reservation: 092 225 320
Times: performances every day at 8 p.m. (arrive at 7:30 p.m. maximum if you want to get good seats)
9/ A fish and seafood platter at the Crab Restaurant
In a very authentic setting, the Crab Restaurant is undoubtedly the best local seafood and fish restaurant in Siem Reap! No menu, so the principle is simple: you choose your fish or seafood, cooked on the barbecue or in the oven, with the promise of perfect cooking and an artifice of flavors thanks to their exquisite sauces. Everything is fresh and delicious. And behind these good dishes hides a wonderful social project, that of training young people from poor backgrounds to become waiters and cooks.
Place : Street 27, Siem Reap, Siemreab-Otdar Meanchey, Cambodia
Hours: every day from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
10/ A relaxed rum at the Harbor Tavern Bar or a quiet cocktail at the Asana Wooden House
After a busy day, you might be a little tired. What could be better than ending on a fruity note with a little cocktail in a traditional wooden house? At Asana, a bar also known as the Old Wooden House, the atmosphere is an invitation to relaxation and long conversations without having to raise your voice. Because here, although located a few minutes from Pub Street, no noise pollution, no commercial music but a friendly place, where it is good to meet up with friends or as a couple before heading out into the delirious crowd of Pub Street for the most daring.
Lieu : Street 07, Krong Siem Reap
Opening hours: 12pm to midnight
And for those who are in great shape, the Harbor is the perfect alternative to awaken your nocturnal pirate side!
In a decor mixing the spirit of frank camaraderie, retro pin-up and hard rock, this bar is, without lying, the must have for all those who thirst for adventure and good mixed rums. The board games and the many evenings organized encourage you to meet other travelers and expatriates.
Location: Steung Thmei Road #347
Hours: every day from 10 a.m. to 2 a.m.