Cool Cafes & Restaurants in Siem Reap.

Cool Cafes & Restaurants in Siem Reap.

What an amazing journey it was interviewing the cafe and restaurant owners of Siem Reap. Hearing their unique backstories, eating their wonderful food, diving into South East Asia’s most underrated coffee scene. Our 12-article series is almost done, so let’s roundup the best of the rest. Here they are, those other very cool cafes, restaurants and bars we visited during our seven-month adventure in Siem Reap.

In over twenty years of global adventuring, I have yet to find a more impressive breakfast town than Siem Reap. Here you’ll find everything, from inventive baking and artisan coffee, to fresh fruit bowls and authentic western cooked breakfasts. Organic? Gluten-free? Ketogenic-friendly? Yes, Siem Reap caters to all.

Bayon Pastry School, Siem Reap.

We can definitely recommend the brilliant coffee shop at Bayon Pastry School. As part of the NGO Bayon School, sales of the food and drink made here goes straight towards training underprivileged local women in the art of baking and hospitality.

Bayon Pastry School sits in a peaceful garden in Taphul Village. Hence it’s a great place to grab some much-needed quiet time. For those wanting to improve their kitchen skills, the school also holds cooking classes!

While certainly a modest little place at first glance, the cafe has actually played host to the British celebrity chef Nadiya Hussein! She came here in December 2018 as part of her Cambodian journey of self-discovery for the TV series Nadiya’s Asian Odyssey.

Cool Cafes & Restaurants in Siem Reap.

As you might expect, the coffee at Bayon Pastry School is great. However, we mostly remember this place for its outstanding 10/10 lemon meringue pie. November 2022 status: Bayon Pastry School is very much alive, well and awaiting your patronage!

The Hive Cafe.

I was also happy to give a solid thumbs up to The Hive, situated in trendy Kandal Village. With icy air-con, reliable wifi and a mostly local clientele that kept to themselves, this was a great place for work, study and reading. Moreover, they had some impressive coffee options. I could vouch for the delicious Tumeric Chai Latte, a wondrous mix of cinnamon, vanilla, cardamom and ginger.

The Hive’s food options tended to be a bit on the fancy side. We quite liked the Huevos Rancheros, a Mexican creation featuring a pan-fried tortilla topped with egg, salsa, avocado, re-fried beans, sour cream and grated cheese. November 2022 status: The Hive is now permanently closed, another victim of the pandemic and its effect on local tourism.

Crane Cafe.

Also in Kandal Village, Crane Cafe is one of Siem Reap’s trendiest eateries. Combining great coffee and home-cooked food with fashion and music, we always enjoyed the vibe here.

Cool Cafes & Restaurants in Siem Reap.

If you can, head up the wooden stepladder to Crane’s top floor sofa and log tables. It’s a wonderful spot to chill out, do some work and maybe sift through their cool range of clothing. In fact, every time I came here, I was tempted to buy their Smiths t-shirt.

Crane Cafe offers a wide variety of dishes. We had their excellent omelettes and salads, not to mention a sublime wedge or two of cheesecake. November 2022 status: Crane appears to be open for business. Go get that cheesecake!

Footprint Cafe.

For literature lovers, look no further than Footprint Cafe, with its towering bookcases bursting with English language titles. Impressively, owner Georgina Hemingway had over 8000 books shipped over from Cambridge in England. Thus you surely won’t have to worry about running out of titles anytime soon.

Furthermore, whatever you order at Footprint, 100% of the net profit goes back to local community projects. So you can grab that strawberry smoothie and Eggs Florentine with homemade hash browns safe in the knowledge that your money is going to a good place.

Cool Cafes & Restaurants in Siem Reap.

In addition to great food, excellent coffee and fine work in the community, Footprint Cafe has a large co-working space upstairs. For a modest fee, freelancers and digital nomads have a quiet, air conditioned place to work. There’s also a sizeable meeting room and paintings for sale by local artists. November 2022 status: Footprint is another pandemic survivor, please do pay them a visit!

The Source Cafe.

Back before COVID-19 screwed everything up, one of our favourite Siem Reap cafes was Brother Bong. When it suddenly announced its closure during the crisis, we were genuinely gutted. Happily, a couple of cafes subsequently stepped up to help ease the pain. One of these, the outstanding Krousar Cafe, we’ve already reviewed in an individual travel report. The other, is the excellent Source Cafe on Taphul Road.

Pleasingly, all the things we’d loved about Brother Bong are alive and kicking here at Source Cafe. Genuinely friendly service? Yup. Fresh, tasty, build your own breakfasts? Uh huh! Delicious coffee? Peaceful, cool interior? Wifi that works? Thrice yes. November 2022 status: Fear not, Source remains very much open and dedicated to your food and drink needs.

Bang Bang Bakery.

Also on Taphul Road, and actually just across the street from The Source Cafe, we paid several visits to the highly rated Bang Bang Bakery. We sampled their fantastic light, rye sourdough and divine carrot cake. Unwittingly, we also had their bagels at one of our favourite Siem Reap cafes, The Little Red Fox Espresso.

The bakery’s name was a play on the Khmer word nombang, which means bread. Famed throughout Siem Reap for putting environmental matters at the heart of their business plan, owners Zita and Jana created one of Cambodia’s most highly rated bakery cafes. November 2022 status: Unfortunately, Bang Bang called it a day in May 2020, another loss felt keenly by the local community.

Peace Cafe.

If you’re strictly veggie and love taking your meals al fresco, a visit to Peace Cafe may impress. Even in a city that specialises in beautiful jungle gardens, this one is particularly lovely. We came here after reading several strong reviews and, right enough, felt suitably wowed by the beauty of the place.

Unfortunately, our actual dining experience was… well… a bit meh. While we had no real complaints about our coffee, cookies and pancakes, we were less impressed with the red ant infestation around several tables. Easily forgiven from our perspective, had the staff not been so disinterested and miserable from start to finish.

Cool Cafes & Restaurants in Siem Reap.

If truth be told, there wasn’t so much as a smile on display between all four servers that afternoon. This was surprising, as the cafe is supposed to be all about community outreach. They have a charming fair-trade shop onsite and offer regular yoga, cooking and Khmer language classes in their community space upstairs. Maybe we just caught them on a bad day. November 2022 status: Peace Cafe is still rolling, why not go and check out their amazing jungle garden. Hopefully the service has picked up a bit, two and a half years on from our visits.

Paris Bakery.

Siem Reap’s European expats find many home comforts from the excellent Paris Bakery. From quiches, pizzas, baguettes, pastries, cakes and a dizzying range of cheeses, rest assured whatever your order here it’ll be the real deal. We had their lasagne, for example, several times and it never disappointed.

Paris Bakery was one of very few paces that stayed open all the way through the COVID-19 crisis. Much to the delight of those Siem Reap expats who also opted to stay put. Located on Wat Bo Road, it’s also a nice place to sit and chill, either inside with the air con, or out in the garden terrace. November 2022 status: These guys appear to be the ultimate COVID survivors and yes, they are still keepin’ it real at the time of writing.

Jungle Burger.

The topic of Siem Reap’s “best burger joint” is a hotly contested one, judging by the online debates I’ve witnessed. For me though, top prize went to Jungle Burger, a lively sports bar on Street 26.

Cool Cafes & Restaurants in Siem Reap.

The burgers here are densely packed and juicy, with a variety of imaginative toppings. Our favourites? I’d say the Mushroom & Creamy Black Pepper Sauce. Or The Godfather Burger, with seasoned chicken breast, avocado, pepperoni, mozzarella, onions, olives, tomatoes, lettuce, garlic mayo and mustard. Equally impressive are owner Clayton’s homemade Kiwi style meat pies, already into their eighth year as  a Jungle Burger staple. They also do salads, spring rolls, subs and tacos. November 2022 status: Yes, you can still go and see Clayton and his team today!

Mamma Shop.

Siem Reap is blessed with excellent Italian restaurants. Spoilt for choice, expat residents and tourists alike are often split on their loyalties. Many champion Fellini, famed for their handmade pastas. Others swore by Dolce Vita (now closed), hailed for the city’s best pizzas and Tiramisu. Our vote, by a whisker, went to Mamma Shop in Kandal Village.

Owner Simone Santolini comes from Bologna and it’s his hometown cuisine that he primarily offers at Mamma Shop. Simone says his success is down to a number of things, such as “simple ingredients” and “skilful Khmer chefs”. 

Not everything is straightforward though. The tomato sauce for his amazing salmon ravioli (pictured above) takes between four to five hours to cook. Apparently, he is always surprised by the reputation he has in Siem Reap and admits to often thinking “Maybe they’ve never had Italian food before”. November 2022 status: Mamma Mia!!! This pace has survived the pandemic!!!

Belmiro’s Pizzas & Subs.

When it came to takeaway pizza with a movie, we always put our trust in Belmiro’s. They did authentic American style pizzas and everything was made to order. Go for a large, as we did on our first order, and it was clear that these guys weren’t messing around! November 2022 status: What a pity that it seems Belmiro’s has cooked their last pizza. I’m sure they’ll be sorely missed.

Elia Greek Kitchen.

While you clearly won’t have an issue finding a decent pizza in Siem Reap, seeking out authentic Greek food is an altogether different proposition. Sitting top of a very short pile is Elia Greek Kitchen, a restaurant that has created “a small piece of Greece in the middle of Cambodia”.  As soon as you enter, it’s clear they’ve succeeded, with soft traditional music, wooden shuttered windows and dramatic Aristotle quote art on the walls.

Cool Cafes & Restaurants in Siem Reap.

Don’t worry though, Elia Greek Kitchen is not a case of style over substance. We dined here on several occasions and always found the food flawless. From their creamy, layered Moussaka and crispy fries, to delicious tzatziki, tirokafteri, hummus, beetroot and eggplant dips with pita bread. One evening, totally unexpected, our waiter gifted us a complimentary duo of Chocolate Glory mousse! November 2022 status: According to my good friend Mr. Google, Elia Greek Kitchen has kicked COVID’s ass. Hip, hip hooray!

Moloppor Cafe.

I couldn’t have written this article and not mention at least a few restaurants specialising in local Khmer flavours. Among our favourites are the already reviewed Ivy Guesthouse and Tevy’s Place. Another eatery well worth a mention is Moloppor Cafe, my venue of choice whenever I meet up with my Cambodian friend Lorn.

I invariably end up ordering a ridiculous feast. From Cambodian staples like Beef Lok Lak and eggplant with minced pork, to their sublime noodles, fried rice and stir fries, it’s all top notch. They also do fantastic Shanghai style fried dumplings. November 2022 status: These guys are still rockin’ on. Lorn, if I ever return to Siem Reap, I’ll meet you at Moloppor!

Banlle Restaurant.

Finally, a word on Banlle Restaurant, one of Siem Reap’s most unique dining venues. This 100% vegetarian fusion restaurant sits on Street 26 in a small building in the middle of an incredibly beautiful and tranquil garden.

From our table, we had prime views over Banlle’s pretty, organic farm. On the day of our visit there was a lady tending to the various fruit, vegetables and spices grown onsite.

While we found the service a bit prickly, Banlle’s food was both tasty and easy on the wallet. We had an excellent soybean curd Banh Mi with fries and a creamy mushroom fettuccini, served with veggie meat balls. Even if you’re not that into veggie food, this place is well worth a try. November 2022 status: Banlle Restaurant is still going strong!

Want to read more about Siem Reap’s excellent food and drink scene? Take a look at this 12-article guide on my most recommenced cafes and restaurants.

You can also read my exhaustive overview of What to See and Do in Siem Reap.

Looking for a roof over your head? Check out my articles on Where to Stay in Siem Reap.

I’ve been living, working and traveling all over the world since 2001. So why not check out my huge library of travel reports from over 30 countries.