Restaurants in Siem Reap

There is certainly no shortage of restaurants in Siem Reap with rows of 10+ next to each other enticing you in. You can eat very cheaply at restaurants in Siem Reap with many dishes just $2-3 and local beer between 50c and $1. It is probably the cheapest country I have visited for food and drink! Typical Cambodian dishes include Beef Lok Lak, Khmer Curry and Fish / Chicken Amok. We visited the following restaurants in Siem Reap during our visit:

The Chef 1950 N Steak House

Situated on pub street, Chef 1950 restaurant is run by the founder of the famous Pub Street in 2002. We were attracted to the cook your own Khmer BBQ set where you get the following for $16 for two people:

6 different meats (beef, chicken, squid, crocodile, pork belly and shrimp)
Vegetables: Fresh mushroom (shitake, white crab and black crab), pumpkin, carrot, bock choy, baby Chinese cabbage, baby corn, french spinach, pumpkin instant noodle and white round noodle
Soup option: Bbq soup or spicy mala soup
Dipping sauce: bbq and tofu sauce

For $20 you can get 12 different meats including king prawn, ostrich, lamb, kangaroo, pork loin and beef rump. Their main menu is extensive and also includes set 4 course menus for just $11.75. although it was not the most flavoursome meal we had in Siem Reap. Although it was a great experience cooking the meats, it was not the most flavoursome meal we had in Siem Reap.

Luckily for us, it was still happy hour when we visited (I think it was 5-7pm) where you can get 2-4-1 cocktails! There was a huge selection (not just your basic juicy ones with little alcohol). We had the Frozen Aviation Chef with Gin maraschino, cherry, crème de violate, lemon juice and the Pink Lady with Triple sec, lime juice, egg white, creme de fraise (both $4.5). They also offer cocktails such as frozen rose wine, daiquiri and margarita.

Lim Kin Cheng

Situated near the Old Market, Lim Kin Cheng offers very affordable Khmer cuisine. We tucked into the Khmer Curry Chicken ($3) which had a good level of spice and the Pumpkin curry (veggie) which was only $2.75 including a beer! A mojito was also only $1 – madness! Good place to grab a bite for lunch – the pumpkin curry was particularly good.

Khmer Taste

After reading many positive reviews, we wanted to try out Khmer Taste, which was always busy when we walked past. Situated on Sok San Road, just moments from Pub Street, it is in a prime location for affordable local food.

It is also always happy hour at Khmer Taste with local beer at $50c and cocktails (Mojito, Gin Fizz and more) only $1! We tried the Chicken Fried Vegetable Cashew Nut served with rice ($3), Boiled Dumpling ($2.5) and Cambodian Curry ($2.50). A great relaxed, affordable local restaurant.

Monsoon Restaurant

Situated on Pub Street, Monsoon restaurant offers Asian fusion dishes. We started off with a cocktail ($3.25) which was even cheaper in happy hour! The Pink Lady with Gin, Triple Sec, White Egg, Grenadine Syrup and Lime Juice was beautifully presented.

The Beef Lok Lak ($5.95) was a great choice. Lok Lak actually means ‘shaking’ which refers to the movement of the beef in the wok as it cooks. We also loved the Traditional Amok with chicken ($6.95) which is cooked in a mixture of shallots, lemongrass, garlic, kaffir lime and tumeric, roasted crushed peanuts, coconut milk and egg and served with jasmine rice. Both dishes were excellent and this was one of our favourite restaurants!

Red Angkor

Red Angkor is another great local and very affordable restaurant in Siem Reap on Sok San Road. Fruit shakes, juice, cocktails, wine and beer are all under $2. We had a Khmer Curry with chicken ($3) and Fried Khmer Noddle with beef ($2). A cheap and cheerful restaurants with loads of options.

Meric Khchei

Our only more ‘fine dining’ option in Siem Reap was Meric Khchei. The restaurant is owned by chef Ratana, who has years of experience in large hotels in Cambodia. We started with a Singapore Sling and Lychee Martini ($4 each) and were served with complimentary peanuts and a small appetiser.

We absolutely loved the Duck Breast Red Curry with carrots, sweet potato, long beans, onion, Khmer spices and basil ($12.80). The duck was perfectly seared, juicy and tender and, whilst, it could have done with a little more spice, it was an impressive dish. The Beef Lok Lak ($9.50) was equally tender with lots of pops of flavour from the black pepper lime sauce.

This restaurant in Siem Reap is definitely worth a visit if you want an excellent meal in beautiful surroundings.

Woodstock Bar Thai Restaurant

Woodstock has only recently opened and looked busy in the evenings so we visited for lunch. The restaurant appears to be owned by the cook, who is a Thai woman. We were really craving pad thai ($3) – it was beautifully presented with options to add chilli, salt and peanuts. The service was very slow and the staff could not speak English which made it a little difficult but the food was worth it!

Elia Greek Kitchen

Our only Western meal was at Elia Greek Kitchen on Sok San Road which was decorated blue and white of the colours of Greece! The service was friendly and the food was really impressive.

We had the Chicken Souvlaki (pitta bread filled with zucchini fritters, lettuce, red cabbage, tomato, onion served with homemade fries) ($3.5) and the Beef Skewers with fries, side salad, tzatziki and pitas bread ($6.5). A wholesome Greek meal with tender, marinated meat.