OUR TOP THIRTEEN PLACES TO EAT IN

SIEM REAP

By Tanya Posted On August 19, 2012 Magic Travel Blog

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Our Top Thirteen Places To Eat In

Siem Reap Warning: This post contains a lot of food. We love to eat. It always surprises us that we’re not the size of a house. The below, in no particular order, is a list of our top thirteen places to eat in Siem Reap. Yum!

We have also created a google map showing all of our favourite eats in Siem Reap. This map can be found at the end of this post.

1. India Gate Restaurant

2. The Warehouse

3. Old House Restaurant

4. Chamkar Vegetarian Restaurant

5. River View Cafe

6. Star Rise Restaurant

7. Chinese Restaurant

8. Haus Breman German Restaurant

9. Guru Mother Cafe

10. Cambodian BBQ

11. Arun Restaurant

12. Upstairs Cafe

13. The Ivy Guesthouse and Bar

Our Top Thirteen Places To Eat In Siem Reap Google Map

Where We Have Stayed In CambodiaOur Top Thirteen Places To Eat In Siem Reaphttp://magictravelblog.com/2012/08/top-thirteen-places-eat-siem-reap/ �2

1. India Gate Restaurant

Looking for decent Indian food in Siem Reap? Look no further. India Gate Restaurant just near the Old Market in Siem Reap, offers Vegetarian Thalis for just $3 USD.

They are large enough that Andrew and I can share one for lunch. At dinner time it is another story. Sweet and salt lassis are on offer for $1 USD each. A mango lassi goes for $1.50 USD.

The food is tasty, the staff are lovely, and the prices are reasonable. What more could you want in an Indian restaurant?

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2. The Warehouse

Need some comfort food? The Warehouse is a bar come restaurant come trivia night venue right in the middle of the Old Market area in Siem Reap.

They are a little expensive for our liking, at USD $4.50 each, but nothing beats a ham, cheese and branston pickle roll. I mean, look at the photo above! Nom nom nom!

If there is room, order your drinks and food downstairs then move up to the balcony above. There are comfy couches with a clear view down to the busy world of Siem Reap.

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3. Old House Restaurant

The Old House Restaurant deserves a gold star mention. This little restaurant is tucked between a number of massage parlours who demand your attention and opposite a hospital which offers interesting entertainment.

If you can look past all of that, then the Old House Restaurant is fabulous.

The Khmer food is outstanding, in particular the Pomelo Salad. Check out the photo above. Deliciously served with chicken or smoked fish, peanuts and a creamy Khmer style dressing. Very fresh and tasty.

They also offer a $6 USD set meal of entree, main meal and dessert. Easily fed the two of us. Highly recommended.

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4. Chamkar Vegetarian Restaurant

We recommend Chamkar Vegetarian Restaurant as it is pretty hard to find a decent vegetarian restaurant in Siem Reap. Neither of us are vegetarian but an occasional meat free meal is nice.

The dishes aren’t cheap, they range from USD $2.50 to $5.50. Tamarind or Lemongrass juice at USD $1.50 and a banana shake at around USD $2. Everything, however, is very tasty and fresh.

Something notable, is the cleanliness of the kitchen. You can see the staff cooking your meals. The fridges, containers, and floors are spotless. Very nice to see.

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5. River View Cafe

I took Andrew to the River View Cafe for his birthday brunch. What a feast we had. The above photo is of the BIG Breakfast and is meant to be for one person. I am unsure how one person could eat all of that!

For USD $5.00, a BIG Breakfast consists of a fresh fruit salad and a stack of pancakes with a generous boat of maple syrup served on the side. Wait there is more, a big plate with fried potatoes, eggs any way you like, bacon and delicious sausage burgers. And a glass of juice to wash it all down. Damn!

We ordered iced green tea to go with it at a cost of USD $ 2 each. They were refilled continuously too. We didn’t have a chance to return to the River View Cafe for dinner as they decided to close for a vacation for the rest of our time in Siem Reap.

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6. Star Rise Restaurant

Star Rise Restaurant may not look like the most appetising place to sit and dine. Especially when they hand you their menu folders. However, their food is really really great.

This restaurant is a MUST place to visit when in Siem Reap. Their chicken sandwiches like the one in photo above cost just USD $2 each and are absolutely delicious.

Along with the sandwiches, you can get crepes of all flavours. Andrew loves the bacon and egg crepes at USD $2.50. I tend to enjoy the chocolate version.

Feel free to try everything on their extensive menu. It was near where we stayed so we visited this restaurant over 16 times in a four week period. Yes, it’s that good.

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7. Chinese Restaurant

We have no idea what this restaurant it actually called. We came up with the creative name “Chinese Restaurant” as the restaurant serves Chinese food. Catchy huh? We first came across the Chinese Restaurant when we asked our tuk tuk driver to take us to a Chinese Restaurant after our Angkor Wat tour. He brought us here. The menu came out and it had no prices on it so we asked how much. USD $2 per dish. Everything, $2 each. Sold. The restaurant itself isn’t very pretty. It is pretty much a warehouse with metal tables and plastic chairs. The cleanliness is a little iffy but if you can look past it all, the food is worth it. The meals are tasty. We generally go for the “Spicy Chicken”. Crispy fried slices of chicken with veges and sauce. Or, roasted eggplant with pork. Doesn’t sound nice but it’s very tasty indeed. Rice comes free as does the iced green tea. We tend to get one meal between the two of us. Once you add in the free rice and tea it’s enough. They added on 50 cents because we only ordered one did which is fair. A two person meal of Spicy Chicken, Rice and Green Tea for USD $2.50.

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8. Haus Breman German Restaurant

This restaurant is another of our favourites. Proper German food served in Cambodia. Seriously good. We first dined at Haus Breman Restaurant on Andrew’s birthday. Sitting down and receiving the menu from a German man, we knew we were in for a treat.

We ordered smoked pork, sauerkraut, potatoes and salad at USD $6.00. Tanya ate all of that. Andrew chose crispy pork, potatoes, vegetables and salad, also at USD $6. A mug of Cambodia Ale costs 75c. And you have a delicious German feast.

We liked this restaurant so much that we came back a further two times. We have spent a lot of time thinking about Haus Breman Restaurant, talking about the food, dreaming about the food… Delicious!

This restaurant is highly recommended. The food is either brought in from Bangkok or made by the owner himself. They are open every day of the week from 3pm or 4pm till late. They close every month in August for a holiday.

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9. Guru Mother Cafe

Good Japanese is hard to find in Siem Reap. There are a couple of restaurants to be found near Pub Street and around the city centre. The problem is that their prices are too high for our liking. Most of the time, the Japanese restaurants are priced at high end tourists, which we are not.

We found Guru Mother Cafe by accident. We were walking down a street looking for a replacement umbrella and saw a hand drawn sign offering big bowls of ramen noodles. We weren’t hungry at that precise time but said we would return.

We came back and ordered a Soba Noodle Soup and a Japanese set meal. Both were USD $5.00 each. Green Tea for free. They took a while to come out but this is because the person that takes your order is the person that makes your meal. From fresh. Delicious. Worth every cent.

It is best to dine at Guru Mother Restaurant between the hours of 11am and 5pm. As this is a one man show, sometimes he just closes up for the night. Fair enough.

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10. Cambodian BBQ

We do love a good barbeque. And have written about them before. Check out our post about Thai BBQ. You would think that now that we are in Cambodia, it is different. It is not. It is just the same. We still love it.

Basically, you choose a BBQ restaurant that has a lot of people in it already. This means that the food is getting turned over quickly. You really don’t want to be touching any meat that has been sitting outside all day.

Grab a heap of plates of various meats, vegetables, noodles and more meat. Take it all back to your table and start cooking. Put the meats on the top of the bbq, and the vegetables and noodles into the soup section. Your waitress will add some soup in there. Wait for it all to cook, and then eat.

It’s very hot and thirsty work. For USD $3.50 per person you can eat all you want. You can easily sit there for 2 hours! Drinks are extra.

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11. Arun Restaurant

We had heard about Khmer Banana Curry for years before actually getting to Cambodia. We searched and searched for a restaurant that served it. Many restaurants later, and a lot more after, this was the only restaurant we found that served Banana Vegetable Curry.

Delicious! Arun Restaurant offers the dish for USD $2.20. It is a big plate of mixed vegetables, bananas and curry sauce. Why don’t more places serve banana curry? Especially when there are bananas everywhere?

There is not much more to be said about this restaurant. For us, it provided this banana curry. That was enough. Their shakes were pretty good too though. 90c for a papaya shake. No idea what the rest of their food was like as we’d always get the banana curry.

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12. Upstairs Cafe

If you are looking for real home made cakes just like you would get in an Australian cafe that bakes their own cakes from scratch… this is the place.

Upstairs Cafe is situated just above a bar called Under Construction – get yourself an awesome cocktail while you have a piece of delicious cake. Mmm cake!

Upstairs Cafe is a funky place. It is nicely decorated with comfortable tables, chairs, a few bench tables, and a couch. There isn’t air conditioning unfortunately, but fans keep the air circulating.

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13. The Ivy Guesthouse & Bar

Every Friday night at the Ivy Guesthouse & Bar you can get Tapas and Cocktails for USD $1 between the hours of 6pm and 10pm. We are talking quality tapas here.

We arrived and had to wait for a table. That’s fine. We don’t mind waiting. We ordered a $1 mojito and a $1 long island ice tea and sat at the bar. The food on the tables looked great!

Of course we couldn’t wait for a table before we ordered Grilled Tofu, sticky pork ribs, fresh spring rolls and beef tenderloins. USD $1 a plate. Luckily we had a table by the time the food started arriving. Delicious!

We ordered another cocktail each as well as four desserts. $1 each! Creme brulee, chocolate mousse, pumpkin flan and banana tart. Oh my golly goodness!

Every Friday night at the Ivy Guesthouse & Bar – $1 Tapas and Cocktails – 6pm till 10pm. Bring your friends. Our Top Thirteen Places To Eat In Siem Reaphttp://magictravelblog.com/2012/08/top-thirteen-places-eat-siem-reap/ �15

Our Top Thirteen Places To Eat In Siem Reap Google Map

Click Here To Go To The Google Map

You can see the full article here.

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Where We Have Stayed In Cambodia

Battambang – Battambang My Homestay - Read our full reviewA nice place run by a friendly Cambodian family. It is a little away from the outskirts of Battambang. Bicycles are available to ride into town and it is a really lovely ride.

Phnom Penh – Diamond Palace IINice enough facilities. Tuk tuk drivers congregate out the front to shout at you as you leave your room. The blind massage place around the corner is very good.

Siem Reap – Rithy Rine Angkor HotelA short walk to Pub Street. Pleasant enough.

Siem Reap – Passagio Boutique HotelA quiet and pleasant hotel also in central Siem Reap. Close to Pub street and other assorted restaurants.

Siem Reap – Claremont Angkor Boutique Hotel – Our ReviewWe stayed here a month and it was great. Comfortable room, very nice breakfast from the rooftop restaurant overlooking Siem Reap, a short walk to the center of town.

Sihanoukville – Beach Club Resort Sihanoukville – Our ReviewClean and tidy, big swimming pool and awesome blue cheese hamburgers. A short walk to Ochheuteal Beach.

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