Sounds like such a lot of places since I was there - good excuse to return! Not entirely sure about the cow genitals - presume they were bulls not cows - plenty of those where I am but no red ant sauce. Thanks Lori.

Ah, offwego, such self-sacrifice! Sounds like a major expansion has been going on - thanks for the info.

Conventional wisdom has always said, "You don't go to Cambodia for the food."
Damn! Where were all these places when I was there just a year and a half ago?
Jamon serrano and tapas in Siem Reap? I might just have to come back.
Beef genitals in red ant sauce? I need more explanation on that one.
Way to go Lori. Thanks for taking one for the team. How about a review of that French place across from entrance to Angkor Wat?

and when we were there none of these places existed....red piano was about as good as it got...

can i have a bi-line for your restaurant review??

Thanks for the reviews. I, too, am thinking about how different it was when we were there in 2001. Siem Reap is another place to which we have to make a return visit.

And I thought we would have trouble finding variety and quality to satisfy T's slightly finicky friend.

And no risk of weight loss. Damn!

tonight's dinner pick:
Happy Pizza
(not to be confused with Ecstatic Pizza or Happy Herb Pizza)

You can have pizza, you can have happy pizza or you can have pizza with the happy on the side as a takeaway. Whatever makes you happy. Very cold beer. Very friendly/happy staff. Pizza is so-so but who cares when it's this happy?

Tomorrow, Chez Sophéa and the Angkor Night Tour.

hey are you meeting up with us in bkk at the end of november??

Yes I am. Andy said you were buying.

Lori what is the Angkor Night Tour?

so, what else is new

Hi Jules-well there are night tours now. Angkor Wat is all lit up like Disneyland. Tonight I will go see what all the fuss is about and report back. I have mixed feelings about supporting it. The temples took quite a hit having all the fixtures installed.

Update: There WAS a night tour of the Disneyland Angkor Wat. Then the Apsara Authority started getting a lot of criticism about destroying the temples by installing the lights. They've completed two of the galleries and now the Prime Minister has shut the project down. Probably because he needs a new Lexus and so wants some more permits. The whole affair is boiling in controversy. I'm going to have to read up on it. My thought is that they are using the same lights that they installed already for that stupid night-time "History of Angkor" Show they were doing last winter.

Somehow I have the feeling this "show will go on" but not quite yet. More money needs to change hands I'm sure.

Meanwhile my dinner at the Chez Sophea was underwhelming and extraordinarily expensive for Siem Reap, especially without the draw of having dinner in front of Angkor Wat, all lit up at night. I'd say to give this place a pass, even then. For that kind of money there's about 10 other places in town to indulge an epicurean appetite. This ain't it.

Thanks Lori. This will help a lot with our planning for trip there in November.

Bob is absolutely buying. We will be in evening BKK 11/15-11/17 and 11/25-11/28. Choose your poison.

I never pass up a free meal and yes I know what they say about that. It's too far out to pick a day, but I think your second round through BKK would be easiest for me. If there are going to be others gtg'ing with you keep me posted on that....

Hi Lori,
Who knew there would be so many choices when I come in November!! Sounds like fun and some real changes since my visit 3 years ago. See you soon,
Kathy

Hey Lori
If you are in VN last 2 weeks of November offer of a free meal with Muffin and I. Would love to finally meet you and hear about the PH foundation

Where in VN Smeagol?

I have a friend flying in from the States who has decided to come ashore in Vietnam and then travel overland to Siem Reap. I'm thinking of flying out to meet him and make the journey back...so, it's not out of the question....

Hanoi first 4 days Then HCMC 3 days Mui ne after that for 4 days back to HCMC 1 day last week Nov beg Dec.

Who knows it might work out. I'm waiting to hear about his travel arrangements and then we'll see.

This has been a good run with two free meals in as many days. I'm going to hang out on the board more regularly.

Thanks for the info on the Angkor night tour Lori. Breaks my heart to think of damage being done to the temples to set it up.

the meals have not been specified....live bugs is in the offing and intestines of variour animals might work with enough lemon grass...

hi, iam a big fan of picasso's too, its a really nice place, and the street its in Alley West is cool, i enjoy the sports bar also play a game of pool often.

Thanks for the review.

What about good local restaurants serving local specialties to local people?

Hard to find authentic and well prepared khmer food in Siem Reap proper. I have had good khmer food in local restaurants, but always in these obscure roadside places; you ask someone the name of it and a loose translation might be something like "the eating place in pouk that also has the rice wine". I've rarely been successful in finding these places a second time.

The finest local food is prepared at home; if someone asks you to their house for lunch, go. The food I've had in people's homes, I rarely see that food being prepared anywhere. Maybe I don't know where to look.

I will say that many of the "specialties" I've had here have a prerequisite for a pretty strong stomach. Prahoc (fermented fish paste), BBQ mice, all manner of entrails, fried insects, stuffed frogs, etc, all tasty but a bit foreign to the average western palate.

Be aware that that outside of home, truly authentic khmer food is often not being prepared in the most hygenic conditions.

Off thanks for the prompt reply.

it's not a matter of strong stomach. The mental pix of a bbq mice........not going there.

In that case, how was pizza? Do they have brick-oven extra thin crust?

Why anyone would come to Cambodia and then eat pizza is a mystery, but yes in fact there is a wood fired oven at the Paper Tiger and the crust is an thin as a cambodian pie tosser in a silly white hat can manage.

What, no Linga Bar, Lori?

We had a blast there. Is it normally not that great?

BTW, on the pizza front, the whole 'happy pizza' thing that you see everywhere in Siem Reap gave me quite the good chuckle when we were there a few years back. Seems like a gimmick geared towards the backpacker set. The sad part was that those places were packed when we stopped by.

Hi film

I like the Linga Bar okay but I think their prices are kinda high. And on occasion those mega-drama queens can get a little over the top. Watching young cambodian guys fawm all over old barangs jacked up on viagra; well, a little of that goes a long way too. But hey, yeah, it's a gay bar in cambodia so that's amusing just in iteslf, but there are better watering holes.

I asked someone at Linga not too long ago why there aren't any gay cambodian women in there and was told "there aren't any gay cambodian women". Ha.

And hey don't knock the happy pizza. It seems to be recession proof.

As the owner of Linga, I appreciate your posting here. We do get those that think are prices are high to which our repsonse is, "Do you want cheap or do you want good?" as they rarely go together. We pour name brand alcohol (Absolut, Jose Cuervo, Bombay etc.) and not the super cheap stuff you might get elsewhere. And since there are so many cheap backpacker bars around where they serve by the bucket, we certainly stand out from the crowd. Oh, and we have added a nightly drink specials that people seem to enjoy. The second Monday of our Margarita Mondays we ran out of lime, triple sec and margarita glasses. Our guys should be up to speed on that now.

As for the patrons, to each their own I guess. We welcome all without being too judgmental but suffice to say that we have had less than fun patrons of every sexual orientation (yes, I do have tales to tell). Our goal is to serve great cocktails, have a good atmosphere and play some of the best music around.

I do like your restaurant comments and there are places that I have not been to yet so I look forward to checking them out. Thanks again for the comments.

Last year we had a very enjoyable lunch at the Sala Bai Hotel and Restaurant School (155 Phoum Tapoul, near Siem Reap market)

The food, a set menu, was fine (not memorable) but as the restaurant is run by students (cooks, waiters, the lot) it is a great and fun experience.

http://www.salabai.com/html/restaurant.php?p_lang=en

Hi Mr Linga nice to see you here. Yes you do have some quality and imaginative cocktails in your place and something else I forgot to mention is that the music is always outstanding.

A new addition to this list is the Singing Tree Cafe-I'm voting them the best cappuccino in town. Best vietnamese iced coffee in town goes to Heng An, on Wat Bo Road. Strangely they stop serving it around 10 am.

Coming off the list is the FCC. Went there recently and thought the quality of the food has gone down and the prices are just silly.

Hi Mr Linga,

I am not a big cocktail person but I'll stop by for some wine sometime in November. Do you have wine there?

May I ask you where do you go for local food? I don't need great ambiance but I am in for good quality food. I don't do organ meat.

Mohan < I don't do organ meat

chuckle

Thanks Offwego. I am trying to burn CDs of some Linga mixes to sell (cheap! wish I could give them away but...) I have one now just waiting to be burned and need to research another one for our summer mix.

Mohan: I love wine so we usually have three whites and three reds by the glass from $4-5 per glass range. My current favorite is our Winery of Good Hope Vinum which we have in Chenin Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon. And the Casierlo (sp?) del Diablo Cabernet was voted best value Cab in the world in 2008.

For local food I like Khmer Kitchen a lot as the food is good and it is a great value. Better food and better ambiance I like Sugar Palm. And I have been a long time fan of Viroth's, tour groups aside.

See you in November (unless it is late November when I will go back home for Thanksgiving with Mom and surely organ meat).

Hi Martin, good to see you in here. This is a fine place to add my personal recommendation for Linga Bar AND a unique little establishment just across the way:

www.hotelbeangkor.com

I don't know who the owner is, but he's a fine chap.

for organ meat lovers out there

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offal

The Dogster is always a classy addition to Linga Bar and Hotel Be Angkor. Though he is a braver man than me to navigate the Old Market for a "two dollah" manicure.

MrLinga, Thanks for the great info. It looks like i'll be in SP around Thanksgiving. Have a great time with mom and enjoy the organ meat.

Sorry I meant SR.

Hi Mr. Linga,
Pleased to see you again here. I like Linga bar very much, the first night at siem reap of my trip was Linga bar is fantastic cocktail and .... the second night was at Temple Bar, also good.

'expiates & tourist curry lovers...'

I'm not entirely sure that Maharajah belongs on this list. If I was offwego [and I aspire to this] I would be thinking about clicking on that nice little exclamation mark and maintaining the purity of the post.

I can only hope that THIS Indian restaurant is not connected to the other one in Pub Street, perpetrators of THE WORST INDIAN FOOD in the world.

Thank you dogster, you and I are more alike than I dare imagine. Duly reported and button pressed.

Aloha!

A new addition to the list:

Irrawaddi on Wat Bo, next to the Soria Moria Hotel. Really amazing Burmese food, served up by a recently transplanted Burmese family. The owner's name is Cho Cho; she speaks very good English and is most eloquent regarding the trials of the Burmese people and how it is for her, living outside the country. Interesting to hear the perspective of someone who thinks life in Cambodia "is SO easy~!"

Everything on the menu is $1.50, so get a few things to share. And do not leave without trying the "Tea Leaf Salad". I believe there's heroin in that stuff- I have been known to bolt out the door in the middle of the night for a bowl of it.

offwego,
Just read your post as i"m researching places to eat in Siem Reap....lots of good suggestions. Thanks for doing the "stomach" work.

Please excuse my ignorance, but is Chilli a big deal in Seim Reap, my travelling companion is highly allergic, as in die allergic, would it be safe to eat at Khmer Kitchen?

Chili is a frequent ingredient in all SE Asia cuisines. No matter where your friend eats, s/he will need to be explicit about the need for NO chili.

Thanks Kathie, we usuaually dont get much reaction from people until you say she'll die, then all of a sudden no chilli changes to, well there is a little bit.
Can be a challenge even here in Australia.

Additions:

Abacus
This is shaping up to be my favorite restuarant in Siem Reap. Very well prepared french food in an equally beautiful setting. This is the consummate "date place". Amazing wine list and possibly the best creme brulee I've had anywhere and that's sayin' something.

Sugar Palm
Upsclae khmer food in a beautiful traditional wooden stilt house. Worth the trip for the crispy spring rolls and pomelo salad.

India Gate
A hole in the wall just west of Pub Street. Whateevr you have, it will be good and be sure to have the cottage cheese naan bread with it.

For Life
Another hole in the wall, khmer food, owned and operated by khmers, which is a novelty. Good mix of western and khmer food, everything made by "mom" in the kitchen, very high quality food for a very reasonable price. This place is in the alley just down from Miss Wong's, which has become my favorite drink stop.

Lori, have you tried Nest yet? Looks lovely (and expensive).

Definitely agree about For Life. Glad to hear it's still there.

sorry just now seeing this a month later....yes the Nest is lovely. And expensive. But more the former than the latter so worth a trip. Nice loungy atmosphere, good music. Their cocktail list is highly imaginative and well presented. They also have nice ashtrays.

offwego,
have you tried Selantra lately? I was very disappointed with the food and atmosphere...and we were the only couple there. Maybe the chef was off since it was a few days before the New Year's celebration.

Offwego, Mr. Linga. All of you. I have to tell you that I am beyond looking forward to our 3 nights of sampling all that Siem Reap has to offer and your posts make it all so appealing and Offwego, you are a very funny writer. Honestly, I could skip the temples and just drink my way through town. That would be a first. Never mind that...
Thank you all so much for such great information. Am traveling with a real connoiseur of all things liquour and food and I cannot wait to impress our little group with my knowledge of making them all so very very happy. I kept looking for BBQ mice pizza within the blogs but then realized it probably only came with a thin crust so there was no need to mention it. Thanks again. goldey

Update: Touich Restaurant. Amazing. Owned by a local guy who lived in France for a while; he loves to cook, he loves to see people happy. Very relaxed atmosphere, good music, a rarity. Best dishes: Battambang Laab, "Glowing Ember Pork Chop" Whole Red Snapper, Frog with ginger. Have the khmer mojito! It's an adventure getting there, on the road behind Wat Preah Enkosai, no one knows where it is; have your tuktuk driver call for directions and hang on, cuz it's a boom boom road 092-808040. Have your driver wait; it's on a back road and no other drivers out there. If it's easier, just call me and I'll go with you!

Scratch Selantra's from the list. I think he must be about to go out of business so the food is getting icky and you'll be the only diners. Scratch East India Curry; it's also taken a slide.

Samot is an italian place now and it's still very good, but it's lost some of it's panache.

Finally, there's a little japanese place next door to Miss Wong's (my faborite drinking hole) that has amazing fried chicken.

Lori
Touich Restaurant - sounds great, will add that on our list of places to eat when in SR - D and I would Love it if you can join us? I will email you as soon as i have dates, looking to book flights within the next week or so.

Lori, I had my heart set on revisiting For Life last week, but it was closed. Looked like it was being remodeled, but I don't know if it was for new owners are just a low-season redecoration.

Agree about Selantra. Had a very good sandwich there, but it was a little 'off'.

I had a really great meal at Chamkar, a vegetarian place in the Passage. I see it's not one the list, but I know you like your meat.

This last trip I was a bit disappointed to see that almost all the restaurants - even the good ones - were drifting towards the same mish-mash menu. It's like that movie where in the future all restaurants are Taco Bell (or Pizza Hut if you saw it outside the US).

Will be in Siem Reap in October so am looking forward to all these restaurants.

MichaelBKK-are you taking about the movie Ideocracy? It was horrible, but in some ways really insightful about where our culture (or lack thereof) is going.

Lori-I can't wait to try some of the places! Six weeks and counting...

I'm wondering if there are any updates to this amazing list. Tomorrow Mr. Dogster returns once again, this time to the Sepia Room at his all-time fave hotel.

http://hotelbeangkor.com/sepia_room.html

He intends to guzzle his way through town. He will only leave when gastro-perfection has been attained. Latest hit picks?

How's the gastro-perfection search going?

offwego, I hadn't seen this previously. Impressive. I may have to move there. If the Love Boat happens we will get off and immediately begin a Gluttony Tour.

Dog
Hotel del la paix have opened a restaurant in the passage think it's called aha. Bit fur fur but the food was excellent.
touich (with Lori) was FABULOUS!

Enjoy your trip am envious. of you being in wonderful Siem Reap.
(although currently skiing in the French Alps!!)

Oh heck that should say fru fru!!!

Does "fru fru" translate to "dress up"? We'll be in Siem Reap soon, and some of these restaurants (e.g., the one at La Residence, where we're staying) menus look divine, but I know us -- we're not dressing for dinner

Question about the Touich menu:

http://the-touich-restaurant-bar.blogspot.com/p/restaurant-and-bar.html

Are the grill/chaa/soup/vegetarian all main courses (starters are listed separately)? Just curious how to order.

sf7307- looking at that menu reminds of a great night at Touich in October with Lori. Wonderful food. I had the glowing ember pork rib ($5!!) and it was incredible. I don't think you can go wrong with anything here, as long as you can find the place!!

No fru fru is not really dress up just all fancy dishes and trendy in side but the food was lovely and the service very good.
Don't think it matters how you order and it's all very clear when you get there. I had the red snapper it was DELICIOUS.
Lori and David had a special type of Mojito (I will remember when I get home) which David said was fab.

I liked the idea of a "fur fur" place better.
Picturing women in mink coats (in Cambodia?) or a very NON-vegetarian menu..

<<<Picturing women in mink coats>>>

I was thinking of something else - not quite as appetizing :-

So glad I found this thread and just in time too. I'll be in SR in early March, only for 2 nights, but all this information is great.

Lori, if you see this, would love to meet up for drinks or dinner if you're available. I've become friendly with Kristina and we exchange all kinds of restaurant info, we met in 2009 in Rome. I also met Kathrynj in Bologna last November...fun lady!

I see this hasn't been 'topped' for about a year. So glad I was pointed in this direction, thanks Schlegal1. Saving and printing.........hope its all still fairly up to date.

It is a great list - but I'd caution aussiedreamer: Siem Reap seems to change hourly... don't assume for a moment that offwego's splendid list from 2009 is remotely applicable to 2012. Some will be - many will not. When I was last there twelve months ago, quite a few of the places had simply disappeared, changed hands or become unrecognisable.

Samot, for example - my absolute fave - has become a pizzeria. Tragic - but true. However, if you spend some time at Happy Pizza, you'll be so err... confused you won't care. lol.

Thanks dogster, maybe I will be lucky and offwego may come on and update????

Let's hope so, aussie. If there's such a thing as a Siem Reap expert, she's it - but much diverted by her tireless eforts here: theplf.org/wp/

Thanks so much for the link dogster, I've been looking for a way to help. We fly directly into SR and certainly do not need our full baggage allowance! I will make sure I fill a bag to my absolute limit, now I just have to work out how to 'deliver' it to the correct place! Thanx again!

Write to Lori at the plf address. She can tell you what is needed, where to deliver, etc.

Yep, will do , thanks. I like the sound of sponsering a day out at the temples with the kids.

Hey Aussierdreamer sounds like we are following the same path !! Hanoi,Halong Bay,Hue,HoiAn, HCMC, up the Mekong ,Phnom Penh and Siem Reap !

Hey Marko.......but in reverse by the looks.

Depart Brisbane March 19, Siem Reap, 7 night cruise down the Mekong to HCMC, then up to Hanoi, Halong Bay, Sapa. Away about 4 weeks in all. We will 'have' to go back to do Hue & HoiAn.

ps. I see you are in Toowoomba, hows the water levels? We're down in Brisbane and its the first 'fine' day in what seems like forever.

All foggy and damp AD!
Dams are as full as !
We are going to be away for about three and a half weeks. Leaving on the 9 th.
Who are you flying with?

Singapore airlines b/class with points. You?

Business class on Singapore for us as well! Unfortunately its not the A380 to Singapore !

UPDATE: Some new places; they change so quick I can barely keep up.

Cuisine Wat Damnak: Two fixed menus that change weekly. Prices are high for Siem Reap ($24 w/o drinks) but stupidly cheap compared to what you'd pay for a meal like this in the first world. Excellent cocktails, air conditioning. And you don't have to dress up! Book ahead, closed on mondays.

El Camino: Not everyone wants Tex Mex when they're on holiday in SEA so that's why you'll usually find a cheery bunch of expats sitting around getting high on tacos. I am from Texas and I can tell you this is excellent texmex. The pomelo margaritas are not to be missed during happy hour.

Upstairs cafe: amazing bakery items/coffee shop, simple breakfasts. On Wat Bo Road

Sadly Irrawaddi is now closed. As is the fried chicken place next to Miss Wongs.

If you see one of the numerous street carts selling "banana chocolate pancake" please stop what you're doing and have one.

Hawaii Pizza just off Wat Bo has an excellent "House Special" pizza. Garlic lovers will be in heaven.

Chili Si Dang on the river has a wide selection of food including a very good bangers and mash and is a good choice for lunch with ice cold beer always being served up. Nice place to listen to the expats solve all the worlds problems in the evenings. Next door at the cafe with the name I can't pronounce is the best cashew nut shake in town.

For down-market dining, the new mini-hawker center across from Central Market has a place called "fathers" and they've got a nice mix of local and malaysian food, as does the place next door that I also can't pronounce. Wander back behind fathers and find the lady making ice coffee with milk, also the best in town, don't worry about the ice or the fact that it's being served in a plastic bag if you order it to go, and you do because it stinks back there. Continue to the very back and you'll end up at a row of fruit sellers. Ask for what's local (guaranteeing that's what's in season and therefore cheap) and try the local fruit.

Chamkar: excellent vegetarian food. I seek this place out and I'm not vegetarian.

On that note, my favorite Khmer BBQ place has moved from it's grotty location near Wat Damnak to a new one off Wat Bo. The food excellent as always and now in a cleaner environment. I have no idea what it's called. If anyone wants to go there, it's like this: start at Hotel de la Paix, head east toward the river, cross the river, cross wat bo road and it's on your right about half a block down, with enough flashing lights to let you know you've arrived. There are a bunch of grills set up in the front, you'll smell it before you arrive. Take as many people as you can rustle up to share the best on offer: the beef, the fried rice with kale and beef, the frogs, the grilled squid, the duck with red ant sauce, and do not under any circumstances forget the corn, you've never had it prepared like this. Beer is tricky, several different girls, all selling different labels will vie for your order, tell the food waiter you want a "jug of anchor" and they will leave you alone.

Pomelo margarita - I have to come back!

I'm right behind u, sf...

Bookmarking.

UPDATES:

Asana, mostly for drinks but they do have some snacks. A traditional wooden stilt house has been picked up from the countryside somewhere and plopped into an alley on pub street.

KERALA. Eat here! Some of the best Indian food I've had anywhere, including India. In Alley West.

The Hawker Center in Central Market closed. Father's has moved to a new location on the outskirts of pub street.

A small local place called something something Makara, it is about 5 doors down from the Old de la Paix Hotel and has a green awning. The Vietnamese Sour Soup is to die for, but everything on the menu is just excellent and about $2 a plate.

People have started selling Banana/Chocolate Rotis in carts. Eat them at every opportunity,

Look for the guy on the south end of the Old Market selling something called "Bai Chive" from a cart from 4 to 6 pm. Insanely tasty.

Scratch Chili si Dang from the list until they find a new cook.

Sugar Palm has lost it's panache and turned into "tourist food". There are too many great places serving local food to bother paying those prices.

If any foodies are coming to town, email me and I will send you the restaurant list I keep updated here at the guesthouse.

Lori
girlseesworldATyahooDOTcom