7 Best Local Restaurants in Siem Reap

The Sugar Palm is a labour of love by local Chef Kethana, who returned to her home country after working abroad and wanted to revive the almost forgotten Khmer cooking skills she had learnt from her mother and grandmother. The resulting restaurants, both here and in Phnom Penh, have quite a classy traditional look and an astounding menu of regional dishes prepared with locally-sourced ingredients.

Highlights include the steamed freshwater fish and the Khmer curry. Sugar Palm was made famous when British TV chef Gorden Ramsey chose it as the place for him to learn how to cook Khmer food and, being quite a high-profile restaurant, the price range is comparatively high, with average dishes priced around US$7.

Mr Grill is a popular spot with locals and visitors, naturally specialising in barbecued meats. But there are also plenty of Khmer favourites on the menu for reasonable prices.

With that popularity, it does get a little busy some evenings, but it has a friendly atmosphere. The restaurant is also a wine store, so you can also expect a great range of beverages.

Chan Reash 10 Makara, sometimes known as Chanrea Dom Makara and also as 10 January Restaurant, is a very popular place with locals as well as visitors looking for budget meals in Siem Reap.

A simple, open-air place, it has a great atmosphere and a menu of great Khmer dishes at excellent prices. The popular dishes like beef lok lak and amok are very good, with prices generally around US$1-2 for relatively modest servings.

There are actually 2 Khmer Kitchen restaurants, both in the area of the Old Market in Siem Reap. The first and finest is set in a beautiful old colonial building right over the road from the market, while the other is in one of the small alleys leading towards Pub Street.

Both have a quaint look and cosy atmosphere, as well as an extensive menu of typical Khmer dishes, are good prices – generally around the US$3-4 mark for main courses. The restaurants both get pretty busy during the high season as they are particularly popular with visitors.

Khmer Grill is quite a small venue right by Wat Damnak, but its popularity with locals and visitors means that it is often full to capacity. As the name suggests, they specialise in grilled local cuisine, though with some western options available, too.

The food prices are generally low and offer excellent value for money for the high quality of the preparations. While the typical choices like amok and lok lak are the most popular dishes, we recommend trying the signature grills.

Chamkar is a tasty option for vegetarians and, despite its name, also for those who like meat dishes. The menu is quite small, but the friendly staff focus more on high quality and each of the available dishes is lovingly prepared with high-quality ingredients, with dishes like the pumpkin curry and the wedding dip appetiser being especially noteworthy.

The prices are reasonable but, being in a part of town which is very popular for tourists, they will be slightly higher than you would get from other places on our list of the best local restaurants in Siem Reap.