1932 (Raffles Grand Hotel d'Angkor): Where to Eat in Siem Reap

Named for the year the Grand Hotel d’Angkor first opened its doors, 1932 sits inside what is now the Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor, a colonial-era property built to house the earliest wave of Angkor Wat visitors. The restaurant occupies part of that original building, in central Siem Reap near the Royal Residence gardens and a short tuk-tuk ride from the Angkor National Museum. It’s the hotel’s flagship dining room, distinct from its bars and poolside outlets.

The reason to know the name right now is the menu, not just the building. 1932 has just introduced four new Khmer tasting menus built around Cambodia’s culinary heritage, a project that arrives alongside the hotel’s recent recognition as one of the top-ranked properties in the country. That combination, a historic address plus a newly reworked kitchen program, is what’s generating the current buzz among visiting food writers and travelers.

What’s actually on the table

The headline offering is the set of four tasting menus, each apparently structured around a different angle on Khmer cuisine rather than one fixed degustation. Exact dishes, courses and prices weren’t confirmed to us, so treat any specifics you read elsewhere as provisional until you see the current menu yourself.

• Ask on booking whether the tasting menus run at both lunch and dinner, or dinner only
• Ask whether wine or non-alcoholic pairings are offered alongside each menu
• Confirm whether a set menu is fixed for the table or can flex for dietary restrictions

Because this is a recent relaunch, menu content is more likely to shift season to season than at an established, long-running restaurant.

Booking a table

Reserve ahead. A newly-buzzed restaurant inside a top-ranked hotel fills quickly, especially for dinner service and especially in the cooler, high-season months of November through February when Siem Reap sees its heaviest visitor numbers.

• Book directly through the Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor rather than a third-party site, to get accurate seating times
• Reconfirm the reservation the same day, since hotel restaurant hours can shift with events or private functions
• Ask about dress expectations; colonial-era hotel dining rooms in Southeast Asia often prefer smart casual over shorts and flip-flops

Hours were not confirmed to us at time of writing. Check the hotel’s own site or call ahead rather than assume a standard lunch-and-dinner schedule.

Making the most of a visit here

Treat 1932 as an evening built around the room as much as the food. The hotel itself predates modern Siem Reap’s tourist infrastructure, so the dining room, gardens and colonnades are worth ten minutes of unhurried walking before or after your meal.

Non-guests can typically dine here, but arriving looking like you belong in a heritage hotel lobby smooths the way. Staff are used to explaining the tasting-menu concept to first-timers, so ask questions rather than guess. If you’re combining it with an Angkor Wat day, book dinner rather than lunch. It gives you time to shower off the temple dust and arrive unrushed after a day that typically starts before sunrise.