Pub Street: Siem Reap Travel Guide (4.4★)

Pub Street runs a single short block off Street 08 in the Old Market district, but it packs in more neon and noise per square metre than anywhere else in Cambodia. The road itself closes to cars at night, so the street becomes a walkway wedged between bar fronts, fish-spa tanks and pizza counters. Rated 4.4 stars across more than 7,000 reviews, it’s firmly on the well-trodden tourist circuit, not a quiet find.

The strip itself

Pub Street is short: one main lane plus the alleys feeding into it, all within Krong Siem Reap’s Old Market quarter. Landmark bars like Angkor What?, Temple Club and Miss Wong anchor the street, alongside dollar-beer joints and pizzerias with tables spilling onto the pavement.

• Angkor What?, the original bar credited with starting the strip in the 1990s
• Temple Club, two floors with a balcony over the street
• Red Piano, a colonial-style corner spot popular for cocktails
• Side alleys leading into the Old Market night market for food stalls and souvenirs

The whole area runs 24 hours, but the pubs and clubs really only fill up after dark; daytime it’s mostly empty tables and shuttered shutters.

Night market spillover

Pub Street feeds directly into the Old Market night market, where stalls sell grilled skewers, fried noodles, fruit shakes and cheap T-shirts. Expect fish massage tanks lining the entrances, tuk-tuk drivers calling out at every corner, and street vendors selling deep-fried insects as a novelty photo op. Prices are cheap by international standards: draft beer and cocktails are often sold at fixed dollar-menu rates rather than itemised on printed lists.

Food ranges from Khmer amok and lok lak to Western pub grub and wood-fired pizza, catering squarely to the international crowd rather than a local dinner scene.

Beating the crush

Because Pub Street is rated very popular and firmly touristic, don’t expect a locals’ secret; expect lines for popular bars and slow foot traffic after 9pm on weekends. Arriving between 5pm and 7pm gets you the string lights coming on without the shoulder-to-shoulder crowd that builds later.

• Cash (US dollars are widely accepted, small riel used for change) still rules most stalls and smaller bars; cards work at bigger venues
• Tipping isn’t obligatory but a dollar or two on a bar tab is appreciated
• Tuk-tuks congregate at both ends of the street; agree a fare before climbing in, since meters don’t exist here
• Fish massage tank hygiene varies; if that bothers you, skip it rather than negotiate

Weeknights are calmer than Friday and Saturday, when Siem Reap’s guesthouse crowds and tour groups converge here after temple-hopping at Angkor Wat. If you’re staying near the Old Market, Pub Street is walkable from most central guesthouses, so there’s no need for a tuk-tuk just to reach it.