Pub Street
Every visitor to Siem Reap ends up on Pub Street eventually. It is about 100 metres long, officially called Street 8, runs from the Red Piano Restaurant at one end to Banana Leaf at the other, and is closed to vehicles from 5pm. Neon lights, open-fronted bars, competing music from every direction, tuk-tuks waiting at both ends, and a crowd drawn from every corner of the world. It is not subtle. It is also genuinely fun, reliably cheap, and one of the more unusual people-watching spots in Southeast Asia.
Go in with honest expectations and you will have a good time. Go expecting something authentic and you will be disappointed. Pub Street is tourism infrastructure, built for visitors, and makes no pretence of being otherwise. That is fine. Know what it is.
A Brief History
The Angkor What? Bar opened in 1998, making it one of the oldest continuously operating bars in Cambodia. The Red Piano followed in 2000 and became locally famous when Angelina Jolie reportedly drank there during the filming of Tomb Raider at Angkor in 2001. The film’s success brought a wave of visitors to Siem Reap and Pub Street grew around the demand that followed. By 2008 the street had its current informal name and its current character. The street was repaved and a proper sewerage system installed during the COVID period, which significantly improved the experience during rainy season.
What to Do There
Eat and drink: The food on Pub Street is more tourist-adjusted than the local stalls a few streets away but it is not bad and the range is broad. Khmer dishes, Thai, Indian, Mexican, pizza, burgers, sushi. Draft beer at most bars costs around $0.75 during happy hour and rarely more than $1.50 at standard prices. If you are on a budget, Pub Street is one of the cheapest places in Southeast Asia to have a genuinely enjoyable evening out.
People-watch: The crowd on a busy peak season evening is extraordinary. Backpackers, families, honeymooners, tour groups, expats, and a significant number of Cambodians who enjoy the energy of the area as much as any visitor. Pulling up a chair with a cold beer and watching the foot traffic is a legitimate way to spend an hour.
The Angkor What? Bar: The most storied bar on the street and still one of the liveliest. Its walls are covered in the names of visitors going back decades. Loud, busy, and reliably entertaining late into the night.
Miss Wong Cocktail Bar: A quieter, more atmospheric option on The Lane, one of the two alleys running parallel to Pub Street. Shanghai 1930s aesthetic, strong cocktails, less noise. Good for a drink before or after the main strip.
Asana Old Wooden House: A restored traditional Cambodian wooden house just off Pub Street serving herbal cocktails. One of the more distinctive bars in the city and a genuine contrast to the neon of the main strip.
Fish massage: Available at multiple stalls along the street for $1 to $2 for 15 minutes. Small Garra rufa fish nibble the dead skin from your feet while you sit on a bench watching Pub Street go by. It tickles, occasionally borders on uncomfortable, and is completely harmless. Most people laugh through the whole thing. Worth doing once for no other reason than it is one of those experiences that is impossible to explain to someone who has not done it.
The Lane and The Passage: The two alleys running parallel to Pub Street in either direction contain some of the better bars and restaurants in the area with less noise and more atmosphere than the main strip. Worth exploring both before committing to a table on Pub Street itself.
Beyond Pub Street
If you want to see how Cambodians actually spend an evening out, the local Khmer pub street area near National Highway 6 a few kilometres from the city centre operates from around 6pm to 2am and is an entirely different experience. Beer gardens with live music, local food, karaoke, and a crowd that is entirely Cambodian. Visiting as a foreigner is welcomed and offers a genuine glimpse of local nightlife that has nothing to do with the tourist infrastructure of the city centre.
Practical Notes
The street is pedestrianised from 5pm. Vehicles are blocked at both ends. Tuk-tuks wait outside both entrances and PassApp, the local ride-hailing app, works well for getting back to your hotel at the end of the night.
Prices on Pub Street are higher than elsewhere in the city but still inexpensive by most international standards. Check prices before ordering as menus are not always displayed prominently. The area is safe and well-lit with a consistent police presence throughout the evening. Agree the price before you get in if flagging a tuk-tuk directly rather than booking through PassApp.
Pub Street is not the real Siem Reap. But it is part of the experience of being here, and there is something genuinely joyful about a street where a $1 beer and a plastic chair and the passing parade of the world is enough to make an evening.
