Pub Street is a street in downtown Siem Reap, Cambodia, that is well-known among the foreign tourists as a place to visit in Siem Reap. It is located only a few blocks away from the Old Market (Psar Chaa). From its name, you can guess that on this street you can easily find places to eat, drink, and socialize. It reminded me to the area near Sisowath Quay in Phnom Penh or Khao San Road in Bangkok. While you can see activities during the day, the place is even more crowded at night as the foreign visitors who go to the temples of Angkor Archaeological Park during the day come here to have dinner, shop, and relax. The area is popular as a late night destination as well with its clubs and other establishments that open late.

We went to the Pub Street area on our second night in Siem Reap. Initially we thought we might eat at one of the restaurants there as many of them were mentioned in the guidebooks. However, while we were waiting for our hotel shuttle to take us to downtown, we met a British couple who was staying at the same hotel and had been in Siem Reap for several days, and they recommended a restaurant on the Market Street to try out (close to the Pub Street, but not exactly one of the more well-known Pub Street restaurants). We wanted to have dinner at a Cambodian restaurant serving Khmer dishes, not at one serving Western foods. Apparently the restaurants on Pub Street are more catered to the western audience, so while it might be a good place to find dishes like pizza or steak, you might be better off going elsewhere for more authentic Khmer dishes.

We did walk through the street on the way to the restaurant where we had dinner. Pub Street is not that long to cover in a few minutes of walking, and when we went through there it was still early in the evening that the places had only started getting visitors, and in comparison it was not quite as crowded as Khao San Road in Bangkok when we visited few days before. But later on in the night it did get more crowded, especially as the pubs and restaurants on the street were getting ready to welcome the New Year at midnight that night.

The photo below as taken as walked through the street. This is the Red Piano Restaurant, one of the well-known restaurants on Pub Street that is popular among the tourists. It’s known as the favorite place of Angelina Jolie and her crew to hang out when they were in Siem Reap filming the movie Tomb Raider. Many people said the food there was mediocre quality, but it’s a great place to people watch given its strategic location.