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Coolest Siem Reap Neighbourhood – Where to Stay, Shop, Drink and Eat in Wat Bo Village. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved. The Sugar Palm.

Coolest Siem Reap Neighbourhood – Where to Stay, Eat, Drink and Shop in Wat Bo Village

Meet the coolest Siem Reap neighbourhood, Wat Bo Village on the east bank of Siem Reap River. Home to urban farm-to-table restaurants, convivial cafés and atmospheric bars, street food trucks and pop-up riverside bars, a spot of fab shopping, and a busy student quarter. Wat Bo Village is also theaddress of Miss Wong, Siem Reap’s best cocktail bar. Reason enough to make it your address on your next stay.

We’re getting lots of new readers to our guide to the coolest Siem Reap neighbourhood, Wat Bo Village, because our hip little ‘hood landed at #3 on Time Out’s guide to the world’s coolest neighbourhoods published in late 2022. As Time Out covered the same spots we included in our October 2020 guide, we’re in the process of updating this Wat Bo Village guide so watch this space.

When I first published this guide to Wat Bo Village and declared Wat Bo “hip” in my little Siem Reap piece in TIME magazine’s World’s Greatest Places 2021 and in A New Dawn for Angkor published in DestinAsian magazine in 2021, I had no idea Wat Bo Village would end up getting so much attention and so many visitors would be strolling our lively streets. Wat Bo Village is our address too.

So let’s get this straight so your expectations aren’t too high: it’s true that Wat Bo Village is a little pocket of cool in lovely Siem Reap and a fantastic base for your Siem Reap stay. But it’s a launching pad for something far cooler: Angkor Wat and Angkor Archaeological Park. Wat Bo Village is not the third coolest neighbourhood in the world, Wat Bo Village is not even the coolest neighbourhood in Asia.

But Wat Bo Village certainly has its charm and we love our little neighbourhood. Because it is little. It takes just 15 minutes to walk from one side of Wat Bo Village to the other if you walk slowly. And you’d be hard-pressed to spend a whole day in Wat Bo Village, unless you spent half that day lying by the stunning swimming pool at Viroths or Treeline, reading a book at Footprints Cafe, or meditating with the monks at Wat Bo pagoda. Trust us. We live here.

And aside from living here, we’ve been writing about local travel and local neighbourhoods around the world, as well as local food, local people, and the whole idea of living like locals since January 2010 when we launched Grantourismo to advocate slow, local and experiential travel, and inspire you all to travel more slowly, more locally and more experientially. Siem Reap is the perfect place to do that. And Wat Bo Village is pretty cool.

Coolest Siem Reap Neighbourhood – Where to Stay, Shop, Eat and Drink in Wat Bo Village

Siem Reap is a city of villages and like the chic shopping quarter of Kandal Village before it, Wat Bo Village has quietly evolved into one of Siem Reap’s coolest neighbourhoods in recent years. Shaded by lofty trees, the leafy riverside, with its new walking paths and fairy-lights, is dotted with street food carts and pop-up bars. Tucked down narrow side streets are some of Siem Reap’s best restaurants, cocktail bars and light-filled cafés.

Wat Bo Road itself is peppered with noodle eateries, hot pot restaurants and smoky barbecue joints, and while the promising food truck scene is no longer, a handful of buzzy new local spots appealing primarily to Cambodians (signage only in Khmer) have opened in recent months.

It’s been a slow transformation, as it was back in early 2015 when I reported on ‘the birth of Cambodian cool’ at Kandal Village and Siem Reap’s East Bank Evolution for Cambodia’s national newspaper, the Phnom Penh Post. Until recently, the neighbourhood was best known for the 18th century Buddhist monastery and pagoda, Wat Bo, its walls clad with wonderful 19th century murals.

By 2015, Kandal Village, centred on and around hip Hup Guan Street, had established itself as Siem Reap’s most stylish neighbourhood, boasting a dozen or so modish businesses, including Louise Loubatiere’s beautiful interiors shop, quirky concept store Trunkh, the excellent Little Red Fox Espresso café, and the lovely Sirivan boutique. In the years since, Kandal Village has been on every savvy travellers Siem Reap to-do list and remains Siem Reap’s hippest destination – on the west bank.

Over here on the east bank, Wat Bo Village was somewhere you passed through or headed to for a particular restaurant or café, such as Sugar Palm or Dialogue. Unlike Kandal Village, Wat Bo Village wasn’t a destination – until Siem Reap’s most atmospheric bar Miss Wong, hung up its red Chinese lanterns on Street 26 in 2020. Laundry Bar and Stewart on 26 followed, confirming Wat Bo Village’s status as Siem Reap’s coolest neighbourhood.

Here’s where to stay, eat, shop, and drink in Wat Bo Village, the coolest Siem Reap neighbourhood.

Published 18 October 2020; Updated 12 October 2022; further Update Coming!

Coolest Siem Reap Neighbourhood – Where to Stay, Shop, Eat and Drink in Wat Bo Village

Bordered by Siem Reap River to the west, National Highway 6 to the north, 7 Makara Street at the southern end, and Lok Taneuy Road to the east, Wat Bo Village was the accommodation district during the early days of Siem Reap’s development as a tourist destination in the 20th century.

The traditional wooden homes on the main thoroughfare of Wat Bo Road that served as Siem Reap’s first guesthouses have mostly been demolished in recent years, replaced by concrete hotels and apartment blocks, however, Wat Bo Village is still home to some architectural treasures, old and new, and new evoking old.

Viroth’s Villa dates to the 1960s while Viroth’s Hotel tips a hat to that period; cute Pages Rooms and Café is located in a renovated mid-century school; Banlle restaurant is set in a refashioned traditional wooden house; while Dialogue, Footprints and Miss Wong are located in remodelled shophouses. Khema is located in a new-ish building that’s in the French-Colonial style, while contemporary Treeline is Siem Reap’s first proper design hotel.

Where to Stay in Wat Bo Village

Viroth’s Hotel

If you can only stay in one hotel in the coolest Siem Reap neighbourhood, make it the coolest Wat Bo Village lodgings, the award-winning Viroth’s Hotel, voted the World’s Best Hotel several times. (If you’re a boutique hotel addict and have time, split your stay between all properties.) Owners Viroth Kol and Fabien Martial can be thanked for bringing travellers back to the ‘other’ side of the river when they opened Viroth’s on a quiet cul-de-sac off bustling Wat Bo Road in 2015.

Designed by Asma Architects, who established their headquarters across the road at Pages (which they remodelled into rooms, a café and design library), Viroth’s sleek vintage style was inspired by the clean lines and retro-cool interiors of the mid-century modernism of Cambodia’s Golden Age, when Phnom Penh was ‘the Pearl of the East’.

The work of iconic Cambodian architect Vann Molyvann was a key influence. There’s a breezy bar and lounge off the lobby overlooking a palm-lined 20-metre swimming pool, spacious suites decorated with idiosyncratic art and design objects, bathrooms with big terrazzo tubs, and balconies dripping with greenery.

Bonus: complimentary airport pick-up in vintage vehicles and staff who welcome guests back with icy-cold towels and tall glasses of chilled lemongrass tea. Street 24, Wat Bo Village.

Book Viroth’s Hotel online with our booking partner Booking.com

Viroth’s Villa

While Viroth’s Villa is often referred to as the ‘little sister’ to Viroth’s Hotel, the Villa is actually the casually-elegant ‘older aunty’ who has had a magnificent facelift. An original modernist building that originally opened as stylish 7-room lodgings back in 2007, Viroth’s Villa was closed in 2018 and given a marvellous makeover.

More low-key, a little less glam but still gorgeous, and even more retro than the Hotel, Viroth’s Villa is best suited to lovers of vintage style looking for a chilled stay. (The Hotel could get busy in pre-pandemic high seasons with one hundred percent occupancy, whereas even when the Villa is full it doesn’t feel it).

The light-filled rooms have more of a Mad Men vibe about them with their geometric-patterned velvet bedheads and voguish modernist furniture – book a Junior Suite with pool view – while the lobby, bar and restaurant feel even breezier.

As with the Hotel, the Villa menu features Cambodian and European favourites, from noodle soups and French croissants for breakfast to Asian-inspired cocktails and Champagne at the bar, which has a three-hour Happy ‘Hour’. Street 23, Wat Bo Village.

Book Viroth’s Villa online with our booking partner Booking.com

Treeline

Located smack-bang on the riverside, Treeline was Siem Reap’s first contemporary design hotel with a sleek look and feel that feels all at once Cambodian and European, where the design hotel was born. It’s no surprise as the architect owner Hok Kang is also a founding partner in Brown Coffee and Bakery, Cambodia’s own home-grown Starbucks-style chain, only better – which explains why there’s a Brown café within the hotel.

Nature and art are the themes of Treeline, which features fifty pieces by local artists, including Sothea Thang, Sopheap Pich and Nov Cheanick. Crafted from palm leaves, seeds, pods, and stones, they hang in the public spaces and 48 rooms, which are decorated with handmade local furniture and ceramics by Siem Reap atelier Loyuyu. Bedside reading is a copy of The Hidden Life of Trees.

Most rooms have views of the stunning second-floor swimming pool from the window seat or balcony – along with the canopy of trees lining the river, best appreciated from a sun lounger or poolside Canopy Bar with a Cambodian-made Seekers Mekong Dry Gin with kaffir lime and delicious bar snacks.

Breakfast is memorable and room service very good. Rooms also have complimentary mini bars, a coffee machine, and plenty of snacks to nibble on from that window seat. Achasva Street (the riverside road), Wat Bo Village.

Book Treeline online with our booking partner Booking.com

Maison 557

Recently reopened after a loving three-month makeover by new owners, the welcoming Joan Lejamble and Gauthier Andriantsitohaina (and pug Austin), Maison 557 remains the chic little hideaway that’s been an anomaly in a city of larger boutique resorts, big luxury hotels and boisterous backpacker hostels. (Maison Polanka is another exquisite anomaly).

Hidden behind whitewashed walls on busy Wat Bo Road, Maison 557 had long been regarded as something of a secret since former owner Jeff Strachan bought the property in October 2013. Now, under its new ownership, you don’t have to hope for a sneaky glimpse through the open gate, framed by crimson bougainvillea, as you pass by – nor check in to check out the lush gardens of the delightful 8-room bolthole. Because Joan and Gauthier are sharing their ongoing renovations on Instagram.

Take a peek at the pretty rooms with four-poster beds, French-colonial touches such as grey shutters, and thoughtful extras like big floppy sun hats and woven bags to carry your book and suntan lotion to the poolside – and there are two swimming pools to choose from. Maison 557 is dog-friendly (just bring your pup’s bedding), making it perfect for a Siem Reap staycation. 557 Wat Bo Road, Wat Bo Village.

Book Maison 557 online with our booking partner Booking.com

Where to Eat in Wat Bo Village

We’ve divided our Where to Eat in Wat Bo Village guide into Where to Breakfast, Where to Lunch, Where to Dine and Where to Graze on Street Food in Wat Bo Village.

Where to Breakfast in Wat Bo Village

Por Noodle Soup

For a quintessential Cambodian breakfast, head to Chep Por family’s noodle soup restaurant for a big bowl of piping-hot kuy teav with cha kway (Khmer for Chinese doughnuts or youtiao) and a Cambodian iced coffee, which is arguably one of Siem Reap’s best breakfasts.

Kuy teav is a clear flavourful soup that’s generally made with pork and beef bone broth, dried rice noodles (not the fresh rice noodles that you find in nom banh chok), and your choice of pork, chicken, cooked and rare beef, offal, and/or blood cake, to which you add condiments.

Old-timers typically add little else but chopped chillies, but you can squeeze in some fresh lime juice, add a dollop of chilli paste, or a squirt of fish sauce, soy sauce or chilli sauce. So good! While you’ll find kuy teav sold all over the city, this is where you’ll find the best kuy teav in Siem Reap as far as we’re concerned.

Not only is it the best, it’s also the oldest kuy teav joint. The late Chep Por opened the first noodle soup stall after the Khmer Rouge period, before moving to a modest eatery (now gone) across the road from the current smarter location at the Kings Road Angkor complex. It is still ran by old Chep Por’s lovely family. Open daily; early mornings are best, when locals fill the place. 7 Makara Road, Wat Bo Village.

Paris Bakery

Arguably one of Siem Reap’s best bakeries – as you’d expect with a French baker in the kitchen – Paris Bakery is a boulangerie, patisserie, café, and deli in one. There are traditional French baguettes that make you want to buy a dozen, don a beret, hop on a bicycle, and munch right into one on the way home.

We also love the country bread loaves, soft sweet brioche, buttery croissants, perfect macarons in tropical flavours such as lime, passionfruit and coconut, decadent cakes, homemade quiches, and imaginative desserts of the like you’d find in Michelin-starred restaurants in Paris.

Café specials include classics, such as a couscous royale, roast chicken, and a wonderful beef Bourguignon with a rich sauce and melt-in-your-mouth beef, and there’s a decent wine list.

There are occasional Saturday-night 4-course degustation dinners that might include anything from a starter of a savoury beetroot macaron, handmade shrimp ravioli, succulent beef ribeye, and a deconstructed cheesecake with tropical fruit for dessert, for US$25 per person. Check their Facebook page for upcoming dates. Wat Bo Road, corner of Street 26, Wat Bo Village.

Where to Lunch in Wat Bo Village

Banlle

Banlle means ‘vegetable’ in Khmer and this relaxed farm-to-table restaurant in a renovated wooden house offers affordable European and Cambodian vegetarian and vegan food. While dining for breakfast or lunch in the minimalist light-filled dining room is a delight for the opportunity to enjoy garden views and tour the compact organic urban farm, the menu is focused on casual café-style food.

Choose from noodle soups and sandwiches to French-style quiches and salads, along with vegetarian takes on Cambodian classics, such as vegetable amok (the steamed curry usually made with fish) and a vegetarian kor ko, a hearty vegetable-driven soup that normally includes river fish and pork.

In the kitchen is the Cambodian owner, chef Pola Siv of Mie Café fame – a fine dining restaurant offering degustation menus of inventive modern Cambodian food – which is why I prefer dining in the evening when the chef also offers are more interesting set menu.

Call ahead to book and ask for the set menu and let the chef do his thing – when you do, ask if the lime pie is on. Banlle is open Wednesday to Monday for breakfast, lunch, and dinner from 5-9.15pm (last sitting). Street 26, Wat Bo Village.

Tevy’s Place

You would not know that Siem Reap’s street food queen Tevy lost much of her family during the tragic Khmer Rouge genocide in the late 1970s as she is always smiling. Tevy’s modest Cambodian restaurant began life as a humble street food stall behind Wat Damnak, which was a popular street food destination for locals before authorities cleared the stalls.

Motivated by a loyal customer and friend Cecil (who perhaps secretly didn’t want to lose his favourite street food spot!), Tevy took her delicious Cambodian food from the street to this welcoming all-women ran restaurant on Street 26, but maintained street food prices.

It’s been a favourite with locals, expats and tourists ever since. Expect the usual Cambodian street food classics, such as lok lak (stir fried pepper beef with rice), grilled pork ribs, stir-fried squid, fried noodles, fried rice, and spring rolls, along with European dishes, such as steak and chips, lasagne, salads, and toasted sandwiches.

Tevy also does generous breakfasts – everything from smashed avocado on toast, all kinds of eggs, and even baked beans with toast – along with healthy juices. Prices start from as little as $1! Open 7am-9pm daily. Tevy’s Place, Street 26, Wat Bo Village.

Where to Dine in Wat Bo Village

The Sugar Palm

Cambodian-born chef Kethana Dunnett and her New Zealand-born restaurateur husband Bruce Dunnett reopened The Sugar Palm, pictured above, in a striking new space on Street 27 just over six years ago, after establishing it as one of the best Siem Reap restaurants for traditional home-style Cambodian cooking in its former Taphul Road location.

Over the years, Kethana has been the go-to experts for chefs of the likes of Gordon Ramsay and Luke Nguyen when they’ve been in Cambodia filming culinary travel series. Once you dine at the Sugar Palm, you’ll understand why. Kethana grew up in a well-to-do home in Phnom Penh in the Golden Age of the 1950s and 1960s before moving to New Zealand on a scholarship in the late Sixties, and her rich cuisine, based on the recipes of her mother and grandmother, reflects the food of urbane Cambodians at the time.

Sugar Palm’s takes on prahok k’tis, a more-ish minced pork and fermented fish dip, and amok trei, a sublime steamed fish curry with a mousse-like texture, are the richest and most delicious renditions of these beloved Cambodian favourites you’ll try in the country. This is food meant to be shared so also order the shrimp and pomelo salad, smoked eggplant with minced pork, and Cambodian chicken curry.

While Sugar Palm may not have a vegetable garden beside it, this is a farm-to-table restaurant in that much of the produce is grown on the farm at Kethana and Bruce’s Banteay Srei home. The Sugar Palm is currently open for dinner from Tuesday to Sunday. Street 27, Wat Bo Village.

Embassy

(Update: Embassy has just moved to the Old French Quarter; We’ll be adding a guide to that neighbourhood very soon.)

While Sugar Palm gives you a taste of the past, Embassy offers a sample of the kind of imaginative contemporary Cambodian cuisine being created by a younger generation of chefs. Ran by an all-women team in the kitchen and front-of-house, Embassy was long-led by executive chefs Kimsan Pol and Kimsan Sok*, who staged at Michelin-starred restaurants in France, including that of Régis Marcon’s Le Clos des Cimes, which has held three stars since 2005.

At Embassy, the two women collaborated on monthly 7-course gastronomic menus (for an incredible US$36) which change according to the seasons and availability of produce. While French-influenced in terms of technique and plating, the chefs’ cuisine is distinctly Cambodian, each dish inspired by local specialties and seasonal ingredients.

Expect elegant plating, inventive takes on traditional favourites, a decent wine list, easily the best service of any fine dining restaurant in Siem Reap, and an overall delightful evening. Note, however, that the Kimsans are currently heading a Phnom Penh restaurant, however, much of their old team remain in the kitchen. Embassy is open for dinner only Wednesday to Sunday. Street 27, Kings Road Angkor, Wat Bo Village.

Khéma Angkor

If you need a change from Cambodian food, the next most obvious cuisine to sample in Siem Reap is French. The city has fine French bakeries, cafes, restaurants, and bars thanks to Siem Reap’s population of French-Cambodians, French expatriates and Cambodians who emigrated, studied or worked in France.

If you only try one French restaurant, make it Khéma Angkor, a sophisticated brasserie, deli, bakery, and wine shop on the riverside that’s a delight for lunch or dinner. The menu features French bistro standards and European classics and they’re all superb.

We love starting with the charcuterie plate with rustic house-made terrines, pâtés and cold cuts, and the fantastic beef carpaccio or salmon gravalax followed by the steak-frites café de Paris (for me). Terence will opt for a pan-fried entrecôte in a béarnaise sauce or Toulouse sausage with potato purée, or perhaps one of the European specialties, such as the beef Wellington or Milanese.

If you’re dining solo or only ordering a dish or two, order the steak-frites café de Paris, a perfectly-cooked sliced steak doused in a buttery Café de Paris sauce made with garlic, mustard, anchovies, and herbs, served over a flame. Heaven. Whatever you order, don’t miss dessert: the lemon tart is sublime but the classic profiteroles and cheesecake are also special.

They also have themed nights; expect anything from tapas to raclette. Open daily for lunch and dinner. Khéma Angkor, Riverside, Wat Bo Village.

Where to Eat Street Food in Wat Bo Village

Aside from the many street food stalls, mobile food carts and casual street food eateries dotted around Wat Bo Village, there are a couple of stand-out spots, which we’ll be adding here very soon.

Where to Drink in Wat Bo Village

From book cafes, student coffee shops, cocktail bars, and dive bars, there’s no shortage of spots to sip in Wat Bo Village.

Footprints Café

While Siem Reap lost a few of its fine cafés this year, including Wat Bo Village favourite, Artillery, fortunately social enterprise café Footprints reopened and its Cambodian team is still serving up fab food, coffee and literature in a lovely inviting book-lined space that inspires you to linger.

One of a couple of book cafés in town that are all the more appreciated since Monument Books closed at the start of the pandemic (the other is New Leaf across the river), you can happily spend an hour or two here sipping, nibbling and browsing, all the while knowing that money spent is going to a fund managed by the on-site staff that provides education scholarships to disadvantaged young Cambodians and supports the work of reputable local NGOs.

You can also be confident that the coffee is good. Footprints has produced a National Cambodian Barista competition finalist in manager Pheakdey Yon. Alongside the coffee, juices, smoothies, teas, and coffees, there are generous all day breakfasts, snacks and lunch favourites, from eggs Florentine and three eggs omelettes to cheese toasties and salads, including a fantastic Cambodian green mango and smoked fish salad. Footprints Cafe, Street 26, Wat Bo Village.

Dialogue

Retro-cool Dialogue is one of those rare café-bars that manage to straddle both coffee shop and cocktail-sipping spot, as well as (perhaps even rarer) equally appeal to Cambodians and expats (and pre-coronavirus, tourists).

That’s perhaps because the owners are Cambodian barista champion Seng Piseth – who is equally adept at making an espresso as he is a negroni – and Australian Jake Stalker, former manager of Footprints café, above, and Southeast Asian tour company, Grasshopper Adventures.

And like another of Siem Reap’s best cafés, Little Red Fox Espresso over in Kandal Village, Dialogue does great coffee, good bites, cool music, and is community-minded, which are the keys to success in a small city such as Siem Reap.

While you could kickstart your morning in the coolest Siem Reap neighbourhood with a coffee at Footprint, you could have a late afternoon caffeine hit cum pick-me-up here before a pre-dinner cocktail. And whether you’re strolling down the street to Sugar Palm or wandering over to Banlle or Embassy, you don’t have far to go, and – bonus – Miss Wong is on the way! Dialogue Cafe, Street 27, Wat Bo Village.

Miss Wong

One of the most heartbreaking Siem Reap business closures at the beginning of the pandemic was that of the original Miss Wong bar, hidden down a narrow lane parallel to touristy Pub Street – which is why we all did a dance when owner Dean Williams and manager ‘Rosso’ and their team of Cambodia’s finest bartenders hung up their lanterns on Street 26 and re-opened in Wat Bo Village.

While there have been a few changes – the scarlet walls have been replaced by teal blue (matching Miss Wong’s sister-bar in Battambang), there’s more outdoor seating on the front and back terraces, and on Sunday there’s a pianist and cocktail specials – some of the things we’ve long loved haven’t changed.

Expect Miss Wong’s famously heady cocktails (my rose and lemongrass martinis are still on the menu), craft beers, and dim sum, including Dean’s pillowy steamed bao with barbecue pork, along with the same warm welcoming service. All of which earned Miss Wong a spot on the inaugural World’s 50 Best Discovery list.

Now located in what was Kethana and Bruce Dunnet’s FLOW bar, adjacent to Footprints café and opposite Banlle, Miss Wong can be credited with making a destination out of Wat Bo Village and making it the coolest Siem Reap neighbourhood. Let’s toast to that. Miss Wong cocktail bar, Street 26, Wat Bo Village, 5pm-late.

Where to Shop in Wat Bo Village

Oko Gallery

It’s true hidden gems such as Oko Gallery, tucked down Street 24, diagonally opposite Viroth’s Hotel that make Wat Bo the coolest Siem Reap neighbourhood for me.

Opened by the owners of Viroth’s because guests kept asking where they procured some of the treasures that decorate the hotel’s rooms and public spaces, Oko boasts a carefully curated collection of exquisite handicrafts.

The baskets are some of the most beautifully made I’ve seen during my years in Cambodia. You can also expect locally made ceramics and pottery, handwoven textiles, interior décor and design objects, chic accessories, and striking art sourced in Cambodia and beyond. Oko Gallery, Street 24, Wat Bo Village.

Made in Cambodia Market (Update: Moved to the French Quarter)

The Made in Cambodia Market is a one-stop-shop for locally-made gifts, art, crafts, textiles, clothes, jewellery, and accessories. Many of the stalls are operated by locally-based NGOs and social enterprises that support disadvantage communities or ethical independent designers and artists, so you know your money is going to a good cause or you’re supporting a local artist, craftsperson or designer.

Great buys include handwoven shawls, throws and blankets made in a weaving village near Siem Reap, cool clutch purses, laptop covers and wallets made from recycled rice bags and cement bags; and jewellery and accessories made from soft-drink can ring pulls.

There’s often entertainment in the evenings and other fine shops to browse in the Kings Road Angkor complex where the market – and Embassy restaurant – are located. Allow at least an hour to browse and please don’t leave empty handed. Your support is greatly needed at this challenging time. The market is currently only open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 11am-7pm. Made in Cambodia Market, corner of Street 27 and Achasva Street (the riverside road), Wat Bo Village.

 

If you found our guide to Wat Bo Village useful, I have a favour to ask: Grantourismo is reader-funded. If you’ve enjoyed our content on the site, please consider supporting Grantourismo. You could make a small donation to our epic original Cambodian cuisine history and cookbook on Patreon or use our links next time you’re planning a trip to book accommodation, rent a car or campervan or motorhome, buy travel insurance, or book a tour on Klook or Get Your Guide.

Another option is to buy something on Amazon, such as these James Beard award-winning cookbooks, cookbooks by Australian chefs, classic cookbooks for serious cooks, cookbooks for culinary travellers, travel books to inspire wanderlust, or gifts for Asian food lovers, picnic lovers and travellers who love photography. We may earn a small commission but you won’t pay extra.

You could also shop our Grantourismo store on Society6 for gifts for foodies, including fun reusable cloth face masks designed with Terence’s images or buy us a coffee.

Do let us know if you stay, eat or sip in the coolest Siem Reap neighbourhood. We’d love to know what you think of Wat Bo Village.

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About Lara Dunston

A travel and food writer who has experienced over 70 countries and written for The Guardian, Australian Gourmet Traveller, Feast, Delicious, National Geographic Traveller, Conde Nast Traveller, Travel+Leisure Southeast Asia, DestinAsian, TIME, CNN, The Independent, The Telegraph, Sunday Times Travel Magazine, AFAR, Wanderlust, International Traveller, Get Lost, Four Seasons Magazine, Fah Thai, Sawasdee, and more, as well as authored more than 40 guidebooks for Lonely Planet, DK, Footprint, Rough Guides, Fodors, Thomas Cook, and AA Guides.

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Lara and Terence are an Australian-born, Southeast Asia-based travel and food writers and photographers who have authored scores of guidebooks, produced countless travel and food stories, are currently developing cookbooks and guidebooks, and host culinary tours and writing and photography retreats in Southeast Asia.
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How to Store Sourdough Starter In the Fridge Long Term. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

How to Store Sourdough Starter In the Fridge Long Term and How to Revive Your Starter

Chicken Fried Rice Recipe Made With Spicy Southern Fried Chicken. Best rice recipes. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

Our Best Chicken Fried Rice Recipe Is Made With Spicy Southern Fried Chicken Leftovers

Goats grazing in trees on the road to Essaouira, Morocco. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

The Drive to Essaouira from Marrakech and the Business of Goats in Trees

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Still looking for Christmas cooking inspo? Check o Still looking for Christmas cooking inspo? Check out our seafood recipe collection, especially if you celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve with a fish focused meal in the Southern Italian tradition, transformed by Italian-Americans into the Feast of the Seven Fishes, or like Australians, who celebrate Christmas in the sweltering summer, feast on seafood for Christmas Day lunch, we’ve got lots of easy seafood recipes for you.

Our recipes include a classic prawn cocktail, blini with smoked salmon, a ceviche-style appetiser, and devilled eggs with caviar. We’ve also got recipes for fish soup, seafood pies and pastas, salmon tray bake, and crispy salmon with creamy mashed potatoes.

You’ll find the recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/seafood-recipes-for-christmas-eve-and-christmas-day-menus/
(Link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Merry Christmas if you’re celebrating!! 

#christmas #christmasfood #seafood #fish #recipes #christmasrecipes #foodstagram #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood #picoftheday #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #grantourismo #grantourismotravels #xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas
If you’re still looking for food inspo for Chris If you’re still looking for food inspo for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day meals, my smoked salmon ‘carpaccio’ recipe is one of dozens of recipes in this compilation of our best Christmas recipes (link below). 

The Christmas recipe compilation includes collections of our best Christmas breakfast recipes, best Christmas brunch recipes, best Christmas starter recipes, best Christmas cocktails, best Christmas dessert recipes, and homemade edible Christmas gifts and more.

My smoked salmon carpaccio recipe makes an easy elegant appetiser that’s made in minutes. If you’re having guests over, you can make the dish ahead by assembling the salmon, capers and pickled onions, and refrigerate it, then pour on the dressing just before serving. 

Provide toasted baguette slices and bowls of additional capers, pickles and dressing, so guests can customise their carpaccio. And open the bubbly!

You’ll find that recipe and many more Christmas recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/best-christmas-recipes/ (link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Merry Christmas!! X

#christmas #christmasfood #recipes #christmasrecipes #foodstagram #salmon #smokedsalmon #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood #picoftheday #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #writingacookbook #grantourismo #grantourismotravels 
#xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas
If you haven’t visited our site in a while, I sh If you haven’t visited our site in a while, I shared a collection of recipes for homemade edible Christmas gifts — for condiments, hot sauces, chilli oils, a whole array of pickles, spice blends, chilli salt, furakake seasoning, and spicy snacks, such as our Cambodian and Vietnamese roasted peanuts. 

I love giving homemade edibles as gifts as much as I love receiving them. Who wouldn’t appreciate jars filled with their favourite chilli oils, hot sauces, piquant pickles, and spicy peanuts that loved-ones have taken the time to make? 

Aside from the gesture and affordability of gifting homemade edibles, you’re minimising waste. You can use recycled jars or if buying new mason jars or clip-top Kilner jars, you know they’ll get repurposed.

No need for wrapping, just attach some Christmas baubles or tinsel to the lid. I used squares of Cambodian kramas (cotton scarves), which can be repurposed as napkins or drink coasters, and tied a ribbon or two around the lids, and attached last year’s Christmas tree decorations to some.

You’ll find the recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/homemade-edible-christmas-gifts/ (link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Yes, that’s Pepper... every time there’s a camera around... 

#christmasgiftideas #ediblegifts ##christmasfoodgifts #foodgifts #giftideas #homemadegifts #christmasfood #ediblegiftideas #hotsauce #chillisauce #sriracha #pickles #homemadepickles #recipes #foodstagram #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood 
#blackcat #blackcatsofinstagram #picoftheday 
#christmas #christmastree #xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas #cambodia #siemreap
This crab omelette is a decadent eggs dish that’ This crab omelette is a decadent eggs dish that’s perfect if you’re just back from the fish markets armed with luxurious fresh crab meat. It’s a little sweet, a little spicy, and very, very moreish.

Our crab omelette recipe was one of our 22 most popular egg recipes of 2022 on our website Grantourismo and it’s no surprise. It’s appeared more times than any other egg recipes on our annual round-ups of most popular recipes since Terence launched Weekend Eggs when we launched Grantourismo in 2010.

If you’re an eggs lover, do check out the recipe collection. It includes egg recipes from right around the world, from recipes for classic kopitiam eggs from Singapore and Malaysia and egg curries from India and Myanmar to all kinds of egg recipes from Thailand, Japan, Korea, China, Mexico, USA, Australia, UK, and Ireland.

And do browse our Weekend Eggs archives for further eggspiration (sorry). We have hundreds of egg recipes from the 13 year-old series of recipes for quintessential egg dishes from around the world, which we started on our 2010 year-long global grand tour focused on slow, local and experiential travel. 

We’re hoping 2023 will be the year we can finally publish the Weekend Eggs cookbook we’ve talked about for years based on that series. After we can find a publisher for the Cambodia cookbook of course... :( 

Recipe collection here (and proper link to Grantourismo in our bio):
https://grantourismotravels.com/22-most-popular-egg-recipes-of-2022-from-weekend-eggs/

If you cook the recipe and enjoy it please let us know — we love to hear from you — either in the comments at the end of the recipe or share a pic with us here.

#recipe #recipes #eggs #eggslover #breakfasteggs #WeekendEggs #egg #breakfast #brunch #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood  #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #lookingforapublisher #writingacookbook  #grantourismo #grantourismotravels
I’m late to share this, but a few days ago Angko I’m late to share this, but a few days ago Angkor Archaeological Park, home to stupendous Angkor Wat, pictured, celebrated 30 years of its UNESCO World Heritage listing. 

That’s as good an excuse as any to put this magnificent, sprawling archaeological site on your travel list this year.

While riverside Siem Reap, your base for exploring Angkor is bustling once more, there are still nowhere near the visitors of the last busy high season months of December-January 2018-2019 when there were 290,000 visitors. 

Last month there were just 55,000 visitors and December feels a little quieter. A tour guide friend said there were about 150 people at Angkor Wat for sunrise a few days ago.

If you’re looking for tips to visiting Angkor, Siem Reap and Cambodia, just ask us a question in the comments below or check Grantourismo as we’ve got loads of info on our site. Click through to the link in the bio and explore our Cambodia guide or search for ‘Angkor’. 

And please do let us know if you’re coming to Siem Reap. We’d love to see you here x

#siemreap #cambodia #asia #travel #instatravel #traveldeeper #slowtravel #localtravel #experientialtravel #exploremore #neverstopexploring #goexplore #igtravel #angkorwat #angkor #temple #temples #angkorwithoutcrowds #unesco #unescoworldheritagesite #unescoworldheritage #archaeology #archaeologicalsite #traveladdict #beautifuldestinations #beautifulplaces #travelgram #wanderlust #picoftheday📷 #grantourismotravels.
Our soy ginger chicken recipe will make you sticky Our soy ginger chicken recipe will make you sticky, flavourful and succulent chicken thighs that are fantastic with steamed rice, Chinese greens or a salad, such as a Southeast Asian slaw. 

The chicken can be marinated for up to 24 hours before cooking, which ensures it’s packed with flavour, then it can be cooked on a barbecue or in a pan.

Terence’s soy ginger chicken recipe is one of our favourite recipes for a quick and easy meal. I love the sound of the sizzling thighs in the pan, and the warming aromas wafting through the apartment. 

It’s amazing how such flavourful juicy chicken thighs come from such a quick and easy recipe.

Recipe here (and proper link to Grantourismo in our bio): https://grantourismotravels.com/soy-ginger-chicken-recipe/

If you cook it and enjoy it please let us know — we love to hear from you — either here or in the comments at the end of the recipe on the site or share a pic with us x 

#recipe #recipes #chicken #soygingerchicken #asianfood #southeastasianfood #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #cookingtime #recipe #recipes #comfortfood #foodblog #food #foodstagram #healthyfood #instafood #healthy #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #writingacookbook #grantourismo #grantourismotravels
Who can guess the ingredients and what we’re mak Who can guess the ingredients and what we’re making with my market haul from Psar Samaki in Siem Reap — all for a whopping 10,000 riel (US$2.50)?! 

Birds-eye chillies thrown in for free! They were on my list but the seller I spent most at (5,000 riel!) scooped up a handful and slipped them into my bag. She was my last stop and knew what I was making.

My Khmer is poor, even after all our years in Cambodia, as I don’t learn languages with the ease I did in my 20s, plus I’m mentally exhausted after researching and writing all day. I have a better vocabulary of Old and Middle Khmer than modern Khmer from studying the ancient inscriptions for the Cambodian culinary history component of our cookbook I’m writing.

So when one seller totalled my purchases I thought she said 5,000 riel but she handed back 4,500 riel! The sum total of two huge bunches of herbs and kaffir lime leaves was 500 riel.

Tip: if visiting Siem Reap, use Khmer riel for local shopping. We’ve mainly used riel since the pandemic started— rarely use US$ now as market sellers quote prices in riels, as do local shops and bakeries, and I tip tuk tuk drivers in riels. I find prices quoted in riels are lower.

Psar Samaki is cheaper than Psar Leu, which is cheaper than Psar Chas, as it’s a wholesale market, which means the produce is fresher. I see veggies arriving, piled high in the back of vehicles, with dirt still on them — as I did on this trip. 

The scent of a mountain of incredibly aromatic pineapples offloaded from the back of a dusty ute was so heady they smelt like they’d just been cut. More exotic European style veggies arrive by big trucks in boxes labelled in Vietnamese (from Dalat) and Mandarin (from China), such as beautiful snow-white cauliflower I spotted.

Note: the freshest produce is sold on the dirt road at the back of the market.

#cambodia #siemreap #foodwriter #foodblogger #foodphotography #igfood #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #instadaily #picoftheday #market #siemreapmarket #psarsamaki #marketfresh #vegetables #healthyfood #marketshopping #traveltips #foodtravel #culinarytravel #localtravel #cooking #cookingtime #curry #homemade #currypaste #grantourismotravels
My Vietnamese-ish meatballs and rice noodles recip My Vietnamese-ish meatballs and rice noodles recipe makes tender meatballs doused in a delightfully tangy-sweet sauce, sprinkled with crispy fried shallots, with carrot-daikon, crunchy cucumber and fragrant herbs. 

The dish is inspired by bún chả, a Hanoi specialty, but it’s not bún chả. No matter what Google or food bloggers tell you. Names are important, especially when cooking and writing about cuisines not our own.

This is an authentic bún chả recipe:  https://grantourismotravels.com/vietnamese-bun-cha-recipe/ You’ll need to get the outdoor BBQ/grill going to do proper smoky bún chả meat patties (not meatballs).

My meatball noodle bowl is perhaps more closely related to dishes such as a Central Vietnam cousin bún thịt nướng (pork skewers on rice noodles in a bowl) and a Southern relation bún bò Nam Bộ (beef atop rice noodles, sprinkled with fried shallots (Nam Bộ=Southern Vietnam) though neither include meatballs. 

Xíu mại= meatballs although they’re different in flavour to mine, which taste more like bún chả patties. Xíu mại remind me of Southern Italian meatballs in tomato sauce.

In Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, home to millions of Khmer, there’s bánh tằm xíu mại. Bánh tằm=silk worm noodles. They’re topped with meatballs, cucumber, daikon, carrot, fresh herbs, crispy fried onions. Difference: cold noodles doused in a sauce of coconut cream and fish sauce. 

Remove the meatballs, add chopped fried spring rolls and it’s Cambodia’s banh sung, which is a rice noodle salad similar to Vietnam’s bún chả giò :) 

Recipe here: (link in bio) https://grantourismotravels.com/vietnamese-meatballs-and-rice-noodles-recipe/

For more on these culinary connections you’ll have to wait for our Cambodian cookbook and culinary history. In a hurry to know? Come support the project on Patreon. (link in bio)

#recipe #recipes #vietnamesefood #cambodianfood #asianfood #southeastasianfood #ricenoodles #rice #noodlebowl #meatballs #igfood #igfoodie #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood  #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #writingacookbook #writingacambodiancookbook #patreon #patreoncreator #grantourismo
It is pure coincidence that Pepper’s eye colour It is pure coincidence that Pepper’s eye colour matches the furnishings of our rented apartment. So, no, I did not colour-coordinate the interiors to match our cat’s eyes. 

I keep getting DMs from pet clothing brands wanting to “partner” with Pepper and send her free cat clothes and cat accessories. Although she did wear a kerchief for a few years in her more adventurous fashion-forward teenage years, I cannot see this cat in clothes now, can you? 

#pepper #blackcat #blackcats #blackcatsofinstagram #blackcatsrule #blackcatsmatter #cat #cats #catsofinstagram #catstagram #catlover #catlovers #catlove #catoftheday #catphoto #catpic #catpics #cambodiancat #cambodiancatsofinstagram #catlife #catloversclub #catoftheday #catgram #catstagram #cats_of_instagram #catphotography #catsofig #catsoftheworld #catsofinsta #cats🐱 #siemreap #cambodia

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