Nomad - Siem Reap, Cambodia

Day 1 : Siem Reap, Cambodia

We landed in Siem Reap International Airport at 8:30 am. After a 20 minute tuk tuk ride, compliments of the airbnb, we pulled down a side road right up to our home for the next 3 nights. We dropped off our luggage and took a quick refresher shower, then we started right off with lunch at Phana Khmer restaurant. The food was delicious and the hospitality was next to none. We grabbed a bottle of local Cambodian “cognac”, which they called “Special Muscle Wine”.

Our next stop was to Angkor National Museum to take a glimpse into Cambodian History. After a blast from the past and some locally harvested coffee at their cafe by the entrance we grabbed our Tuk Tuk driver, Sentana, and headed to Siem Reap Night Market. We wandered around the market for a while, grabbing a few souvenirs here and there. The tenacity and resilience of the sellers was impressive and they really will bargain until the price is flipped. Just a heads up!

We went across the street to the Yellow Mango Cafe, a balcony restaurant with a street view of pub street. We grabbed some rolls, WiFi, a couple of shots of tequila (which was hard to come by!), and some fresh pressed watermelon juice. While walking the market earlier we noticed a lot of fish spas that offered tanks of fish that would eat the dead skin off of your feet. It’s a great value for $3 and if you can keep your feet in long enough you end up with very soft feet. If you’re ticklish it may be another story, but you should still give it a try!

Next stop was Laundry Bar, just outside of Pub Street, a 1980’s esqe retro-disco bar. Vinyls and Andy Warhol artwork decorated the indies, with lowlights, colorful bright pops of light, and a solid cocktail menu. We tried their house infused Thai rum and the current flavor they had was toasted banana. It was so savory and slightly sweet. We read about a 5 course meal that sounded too good to pass up, so we had Sentana drop us off at Malis to give that dinner a try. The courses were locally inspired and perfectly portioned. The top courses were the 3 sausages 3 ways and the river prawn. That dinner put us out and after 30 hours of travel internationally, the jet lag kicked in. We called it a night at 8 pm to make sure we got up early the next day for Angkor Wat and surrounding temples.

Day 2: Siem Reap, Cambodia

We arranged for Sentana to pick us up at 8 am to head to the temples for a before lunch tour. We explored each temple and were so humbled by the artwork and culture surrounding them. The Tomb Raider temple was probably my favorite of the temples we saw, other than the Elephant temple, which stood four stories high and allowed your ascent to the top. We grabbed some lunch at a local restaurant in the middle of the temples. After grabbing some local cuisine and a few beers, we trekked on out back to town. We wanted to hit Cambo Beach Club, a Oasis with a salt water pool, sand beaches, cabanas, games, three bars, and a volleyball area. With a 5$ entry and 3$ towards your bill, who could say no?

We got to Cambo Beach and grabbed a king mattress sized cabana and ordered some light bites and Miami Vice’s. We took to the water and jumped the three meter high jumping dock and played some giant volleyball with some locals and travelers. The food was delicious - especially the house made beef jerky! we got a second order after inhaling the first one in mere minutes. The spot would become one of our favorites, which we frequented three times during our seven day stay in Siem Reap.

After that we headed to Miss Wong’s Cocktail Bar, down an offbeat alley west of Pub Street. Miss Wong’s delivered great hospitality, 1930’s Shanghai inspired decor, delicious cocktails, delicious dim sum, and complimentary taro chips. The name Miss Wong should ring a bell to most travel enthusiasts. If you can’t pinpoint the name, think of the drink “China White”, to which owes its origin to Miss Wong’s.

Next up was Bug Cafe, a sustainability focused insect tapas and craft cocktail bar. We got the plate of mixed insects, which included; tarantula, scorpion, mealworms, grasshoppers, and crickets. The cocktail they suggested pairing with the dish was a spicy frozen cocktail, one of my favorites. “Cambodian Fever” had Rum, Sombai Chile infused Spirit, Papaya juice, Fresh Mango Juice, Lime, Pepper, Fresh Chili, & Fresh Coriander.

We heard of a rooftop skate bar, X Bar, that played classic emo rock and punk pop hits, which happened to be on the way to our final stop of the evening. With a functioning halfpipe on the roof, the place had LIT playing on the radio, while we got some Thai beer and shots of their local spirits. The view of the city from up top was nothing short of beautiful. We headed to Menake Speakeasy, Siem Reap’s only proclaimed speakeasy.

We wandered down a small alley and came upon a mural of jungles and plants with a hidden door behind the artwork. The host inside led us upstairs to the speakeasy above their smaller waiting bar. We got the punch bowl that only allowed to serve 2 per 2 people because of the high potency alcohol. The space was really cool and the cocktails were good, yet not too sweet. We were there on a Wednesday, so it was rather slow and not as happening as the usual weekends.

Day 3 : Siem Reap, Cambodia

We had the best omelette of our lives at Little Red Fox, a hip, organic cafe a few blocks from Pub Street. They had some local kombucha that was really good and the coffee was top quality. Once again we were surrounded by the most hospitable group of people who made our experience delightful. We had walked a lot the past few days that it was time for a foot massage and pedicure. We picked Pidor Massage because of great reviews and cost. I mean, $7 for a 30 minute foot massage, yes, please!

Like always, we were craving some spicy Margaritas and tequila shots, but hadn’t had any luck finding it. We found a southern California inspired Mexican restaurant, named Maybe Later. They are Cambodia’s “Best Mexican Cuisine”. They have house made salsas, a great selection of tequilas and mezcal, and some great music playing. Maybe Later played some great throwback music like Beastie Boys, Limp Biscuit, N.W.A, and The Clash and even had tables with old music posters inside them. The decor inside is retro graffiti with some surrealism inspiration. Although the restaurant has only been open for 2 years, it was seamless service with top quality cuisine and cocktails!

We had been recommended by locals to try Experimental Cocktail Bar, just 5 minutes outside of the Night Market. Of course, the locals were right! This place was our favorite in Siem Reap yet. The cocktails, the music, the outdoor patio bar, the resident pug Adieu, the hospitality, and even the complimentary charcuterie we were presented with upon sitting down was more than exceptional. The owner, Payou, came here a few years ago from France, but had only opened the bar in March. He was approaching a one year mark, but the service and quality was that of a tenured veteran bar you’d see on Greatest Bars in the World. We got there around 8pm, just after open and before their rush. We were able to sit and chat with Payou, who not only sampled us on all his locally inspired house made syrups and juices, but also made us two cocktails he was working on for the upcoming menu. We tried fresh pressed galangal juice, pandan syrup, black tea peppercorn, and quite a few others.

Last spot of the night was a local art inspired Italian bar with the self proclaimed best Negroni in Cambodia. Picasso bar is a smaller oval sized bar with 12 bar seats inside, and about 10-15 outside patio seats. It was a local watering hole with cheap drinks, lively bartenders (Vincenzo aka Vinny), and cool tips from locals. We stayed there for a few rounds before heading back to the AirBNB but had to get back for an early flight to Thailand in the morning. Not before Vinny gave us a Slap Shot, which is a delicacy that is claimed to be the “Worst Shot Ever”.

Day 10: Siem Reap, Cambodia

Believe it or not after 11 days abroad we began to severely crave sushi, sake, and a nice sit down dinner. We found Hashi, a Japanese Cuisine and sushi restaurant. We had the best server ever, who was very knowledgeable, friendly, and very eager to talk to us about his amazing country. We got the 25 piece moriawase, beef tataki, and a bottle of Sake (Junmai Daiginjo) and enjoyed the restaurant for a good hour and a half.

A filling, but not heavy dinner needed to be followed by some after dinner drinks and coffee. We went to Temple Sky Bar, a three story rooftop bar restaurant with live local acoustic music, a beautiful view of the city and gigantic cocktails. They said we have pitchers, serves 2-3, and then proceeded to bring out a container that was no less than 180 ounces of liquid. They had a bakery downstairs so they served each espresso with a little house made cookie. After downing almost all of the pitcher by ourselves, minus the 4 shots we offered to a neighboring table we headed out. After such a great experience the last time in town, we decided to grab some nightcaps at Picasso & X Bar before heading home to rest up for the next day.

Day 11: Siem Reap, Cambodia

We were very eager to try non asian food in asian countries and each time we were blown away. From Mexican to Japanese all the way to Italian cuisine was all exceptional. We started the next day at La Pasta, a small Italian spot just east of Pub Street. Aperol Spritz and an Espresso Martini to start out, along with some burrata bruschetta. We followed that up with a black truffle pasta and a custom pizza, all house made. They offered us Amaro shots to end the meal. Montenegro for $2.50 a shot!

After exploring the market a little more and taking a nap we woke up and headed to WILD. WILD is a sustainability focused, vegan friendly, outside only restaurant. They specialize in spring rolls and small bites, but not just everyday spring rolls, uniquely inspired ones. We dabbled with the Mexican and Greek rolls and they were so different and delicious. The cocktails were balanced and thoughtfully presented. We stayed only for an appetizer and cocktail because we made reservations at the highly sought after Marum.

Marum is a restaurant with a great story. Marum, a TREE restaurant, which provides not only positive beneficiary impact but also customer satisfaction and enhanced sustainability for the organization. All profits from TREE restaurants are invested in the students who train there and the social programs which support them on their journey to becoming a skilled, productive and happy young person with a more secure future.

The food was great and so different from everyday Cambodian cuisine. Crocodile burger with sweet potato chips, Fried Fire Ants with Beef, and Duck Croquettes! The cocktails were quite delicious and equally unique. We got a frozen Chili Pineapple Margarita, with a great spice level, a shaken cocktail with honey scented rice, chili infused Whiskey, galangal, and kaffir lime. For dessert we got a chocolate pepper cake with a passionfruit syrup. The desert had a great balance of spice, sweet, and savory!

We decided to end the night at Experimental for one last visit with Payou and Adieu. After getting there and being welcomed with open arms and seats at his table we stayed for a bit to try the four cocktails remaining on the menu that we didn’t try the last time we were there. They did not disappoint! The Euphoria cocktail was my favorite of the day, a passionfruit clove cocktail with Rhum. Payou invited us out with him and his friends after we finished up at Experimental. This time we went to Cambo Beach Club for a shot and then over to Barcode to watch the Saturday night Drag Show. It was such an amazing time with new friends. A great last night to a great trip!

Day 12: Siem Reap, Cambodia -> Denver, Colorado

After a very busy and exciting two weeks of traveling we decided we needed to decompress before our 30 hours of travel ahead of us. We decided to get some Bloody Marys and food at Cambo Beach Club by the pool since truth be told we’d probably be flying back into a few inches of snow back home. We stayed for a few hours and talked with Don, the owner, for a bit about how he came about opening a beach club in Cambodia.

We stopped by Marley’s cafe for some coffee and good tiding before the journey. We said our goodbyes to our new Cambodian friends, Raj and Andrew, and headed back to Maybe Later for one last meal and chat with some locals.

Maybe Later was even better this time around and that’s probably partly because Will, owner, sat across from our table and talked with us for a solid two hours. We picked his brain about opening bars internationally, Southern California charms, old school hip hop and agave distillates. We got their local fish tacos - baja style, a smothered burrito, and queso fundido. The food was top and the spicy margarita (or 4) is exactly what we needed before passing out on the plane - hopefully!

This trip was both eye opening and humbling. Some things we took away from our travels.

The hospitality we experienced in Cambodia was the best we have ever experienced. There never was a “No” or a distempered responses from employees. Everyone was so helpful, loving of tourists, and eager to tell us about their home.
The food quality to price was not equal. When I say this I mean the food was way too cheap for the 5 star quality meals we had. The flavors were always different, yet had a familiarity to it, a sort of comfort behind it.