Pub Street
Would you believe I’ve been walking around this neighborhood since I was 13? Now I’m writing about it!
Pub Street sits right beside the Old Market, in one of Siem Reap’s historic town-center neighborhoods. The streets around the market grew during the French colonial era, and you can still spot older shophouses among the newer businesses. Pub Street itself came later: it started as a quiet dirt road with a few restaurants, then began turning into a nightlife strip when Angkor What??? opened in 1998. The Red Piano and Temple Club followed, and the area took off as more travelers came to see Angkor, especially after Tomb Raider and Angelina Jolie put the temples in the international spotlight.
It’s a far cry from what it used to be. When I was younger, it felt much more approachable and down to earth. Angkor What??? was the emblematic bar for me: lively, a little rough around the edges, and full of character. Then COVID hit, tourism dried up, and Pub Street became eerily quiet. Watching such a familiar part of the neighborhood go dark made the changes feel especially real. Some places never came back, while others reopened, changed hands, or transformed.
Today, Pub Street feels like a 2.0 version of Bui Vien in Saigon. Bigger, louder, flashier clubs and bars. It went through a major redevelopment. Even the iconic Temple club has had a major facelift, though it still welcomes locals and remains much loved. The restaurants are much chicer, in my opinion, but the street still has cheap cocktails, souvenir shops, and crowds spilling into the night. You’ll also find fish massage places on every corner (which I highly, highly, highly do not recommend) and plenty of easygoing foot massage parlors.
I still suggest coming by. Pick up a few souvenirs, have a drink, and watch the crowd go by. Pub Street is quite a sight at night, and if you’ve known it for as long as I have, it’s hard not to think about how much the whole neighborhood has changed.
