Siem Reap has an abundant choice of community restaurants offering fantastic breakfast and dinner options. Avocado toast and smoothie bowls cater to Western demands whilst local Khmer dishes are available if you are after something traditional.
During my four nights in Siem Reap, I discovered that these restaurants are established as social enterprises. The restaurants pride themselves on offering training and employment to the local people to aid in their development and well-being with local and international Charities supporting these ventures and creating great places for the traveller to eat whilst giving back to the community.
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Post updated in April 2022
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Footprint Cafe
This was my favourite cafe located on Street 26 and not far from Siem Reap’s river.
I loved the concept of a restaurant within a bookstore where travellers can enjoy a meal and then leave with a book. The Footprint Cafe is supported by a charity and managed by local staff, making it a viable self-sustained business. Visitors can buy donated books with sales helping to generate grants for local communities. The motto “People, Planet, Profit” certainly explains their ethos.
What’s on the menu?
The menu offers mouth-watering dishes such as peanut butter & dark chocolate porridge combo, vegan pumpkin pancakes with sautéed green apples, bananas and a ginger glaze or for those with a more savoury palate, Sunni’s savoury fry up. Fresh smoothies and great coffee compliment the dishes.
I was so impressed with my Siem Reap breakfast and the friendly staff that I returned in the evening for dinner. The Cambodian chicken curry was sensational and was washed down with a delicious cocktail.
Find Footprint Cafe on Street 26, 50 metres from the river in Siem Reap
The Missing Socks Laundry Cafe
A laundromat and a cafe are located not far from Pub Street and the Night Market.
Whoever came up with this idea is on to a winner. Travellers can use the 24/7 self-service laundry machines whilst they sit down to enjoy breakfast or a coffee.
What’s on the menu?
The Missing Socks Menu features some awesome waffle choices, from scrambled eggs on waffles to seasonal fruits and ice cream or a matcha waffle, offering a change from the norm. Did I mention that one of Cambodia’s past barista champions also works here, so expect your flat whites and your chai lattes to be outstanding!
They have a great motto which is “The Missing Socks Laundry Cafe came from a desire to serve the ones bitten by wanderlust”, and that just about sums the place up.
Find The Missing Socks Laundry Cafe at 55 Steung Tmey Village Siem Reap
Vibe Cafe
Head to this cafe offering health-conscious vegan and plant-based choices located on 715 Street, not far from the Children’s Hospital.
The Vibe cafe’s foundation works with poor, rural communities in Cambodia. Its aim is to provide 10,000 school children with healthy vegan food in Cambodia. They work directly with farmers who are producing their products without chemicals and pesticides. This allows them to source the highest quality fresh ingredients for the food.
Whether you are vegan or not, head over to the Vibe Cafe for their vibrant vegan, gluten-free and raw breakfast options. The foodies amongst us who care for our health and the environment will enjoy its creative diversity. A great Siem Reap breakfast cafe.
What’s on the menu?
The menu offers raw and gluten-free açai bowls alongside quinoa porridge with honey. You must try the coffee, sourced locally, and served with cashew milk. Please don’t leave until you have tasted the Spanish bomb coffee; it is a real treat. Healing and botanical teas are available alongside smoothies and elixirs, all sugar-free and freshly produced.
Find Vibe Cafe at 715 Hup Guan Street Kandal Village, Siem Reap
The Little Red Fox Espresso
A cafe started up by an Australian and managed by a Cambodian in the heart of Siem Reap’s new Kandal Village precinct.
Diners can enjoy breakfast created with ingredients sourced from local Cambodian growers. This ensures that small Cambodian-run family businesses from around the Siem Reap area receive continued support in the community throughout the year.
The Little Red Fox Espresso was one of the first cafes in Siem Reap to take noticeable action towards lowering its daily carbon footprint and sharing the knowledge on how to go green and clean with our team and the community. Read more here.
What’s on the menu?
The menu offers a vast selection of coffee, as you would expect, providing the best quality fairtrade and organic beans from Cambodia, Thailand and Laos.
Breakfast bagels, bircher muesli and sunshine smoothie bowls are popular choices on the menu. The brunch menu is varied and delicious, all served up with a smile from the Little Red Fox team.
Find Little Red Fox at 593 Hap Guan St, Krong Siem Reap, Cambo
Sister Srey
A cafe opened by two sisters and located near Pub Street and the Old Market area.
This cafe donates a percentage of its profits to a landmine clearance organisation to aid in making Cambodia a safer place for all. Educational support is given to staff members to bridge the gap between work and home life. Their ethos is that Sister Srey is a cafe with a heart, a cafe with the desire to see change and with the ability to do so.
What’s on the menu?
Fresh organic produce is vegan and gluten-free and sourced only from suppliers who support the local community. Breakfast choices range from green eggs and ham to stuffed toast and dragonfruit smoothie bowls with a wide selection of beverages.
Find Sister Srey at 200 Pokambor St, Riverside – Old Market Area, Siem Reap
HAVEN
A restaurant opened by a Swiss couple and located on the aptly named Chocolate Street in Siem Reap.
HAVEN is a training restaurant and social enterprise that creates new life prospects for disadvantaged young adults, teaching them valuable work & life skills, while treating you with delicious, honest food that loves you right back.
What’s on the menu?
Breakfast dishes include all-time favourites Eggs Benedict and blueberry pancakes and local Khmer noodle dishes all washed down with fresh milkshakes. HAVEN is also open for lunch and dinner.
Find HAVEN at Chocolate Road, Sangkat Sala Kamreuk, Siem Reap
WILD
Started by a Parisian couple, WILD is a great cafe in the heart of Siem Reap
Committed to serving up great food and drink while supporting their staff and the wider community, WILD offers travellers the best of both western and eastern dishes. The philosophy is to support the staff with flexible working hours, decent hourly rates and training in community issues such as plastic reduction and education.
What’s on the menu?
WILD calls itself a finger food restaurant and specialises in spring rolls. Catering for meat-eaters and vegetarians the spring rolls at WILD even come as desserts with fillings such as caramelised pineapple and cinnamon!
Find WILD at Wat Damnak, Krong Siem Reap
If you have a favourite community cafe in Siem Reap that is not listed, please let me know!
