The Best Vegetarian Food in Siem Reap (As of September 2021)
Where can you get the best vegetarian food in Siem Reap? Khmer Nights went to find out! Siem Reap is a tourism hub for Cambodia and home to a burgeoning ‘wellness’ culture so it is no surprise that it has been a great place for vegetarian food for years.
While the combination of Covid-19 and an extensive and painful roadworks programme has left many restaurants temporarily or permanently closed, that doesn’t mean the town is lacking in veggie food options. Fancy Mexican? Two great choices. Pies? Tapas? Greek? Or of course, Khmer food? All of them have excellent vegetarian options. In fact, listing good vegetarian choices in Siem Reap is hard simply because there are so many to choose from.
Nonetheless, there are always those that stick with you long after trying them, and these are my favourites, and will likely remain so until the town looks like a town again. No matter what mood you are in you’ll have something to choose from.
To read about maybe the best burger in Phnom Penh click here
Best when you want junk food – New Leaf Eatery
We all have those nights when nothing healthy is appealing and you just want a good burger and chips. Finding vegetarian burgers in Siem Reap is not difficult, but finding one that smells and tastes like real meat is more challenging. In May 2021 New Leaf Eatery finally brought the Beyond Meat burger to Siem Reap. The Beyond Meat patty comes with a sourdough bun and delicious, chunky, British-style chips in four different flavours – naked, healthy, filthy and spicy. Go for the beyond filthy with chips and shamelessly enjoy those calories.
Cost: Beyond Burgers start at 5.50 USD with salad, but the chips are only 1 USD extra
Delivery: Yes, direct from the restaurant by ordering on their Facebook page
Best for Italian – Da Stefano’s or Navutu Dreams
As with burgers, Italian food is easy to come by with no shortage of restaurants in town. And to make it vegetarian you can just remove the meat from a pasta dish. But what this means is that it is hard to stand out with the best vegetarian Italian food in Siem Reap, and in the end it comes down to two different restaurants:
Da Stefano – This is without doubt the best pizza in Siem Reap, vegetarian or not, and the reason is in the crust and dough. It is listed as authentic Italian pizza and I’ve yet to find another place that has that beautiful, puffy, airy ring of slightly charred dough that – to my understanding at least – make the perfect Neapolitan pizza.
Cost: A Margarita starts at 6 USD
Delivery: Yes, Through Nham24 and foodpanda
Navutu Dreams Restaurant – One specific dish is a must-try for vegetarians looking for a pasta dish – creamy saffron mushroom pasta. It is simply delicious. Go for the day and enjoy the swimming pool at the same time.
Cost: 10 USD
Delivery: While the restaurant is on foodpanda, this dish is available only at the hotel.
Best for a cheap meal – My Little Cafe
If you want a meal and a beer for under USD 5 (and why wouldn’t you?) then vegetarians only have to look as far as My Little Cafe on Taphul Road. The road itself is coming together agonizingly slowly, but you get a huge menu that includes everything from fried rice, Khmer amok and spring rolls to pizza, milkshakes and cocktails. This is actually one of the best places in town to eat vegetarian Amok (go for the tofu one) and it will always come in under budget. What’s not to love?
Cost: Fried rice with a beer will come to USD 2.25, Amok is USD 2.50
Delivery?: Yes, Call them to arrange it on +855 12 799 284
Best for a meat free kitchen – Banlle Restaurant
Located in a small Khmer house on Street 26, Banlle Restaurant doesn’t just offer vegetarian options, it only offers vegetarian food. Banlle means ‘vegetable’ in Khmer, and they have a completely meat-free kitchen, most of which is grown in their own garden. The food is excellent, put together by a star chef that ran a special menu at the high-end Mie Cafe and the menu features classics like Khmer noodle soup alongside western ‘fish’ and chips. Sadly the restaurant is closed while the roadworks make the place inaccessible, but it will re-open soon.
Cost: Most meals are around USD 4, but the special Khmer noodle breakfast is only 3000 R.
Delivery: Not currently
When Siem Reap’s extensive roadworks are over and Covid is a distant memory, there is little doubt the number of meat-free restaurants will grow again. Until that time however, there is still plenty of good, high-quality vegetarian food to satisfy any cravings you might have while in Temple Town, and with free delivery from most places you don’t even have to brave the messy, dusty streets.
Siem Reap, Cambodia | |
https://www.cambodialifestyle.com/siem-reap-province/ | |
+855 9 678 01791 |
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