Don’t expect rows of English pubs on Pub St. These are ear-splitting party bars once they crank up the volume at around 9PM each night.
Angkor What and Temple are Pub St veterans and they’re still pumping along.
Angkor What says it’s been “promoting irresponsible drinking since 1998”. Young Australian backpackers, refugees from their country’s schizophrenic relationship with alcohol, where “responsible service of alcohol" is the mantra, seem to lap up Pub Street's offerings with special fervour.
More recent arrivals, Cheers and YOLO, are drawing good crowds of revellers. There are countless other bars and they come and go with each new season.
Take your pick based on what you see on the night. If the cocktail prices seem too good to be true, that’s probably because they are. Dodgy booze abounds.
Pub St pop-up bars
The big shift in recent years has been the flourishing of pop-ups along Street 11 off Pub St. These little booze carts are serving cocktails at suspiciously low prices while doing their best to blast their popped-up neighbours off the street with the music blasting out of little speakers. This is not a high-fidelity sound or alcohol experience. But the crowds don’t seem to mind.
Photo: Mark Bowyer Pub Street Siem Reap
A quiet drink on Pub St?
It won’t happen on Pub St but Asana Wooden House, Miss Wong’s and Long’s Bar are a short walk away and offer a reprieve from the Pub St racket. Asana and Miss Wong’s serve good cocktails too.
Little Pub St to the east offers a different take on the boozy night out. There are more expats and the vibe is more like the Siem Reap of a decade or more past.
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