Where to Get Authentic Pizza in Siem Reap (No Tourist Traps)

You can find proper authentic pizza in Siem Reap if you know where to look, and after years of eating my way through this city's surprisingly deep Italian food scene, I can tell you it is not the places on Pub Street with laminated menus and "wood fired" signs that have never seen a flame. Siem Reap has a genuine community of pizzaiolos, some Cambodian-born, some Neapolitan transplants, who care deeply about their dough, their fermentation times, and their tomatoes. What follows is a neighborhood-by-neighborhood breakdown of the spots worth your money, with a few honest warnings about the ones that look great but disappoint.

The Italian Heartland Around Wat Bo Road

Wat Bo Road has quietly become the real pizza corridor of Siem Reap, and most tourists walk right past it on the way to somewhere flashier. This is where the serious kitchens live.

1. Trattoria La Pizza

Tucked into the mid-section of Wat Bo Road, a five-minute walk north of the Royal Residence, this place runs by an Italian family who moved here in the early 2010s and never left. The oven is a proper Neapolitan import, brick-lined, and the owner will tell you exactly what temperature it is running if you ask. Their marinara, which is just tomato, garlic, oregano, and olive oil, is the truest test of any pizza joint, and theirs sings.

What to Order: The Marinara DOP, no cheese, to judge the dough and sauce, then the Diavola if you want heat.
When to Sit Down: Weekday evenings after 7pm, when the early-bird tourists have cleared out and the second wave of regulars arrives.
Vibe: Warm, low-lit, with hand-painted tiles from Naples on one wall. It gets loud when a tour group mistakenly books in, so check ahead on weekends.

The dough here ferments for 72 hours, which is more than most places in Cambodia even attempt. Ask for Marco if you want the full tour of the kitchen, including the flour they import from Italy.

2. Pizza Italiano Family Restaurant

Sitting closer to the intersection of Wat Bo Road and Street 22, this spot has been feeding Siem Reap's Italian community since before pizza was a tourist thing here. The dining room is half-in, half-out, with plastic stools on the sidewalk that locals use as overflow seating when the inside fills up. Their crust leans toward Roman style, so it is crunchier and thinner than what you would get across the river.

Must Try: The Quattro Formaggi and the Tiramisu, which is made in-house and tastes like the one my friend's nonna used to make in Phnom Penh.
Best Hours: Lunch, around 12:30pm, when they fire up a fresh batch and the crust is at its crackliest.
The Vibe: No-frills, slightly chaotic, and the waiters will remember your face after one visit. Parking a tuk-tuk out front is a small nightmare during lunch rush, so walk if you can.

3. Pou Restaurant and Bar

A few hundred meters further south on Wat Bo Road, Pou sits in a converted shophouse with a wood-fired oven visible from the street. The chef trained in Bangkok and Phuket before returning home to Siem Reap, and his pizza program reflects that hybrid training. The base is closer to Neapolitan than Roman, with a softer center, but he plays with Cambodian ingredients in ways that work, like a pork belly and basil pie that sounds wrong but tastes right.

Order This: The Kampot Pepper Sausage pizza, which uses locally sourced pork sausage, and a side of their house-fermented chili oil.
Time Your Visit: Thursday through Saturday nights, when the bar crowd drifts in and the energy picks up.
Atmosphere: Modern, slightly trendy, with craft cocktails that overshadow the food for some regulars. The back tables can get uncomfortably warm in March and April, when the dry heat rolls in.

The Riverside Strip Near Psar Chas

The riverfront area near the Old Market, locally called Psar Chas, has a few older institutions that have been making real pizza since well before the craft pizza wave hit Cambodia. These are not the newest spots, but they are the ones that survived.

4. The Square 24

Sitting on a corner of Street 8 near the river, a block from Psar Chas, The Square 24 is part restaurant, part wine bar, and part neighborhood hangout for Siem Reap's long-term expat community. The oven is gas-assisted wood, which purists will grumble about, but the execution is honest. Their Margherita uses buffalo mozzarella imported from Thailand, and the crust has that characteristic leopard-spotted char on the bottom that takes years to dial in.

Signature Move: The Truffle Mushroom pizza, which is on the heavier side, paired with a glass of their house red from Australia.
When to Drop In: Early evening, around 5:30pm to 6pm, when the kitchen has cooled from lunch service and the pies come out cleaner.
Feels Like: A grown-up dining room with high ceilings and proper stemware. Service slows noticeably during the 1pm to 2pm lunch crush, so plan around it if you are in a hurry.

5. Il Forno

Further down the river road, past the Pub Street extension that most visitors mistake for the main drag, Il Forno occupies a converted colonial building with high ceilings and original tile floors. The owner is a Neapolitan named Giovanni who came to Cambodia in 2012 and has not left. His dough is cold-fermented for 48 hours and his flour blend is a mix of Italian 00 and a local bread flour he keeps tweaking.

What to Eat: The Bufalina and the Calzone, which is one of the few proper calzones you will find in Cambodia.
Best Window: Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, when the weekend tour groups have not yet arrived and the kitchen can focus.
Character: Old-school Italian, with checked tablecloths and walls covered in framed photos of Naples. The chairs are slightly uncomfortable for long meals, so this is more of a stop-in, eat, leave kind of place.

The Alley Network Behind Pub Street

Pub Street itself is the last place you should eat pizza, but the small alleys branching off it hide a couple of genuine spots that even locals forget about. You have to know to look.

6. La Pizza by Nary

Hidden down an alley between Pub Street and the river, accessible from the small lane behind the Angkor Night Market entrance, La Pizza by Nary is run by a Cambodian woman who learned her craft working under an Italian chef for over a decade before opening her own place in 2019. Her menu is small, intentionally so, and she sources her tomatoes from a supplier in Phnom Penh who imports San Marzanos.

The Right Order: The Margherita and the Anchovy and Olive, which is not on the menu but she will make it if you ask nicely.
Best Time: Sunday lunch, when the family table fills up and the energy is at its warmest.
Inside Scoop: This place has no sign out front, only a small chalkboard. Walk to the alley entrance near the night market's south side and look for the green door.

The Wi-Fi drops out at the back tables near the kitchen, which matters if you are trying to work while you eat. Sit near the front entrance if you need a connection.

7. Marum Restaurant

Down a quiet lane off Street 9, near the Made in Cambodia Market, Marum sits in a converted wooden villa with a wraparound porch and a serious pizza program that gets overlooked because the restaurant is better known for its Khmer tasting menu. The pizza oven is in the back garden, and the pies are made by a Cambodian chef named Sothea who trained in Italy for two years. His dough is closer to Neapolitan style with a slightly thicker cornicione, the puffy outer crust, than you would find in Naples itself.

The Play: The Kep Crab pizza, which uses fresh crab from the Kep coast on the southern Cambodian shore, and the seasonal vegetable pie when it is available.
Visit During: Friday and Saturday dinners, when the garden lights come on and the whole place feels like a secret.
Look and Feel: Refined, slightly upscale, with a strong focus on local ingredients. The porch gets mosquito-heavy after sunset, so bring repellent or sit inside.

Beyond the Tourist Core

If you venture past the usual Siem Reap loops, you will find a few more spots worth the ride. These are not on any tuk-tuk driver's mental map, which is exactly why they are worth the trip.

8. Embassy Restaurant and Bar

Out near the airport road, on the way to Angkor Wat, Embassy is the kind of place that does not look like much from the outside but turns out to have one of the best wood-fired pizza programs in the country. The owner is a Cambodian-Italian who grew up between Rome and Phnom Penh, and his oven is a custom-built brick affair that he fires up only on Friday and Saturday nights plus private bookings. The dough ferments for 96 hours, longer than anywhere else in Siem Reap that I have tested, and the result is a crust with serious flavor and a glassy chew.

The Order: The White Anchovy pizza, which is a Roman-style base with no tomato, and the seasonal truffle pie when truffles are in season from December to February.
When to Show Up: Saturday night service, which starts at 6pm and runs until the dough runs out, usually around 9pm.
Vibe: Almost speakeasy-like, with dim lighting and a small but serious wine list. Booking ahead is not optional for Saturday service because they only make what they will sell that night.

Getting a tuk-tuk out here costs more than your usual downtown fare, around 5 USD each way, so factor that into the evening.

9. Vibe Cafe and Pizzeria

Sitting on the road that runs past the Angkor National Museum, Vibe is a daytime spot that does double duty as a breakfast and lunch cafe with a pizza menu that locals actually order. It is not a fancy place, but the dough is fresh and the toppings are generous. The kitchen is run by a young Cambodian team that takes pride in stretching their dough by hand, and you can watch them do it from the front counter.

Order Smart: The Khmer Herb pizza, topped with local basil, sawtooth coriander, and pork, plus a fresh passion fruit juice.
Best Hours: Midday, between 11am and 1pm, when the dough is freshly rolled and the lunch specials are active.
Feels Like: Bright, casual, and a little touristy but not in a bad way. Service can be slow when school groups stop in, so weekdays are smoother.

10. Mahob Pizza and Khmer Cuisine

Out past the Sokha Hotel, on the road toward Phnom Kulen, Mahob is a family-run spot that has been serving real pizza Siem Reap locals have eaten for years, long before the food blogs noticed the city had any Italian food at all. The chef trained under a Neapolitan family in Phnom Penh and his oven is a proper brick build. The atmosphere is local-leaning, with Khmer families and Cambodian expats doing the bulk of the weekday dining.

The Right Pick: The Diavola and the BBQ Chicken, which uses a sweet-savory Cambodian-style marinade that should not work on pizza but absolutely does.
Time to Visit: Weekday dinners, when the kitchen is not slammed and you can chat with the chef.
The Mood: Warm, family-run, no English menu but someone will translate. Parking out front is limited, so arrive by tuk-tuk or motorbike.

The Siphaneth Quarter and Its Quiet Corners

Across the river, the quieter Siphaneth Quarter and its neighboring lanes have become a small outpost for chefs who wanted to escape the Pub Street orbit. This is where the next generation of Siem Reap pizza is being made.

11. The Little Red Fox Espresso

Mostly known as a daytime cafe, The Little Red Fox runs a small wood fired pizza Siem Reap program on weekend evenings that deserves more attention. The oven is tucked behind the main cafe in a converted courtyard, and the pies are sold by the slice or whole. Their flour is sourced through a Cambodian-Thai importer who specializes in Italian-style 00, and the dough ferments for 60 hours.

Order: The Pepperoni and the Mushroom and Garlic, with a slice of whatever white pie is on rotation that night.
When: Friday and Saturday evenings from 5pm, until they sell out, which can be as early as 8pm on busy nights.
The Vibe: Hipster-leaning, with good coffee during the day and a young crowd in the evening. Seating is limited to about a dozen spots, so arrive early or expect to wait.

When to Go and What to Know

Siem Reap has two pizza seasons, in a sense. The high season runs from November to February, when cooler weather brings out the ovens and the dining rooms, and the lines at the better places get longer. The low season, from March to October, is when you can walk into most of the spots above without a wait and get the chef's full attention.

The best time of week for pizza is generally Thursday through Saturday, when the ovens are firing at full temperature and the dough has had time to come up to room temperature properly. The best time of day is dinner, between 6pm and 8pm, when the pies come out of the oven at their peak. Lunch service is solid at most of these places, but the dough often has a slightly different character because the kitchens are working through morning prep.

Siem Reap's humidity affects dough in ways that pizza makers elsewhere do not have to fight. The good places here have learned to compensate by adjusting hydration and fermentation, which is why their crusts often have a chewier bite than the same style would in a drier climate.

Most of these spots do not take reservations for fewer than four people, and walk-ins are the norm. Bring small Cambodian riel for tips, around 1,000 to 2,000 riel per table, because the smaller places often do not have change for dollars.

Frequently Asked Questions

How easy is it to find pure vegetarian, vegan, or plant-based dining options in Siem Reap?

Siem Reap has grown its plant-based options significantly since 2020, with most of the serious pizza places offering at least one fully vegan pie on the menu. Expect to pay between 7 USD and 14 USD for a plant-based pizza at the venues above, and note that the more traditional spots like Il Forno and Trattoria La Pizza require 24-hour notice for vegan cheese because the kitchen makes it in small batches.

Is Siem Reap expensive to visit? Give a realistic daily budget breakdown for mid-tier travelers.

A mid-tier daily budget in Siem Reap runs between 75 USD and 130 USD per person, not including Angkor passes. Breakdown: 20 USD to 35 USD for a private or shared tuk-tuk for the day, 15 USD to 30 USD for a proper dinner including a drink, 8 USD to 15 USD for lunch, 5 USD to 10 USD for breakfast and coffee, and 20 USD to 40 USD for a mid-range hotel or guesthouse room in the Wat Bo or Siphaneth areas.

Are there any specific dress codes or cultural etiquettes to keep in mind when visiting local spots in Siem Reap?

Pizza spots in Siem Reap are casual by international standards, but shoulders should be covered when entering any restaurant with a Khmer cultural element, like Marum or Mahob. Shoes are fine to keep on in the dining rooms at all of these venues. When paying, place the money directly in the cashier's hand or on the counter, not in the palm, which can read as overly familiar in Cambodian context.

Is the tap water in Siem Reap safe to drink, or should travelers strictly rely on filtered water options?

Tap water in Siem Reap is not safe to drink, and even locals use filtered or bottled water for drinking and brushing teeth. Most of the venues above serve filtered water free of charge, and refill stations selling purified water charge between 1,500 and 3,000 riel per liter across the city. Ice at the better restaurants is made from filtered water and is generally safe, but avoid it at unmarked stalls near Pub Street.

What is the one must-try local specialty food or drink that Siem Reap is famous for?

Beyond pizza, the dish Siem Reap is most identified with is fish amok, a steamed curry of freshwater fish, coconut, and Khmer spices wrapped in banana leaf, served with jasmine rice. Expect to pay between 4.50 USD and 9 USD at Khmer-focused restaurants. For drinks, the local sugarcane juice with lime, sold at street stalls for around 5,000 riel a glass, is the everyday specialty that pairs best with the heat of the dry season.