Best Pizza Places in Sihanoukville: Where to Go for a Proper Slice

Photo by  Bram Wouters

15 min read · Sihanoukville, Cambodia · best pizza ·

Best Pizza Places in Sihanoukville: Where to Go for a Proper Slice

DS

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Dara Sok

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Sihanoukville's pizza scene has come a long way from the days when the only option was a floppy dough disc from a guesthouse kitchen. I remember arriving in this port city back when finding a decent slice meant a long tuk-tuk ride to Serendipity Beach and a roll of the dice. These days, the best pizza places in Sihanoukville range from wood-fired Italian imports on Ochheuteal Beach to family-run Khmer-Italian kitchens tucked off Ekareach Street. Whether you want a thin Roman-style pie with a Cambodian twist or a Neapolitan classic pulled from a proper Stefano Ferrara oven, this Sihanoukville pizza guide will walk you through every spot I keep coming back to.

The Italian Standouts in Serendipity and Ochheuteal

1. Mango Cafe, Serendipity Beach Road

Mango Cafe sits about 200 meters north of the Serendipity Beach roundabout, tucked between a small laundry shop and a guesthouse that has changed names three times since I first moved here. Their wood-fired pizzas come out of a clay oven that the owner, a man named Marco who married into a Sihanoukville family, imported from Naples in pieces and rebuilt on site. The crust has that perfect leopard-spotted char, and the tomato sauce tastes like it came from San Marzano cans, not the wet market.

The Vibe? Candlelit, breezy, and full of expat regulars who nurse a glass of wine for two hours.

The Bill? 6.50 to 12 USD for a personal pie, salads around 4 USD, local beer 1.50 USD.

The Standout? The Khmer-Truffle pizza with smoked fish, fresh mango, and a drizzle of local pepper honey. Sounds wrong, tastes like nothing else in Cambodia.

The Catch? They do not take reservations on Friday and Saturday nights, and the wait can stretch to 40 minutes after 7 PM.

A small local tip: if you sit at the bar closest to the oven, Marco will sometimes slide you a free slice of whatever experimental pie he is testing that week. Just ask politely and do not photograph it before he says it is ready.

2. La Pizza, Ochheuteal Beach

La Pizza operates out of a converted beach shack on the south end of Ochheuteal Beach, past the main cluster of beach bars and right before the road curves toward Otres. They have been open since 2018, and their dough ferments for 72 hours, which is why you can fold a slice without it cracking.

The Vibe? Plastic chairs in the sand, reggae on a small speaker, kids running past with glow-stick toys at sunset.

The Bill? 4.50 to 9 USD, cash only, mostly in USD or Cambodian riel.

The Standout? The diavola with locally made pork sausage from a Sihanoukville butcher who supplies several Italian restaurants in town.

The Catch? Sand gets into everything on windy afternoons. Keep your phone face down.

The owner trained in Bologna and moved here after his wife took a job with a local NGO. He will tell you the history of how Sihanoukville's Italian community grew around the port workers in the early 2010s if you sit down before 6 PM.

The Main Street Workhorses Around Ekareach

3. The Pizza Company, Ekareach Street (Multiple Branches)

Before the purists chase me out of town, hear me out. The Pizza Company has four locations in Sihanoukville, and the one on Ekareach Street near the Golden Lion roundabout has been feeding hungry travelers since before most of the new towers were built. This is where to eat pizza in Sihanoukville when you want consistency, air conditioning, and a menu your kids will understand.

The Vibe? Mall-adjacent, family-friendly, slightly too bright under fluorescent lights.

The Bill? 6 to 15 USD depending on size and toppings, combo meals with drinks around 12 USD.

The Standout? The Hawaiian with extra cheese is their most-ordered pie by a wide margin, and the crust-to-topping ratio is what keeps locals coming back.

The Catch? Delivery drivers often get stuck in the construction traffic around Mittakpheap Street. Order carryout if you are hungry now.

What most tourists do not know: the dough for the Ekareach branch is made fresh each morning at a central kitchen in Phnom Penh and trucked down Highway 4 every day. The same truck brings dough to the chains in Phnom Penh, which means a slice here tastes identical to one across the country.

4. Doner Pizza, Sihanoukville's Late-Night Fix

Doner Pizza lives on a small lane off Ekareach, around 150 meters east of the Psar Leu market entrance. It looks like a kebab shop from the outside, and half the menu is indeed doner plates and wraps, but the other half is some of the most underrated pizza in the city.

The Vibe? Late-night energy, motorbike drivers shouting orders, no seating except three plastic stools.

The Bill? 3 to 6 USD for a personal pizza, no frills, no extras.

The Standout? The chicken doner pizza, which sounds like a gimmick until you try the yogurt-garlic sauce they drizzle on top.

The Catch? It is open only from 5 PM to 2 AM, and after midnight the kitchen slows down because the cook goes out for a smoke break.

This is the spot I send friends to after a long night at the beach clubs on Otres 2. A local tip for you: order by phone and ask for extra char on the bottom. They will think you are a regular and may throw in a free can of Cambodia beer.

5. Ristorante Da Domenico, Otres Village

Drive or motorbike 4 kilometers south of Serendipity Beach along the coast road, past the Otres 1 market, and you will hit Otres Village, a quieter stretch of beach that has resisted most of the high-rise development. Da Domenico has been operating out of a wooden beach house here since 2016, and the owner imports his mozzarella from Thailand every week.

The Vibe? Hammocks between the tables, ocean breeze, Italian pop from a Bluetooth speaker.

The Bill? 7 to 13 USD, cash only, but they accept riel at a fair rate.

The Standout? The bufala pizza with real buffalo mozzarella, basil from the garden out back, and olive oil pressed at a cooperative outside Kampot.

The Catch? No phone signal, no Wi-Fi, and the road floods badly in rainy season. Check the weather before you go.

Da Domenico's connection to Sihanoukville runs deeper than most visitors realize. Before the casino boom of 2019, Otres Village was the only part of the coast where foreign-owned small businesses were actively encouraged by the local commune council. Many of the restaurants you see today, including this one, exist because of a 2015 agreement between village elders and expat investors. I remember eating my first bufala pizza here when the floor was still sand and the roof was palm fronds.

The Local Hidden Corners in Mittakpheap and the Back Lanes

6. Pizza Roma, Near the Sihanoukville Autonomous Port

Pizza Roma sits in a small commercial block about 600 meters from the main gate of the deep-sea port, on a street that most tourists never walk because there is no beach attraction nearby. The clientele is mostly Italian shipping engineers, Filipino crew members on shore leave, and Cambodian families who live in the surrounding blocks.

The Vibe? Functional, no decoration, three TVs playing Italian football.

The Bill? 5 to 10 USD, the cheapest proper Italian-style pizza in town.

The Standout? The marinara, which is just tomato, garlic, oregano, and olive oil. No cheese. This is the test pizza. If a place can do this well, the rest of the menu is solid.

The Catch? The staff speaks limited English, and the menu is partly in Italian. Bring Google Lens if you want to be sure what you ordered. Parking is also impossible during port shift change at 6 AM and 4 PM.

What most people do not know: this pizzeria has been operating out of the same location since 2012, which makes it one of the oldest continuously running Italian restaurants in Sihanoukville. It survived the 2019 casino demolition wave because the building is owned by a Cambodian family, not a foreign investor.

7. Chez Claude, Back of Serendipity

Walk past the Serendipity Beach main drag, head inland past the tattoo parlors and the small guesthouse row, and you will find Chez Claude in what locals call the French Quarter of Sihanoukville. This is the residential pocket south of Ekareach Street where French expatriates have lived since the late 1990s.

The Vibe? Garden seating, a cat sleeping on the pizza oven, conversation in three languages at any given moment.

The Bill? 7 to 14 USD, slightly higher than the beach spots, but the portions are large.

The Standout? The tuna and caper pizza, made with yellowfin that the owner buys fresh from the morning fish auction at Phsar Leu.

The Catch? Service can be glacial on Sundays because the head chef takes the day off. Do not show up expecting a quick lunch on a Sunday.

This is one of the top pizza restaurants in Sihanoukville for anyone who wants to understand the city's older expat history. Claude, the owner, arrived in 1998 to manage a French-funded water project and never left. The garden behind the restaurant was the site of his wedding to a Khmer woman in 2003, and the brick oven was built by her brother, who is now the head baker at a hotel in Siem Reap.

8. The Big Easy, Otres 2

The Big Easy sits at the far south end of Otres 2 beach, accessible only by a sandy track that branches off the main coastal road about 6 kilometers from central Sihanoukville. This is one of the most isolated pizza spots in the province, and it has earned a reputation among backpackers and long-stay travelers as the place to be when you want pizza and a quiet beach in the same evening.

The Vibe? Driftwood signs, mismatched furniture, a bonfire most nights.

The Bill? 6 to 11 USD, plus 1 USD for a campfire seat if you want one after 9 PM.

The Standout? The seafood pizza with squid, prawns, and a touch of Khmer Kampot pepper. Fresh catch depends on the morning haul.

The Catch? The track in gets muddy in July and August, and a regular tuk-tuk will refuse to come out here in heavy rain. Plan your exit before dark if you are staying in town.

The Big Easy has an interesting connection to Sihanoukville's tourism history. It was built by a former Peace Corps volunteer from Louisiana and his Cambodian business partner in 2014, on a stretch of beach that was then considered too remote for development. Today, this part of Otres 2 is one of the few beach areas in Sihanoukville that still feels like the pre-development Sihanoukville, and the restaurant anchors that identity.

The New Guard Near Independence Beach

9. Pizza Max, Independence Beach Road

Independence Beach is north of Serendipity, closer to the Sokha and Independence hotel zones, and the area has gotten a quiet revival in the last two years after a long stretch of construction stagnation. Pizza Max opened in 2023 in a small commercial plaza about 300 meters from the beach.

The Vibe? Modern, clean, slightly under-decorated, popular with Khmer-Chinese families on weekend evenings.

The Bill? 6 to 12 USD, with lunch combos from 7.50 USD.

The Standout? The four-cheese pizza, made with imported Italian cheeses and a hand-stretched dough that the owner learned to make during a two-month course in Chiang Mai.

The Catch? The plaza parking lot floods when it rains heavily, and the restaurant smells faintly of mildew on those evenings. Best visited on dry days.

This is one of the newer entries in the Sihanoukville pizza guide, and it represents a shift in the city's pizza culture. Younger Cambodian entrepreneurs, many of whom traveled to Italy or Thailand for work before returning home, are now opening restaurants that blend Italian technique with Cambodian hospitality. The owner of Pizza Max studied at a pizzeria in Bangkok for two years and brought back his dough recipe, but hires local staff and sources produce from the Otres farm collective.

When to Go and What to Know

Pizza in Sihanoukville follows a rhythm that locals understand but visitors often miss. The best time to visit most spots is between 5 PM and 7 PM on weekdays, when the kitchens are fresh, the staff is relaxed, and the dinner rush has not yet compressed the seating. Weekends are busier across the board, with Friday nights being the peak at most Italian-run restaurants and Saturday being the peak at locally owned spots.

Cash is king at most of the smaller places. Bring a mix of USD and riel, but small USD bills get better treatment at the beach spots because the staff prefers them and will sometimes round down the change. Only the larger chains on Ekareach Street accept cards reliably.

Rainy season (May through October) brings lower prices, fewer tourists, and a more relaxed vibe, but it also brings occasional flooding at the beach spots. Dry season (November through March) is when most travelers visit, and the pizza places fill up earlier in the evening. If you want to try a specific spot during peak season, call ahead. Most smaller restaurants now have WhatsApp numbers.

Traffic around Ekareach Street has been rough since the roadworks began in early 2024. Plan an extra 20 minutes if you are driving from Otres or the port area, especially on Sundays when the port-adjacent roads get blocked by shift changes.

Finally, remember that most pizza places in Sihanoukville close one day a week, usually Monday or Tuesday. The exception is Doner Pizza, which is open every night. Always check before making a special trip out to Otres or Da Domenico's garden.

Frequently Asked Questions

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

Most pizza places in Sihanoukville offer at least one vegetarian option, with the most common being a margherita or a mushroom pizza. Vegan options are more limited and usually require asking the kitchen to hold the cheese, which most places will do without a surcharge. Chez Claude, Mango Cafe, and La Pizza are the most accommodating for plant-based orders, and the Otres farm collective supplies most of the city with vegan-friendly vegetables. Fully dedicated vegan restaurants exist but are not as common as in Phnom Penh.

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

While this is a pizza guide, Sihanoukville is best known for its fresh seafood, particularly the grilled squid and pepper crab sold at the small beach shacks along Otres and Ochheuteal. The local beverage of note is Cambodia beer, served cold at nearly every pizza spot for around 1.50 USD. If you want a true local pairing with your pizza, ask for a Kampot pepper-dusted snack or a small plate of pickled mango, which several Italian restaurants in Sihanoukville now serve as a Khmer-style appetizer.

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

Tap water in Sihanoukville is not safe to drink. All reputable restaurants, including every pizza place listed in this Sihanoukville pizza guide, use filtered or bottled water for cooking and serving. Ice at established restaurants is typically produced commercially and is safe, but at smaller beach shacks it may be produced on site and should be avoided by travelers with sensitive stomachs. Bottled water costs around 0.50 USD at most spots, and filtered refill stations are common across the city for around 0.25 USD per liter.

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

A mid-tier traveler in Sihanoukville can expect to spend between 45 and 75 USD per day, not including accommodation. A typical breakdown would be 12 to 18 USD on meals (including one pizza dinner at 8 to 12 USD), 5 to 10 USD on tuk-tuk rides or motorbike fuel, 10 to 20 USD on drinks, and the rest on entrance fees, small purchases, and tips. Accommodation in the 30 to 60 USD range covers most mid-range guesthouses and small hotels in the Serendipity, Ochheuteal, and Otres areas. High-end options push daily totals well over 150 USD, while backpacker budgets can drop below 25 USD per day if you stay in dorms and eat at local Khmer restaurants.

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

At beach-area pizza restaurants, casual beachwear is acceptable, but shoes and a shirt are required at the sit-down Italian spots on Ekareach Street and the more established places like Chez Claude. When visiting family-owned Cambodian restaurants that also serve pizza, covering shoulders and removing hats is a small sign of respect. Tipping is not traditionally expected in Cambodia, but rounding up the bill or leaving the small change is appreciated, particularly at smaller family-run places. Loud or drunken behavior is generally tolerated at the beach bars but will draw frowns at the quieter garden restaurants and at any spot near a temple or pagoda, of which there are several within a 1-kilometer radius of central Sihanoukville.

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