Culture, Arts & Evening Shows
Where to See Apsara Dance in Siem Reap: Dinner Shows vs Theater Performances (2026)
From a free 7:30 p.m. show on Pub Street to $29 set-menu gardens and $19 buffet halls: where Apsara dance is performed in Siem Reap, what each costs and suits.
On this page
Apsara dance in Siem Reap is easy to find and hard to choose, because it is sold in four different formats at prices that run from free to $240, and the format decides the evening more than the troupe does. A set menu in a garden, a buffet in a hall of 300, a free show upstairs from a Pub Street bar and a private performance by village children near Banteay Srei are all called an Apsara show.
Search results rank these by review score, which rewards the biggest buffet, and they repeat schedules that venues stopped publishing years ago. Several still list a large-format theater whose own website was for sale in October 2026. They also rarely explain that the Apsara dance is a 10-minute piece, and that what you will mostly watch is the Reamker and the folk dances. The evening shows pillar sets dance against Phare and the puppet theater. This guide stays with the dance.
Prices, start times and venues below were checked against operators’ own websites, reseller listings and official sources in October 2026.
Apsara Is One Dance, Not the Whole Show
Robam Tep Apsara was created in the 1950s, under Queen Sisowath Kossamak, for the Royal Ballet of Cambodia, the court tradition UNESCO proclaimed in 2003 and inscribed in 2008. Its costumes copy the devata carvings on the walls of Angkor Wat: the pointed gold mokot headdress, the pleated sampot, the skin-toned silk bodice. It lasts about 10 minutes and uses one lead dancer and a small group of attendants.
Every dinner show in town is sold as “Apsara,” but a typical program is about 50 minutes: one classical piece, one episode of the Reamker, and two or three folk dances. The Reamker is the Khmer Ramayana. The scene you are most likely to see is Hanuman, the white monkey general, courting Sovann Maccha, the golden mermaid who is sabotaging his causeway to Lanka. The folk dances, composed for the stage mainly in the 1960s, are faster and funnier: the coconut dance with clapping shells, the fishing dance with bamboo traps and baskets, the peacock dance of Pailin. Two venues add a demonstration of Kun Lbokator, the Khmer martial art inscribed by UNESCO in 2022.
What to watch is the hands. The gestures, called kbach, form a vocabulary: a curled finger is a leaf, an upturned palm a flower opening, fingers bent back toward the wrist a fruit ripening. An hour at the Angkor National Museum before the show, or a reading of the short history of the Khmer Empire, turns the slowness into meaning.
The reason any of this survives is 1975. About 90 percent of Cambodia’s classical artists died under the Khmer Rouge, and the repertoire was rebuilt after 1979 by a handful of survivors teaching from memory. Every dancer on a Siem Reap stage learned from that rebuilding.
Set-Menu Dance Dinners
Three venues serve a plated menu with a dance program, in a garden or a theater rather than a buffet hall. This is the format for anyone who wants a plated meal and a view of the dancers’ hands from close up. They are listed by start time, earliest first.
1. Park Hyatt Siem Reap
The honest verdict: a hotel restaurant set menu with dance, on listed days only. The Dining Room at Park Hyatt, at 3 Sivutha Boulevard, a five-minute walk from Pub Street, pairs a Siem Reap-inspired set menu with Apsara dance and Bokator. The restaurant opens from 6:30 to 11:00 p.m. A local directory updated in December 2025 lists the performances on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. The hotel does not publish a price. Confirm the days and the cost when booking. The limitation: a hotel restaurant with dancers rather than a theater, a program shorter than at Kanell, and no published price to plan around.
2. Kanell
The honest verdict: a garden set-menu dinner with a published price and a fixed time. Kanell is on 7 Makara Street near Angkor High School, on the east side of the river, about 10 minutes by tuk-tuk from Pub Street at $2 to $3. Guests arrive at 7:00 p.m. for a welcome drink and small bites, and the single nightly performance starts at 7:30 p.m. while a set menu is served course by course. The program includes Apsara dance, Moni Mekhala, Sovann Maccha, village dances and a Bokator demonstration a few meters from the tables. The evening ends at about 9:00 p.m. The five-course menu costs $29 per guest and the seven-course $36, with two vegetarian menus, drinks extra and a 7 percent service charge. Kanell says the menus were created with chef Kimsan Pol of Embassy. Seats are sold directly and through resellers, with free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead. The limitation: it is open-air in a garden, so the April heat and the rainy-season mosquitoes come with the dinner, and the food is Asian fusion rather than strictly Khmer.
3. Apsara Theatre
The honest verdict: a timber theater hall with a Reamker program and a later start, at a price that is not published. Apsara Theatre is on Street 26 off Wat Bo Road, in the grounds of Angkor Village Hotel, five minutes’ walk from the Old Market across the river or $2 by tuk-tuk. It has staged dance since 1997 and describes itself as the oldest theater in Siem Reap. The building is a semi-colonial timber hall with a raised stage and tables below. A troupe of 30 artists performs Reamker episodes and folk dances under the artistic direction of Madam Net, who according to the venue has trained dancers since the 1980s. Diners choose from several Khmer menus. Dinner is served from 7:30 p.m. and the performance starts at 8:30 p.m., and both are open to visitors not staying at the hotel. The price, the performance days and the length of the show are not published online. Ask about all three when booking. The limitation: it is a tourist format like every dinner show, the dancing is formal and slow, and the 8:30 p.m. start is the latest in this list, which makes it a poor fit for anyone with a 4:30 a.m. sunrise alarm.
Buffet Halls
Larger rooms, lower prices, a buffet line and tour groups. This is the format for families and for anyone who wants a cheap seat and a loud room. They are listed by price, lowest first, with the unpublished price last.
Koulen Restaurant
The honest verdict: a budget dinner show that suits small children. Koulen is on Sivatha Boulevard north of the Old Market, a 10-minute walk from Pub Street or $2 by tuk-tuk. It is a large hall with a proscenium stage and a long Khmer and Asian buffet with vegetarian dishes. Resellers listed the buffet and show with two-way hotel transfers at $19 to $22 in 2026, with a 6:30 p.m. start. No door price is published, and no working official website was found in October 2026. The limitation: several hundred seats, a buffet that is adequate rather than good, and the dancers watched over the heads of tour groups.
Amazon Angkor
The honest verdict: Koulen with more space and a longer ride. Amazon Angkor is in Kruos village, Svay Dangkum commune, off the airport road, about 15 minutes by tuk-tuk from Pub Street at $4 to $6 each way. A buffet of Khmer, Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese and European dishes comes with a program of about five dances. Resellers list it at $21 without transport and $22 to $26 with tuk-tuk pickup in 2026, with start times from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. and drinks extra. The limitation: a hangar built for coaches, far from anything else you would want to do afterward.
Sofitel Angkor Phokeethra
The honest verdict: a hotel buffet with dance on some nights, for people staying on the road to the temples. The hotel is on Vithei Charles de Gaulle, 10 minutes by tuk-tuk north of Pub Street at $3 to $4. The hotel’s Accor page places traditional Khmer dance at The Citadel on selected days, and its own site pairs an Apsara show with the Khmer buffet at The Royal Court. Neither publishes the days, the time or the price, and reviews from June and December 2025 confirm the show was running. The limitation: the schedule is not published, so confirm it before planning an evening around it, and expect a shorter program than at a dedicated venue.
Free With Dinner on Pub Street
Temple Balcony
The honest verdict: the lowest-cost seated dance program in this guide, with Pub Street’s limitations. Temple Balcony is the dining floor above Temple Club, in the middle of Pub Street. A local directory updated in December 2025 lists the dance program daily from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., free for diners who order food and drink, with mains at normal Pub Street prices of $5 to $8. The limitation: the kitchen has slipped according to recent reviews, the club downstairs gets louder as the evening goes on, and the dancers perform for a room that is partly there for the beer. The Pub Street guide covers the building floor by floor.
Dance Outside a Restaurant
Sacred Dancers of Angkor
The honest verdict: classical dance performed as a ritual rather than a product, at a much higher price. The Sacred Dancers of Angkor are the company of the Nginn Karet Foundation, founded in 1994, which trains village children aged 9 to 18 from around Banteay Srei. The weekly Wednesday and Sunday show at 234 River Road has not been advertised since 2024. The troupe still dances at ceremonies and events, most recently at Jaya House River Park on October 17, 2026. A November 2024 review quoted a private performance at Banteay Srei, about 40 minutes north, at about $240 for two. Performances are arranged with the foundation about a week ahead, and combine with the Banteay Srei temple. The limitation: expensive for two, irregular, and the performers are children in training.
At Khmer New Year
In mid-April, during Angkor Sankranta, the folk dances leave the stage for the street and the temple grounds, performed by school and village troupes for a Cambodian audience. The Khmer New Year guide has the dates. The limitation: it is also the hottest week of the year, with afternoons around 36°C.
Not dance: Phare and Bambu Stage
Phare, the Cambodian Circus, is theater and acrobatics, not dance, and it is covered in the Phare guide. Bambu Stage in Wat Damnak village stages the Reamker in shadow puppets for 40 people at $25, which is the same story in a different art form, covered in the Sbek Thom guide.
How to Watch
Sit to one side near the front, not dead center at the back. The hands are the point, and from 20 meters they disappear. In the buffet halls the tour groups are seated in the middle blocks, so the side tables near the stage are both closer and quieter. At set-menu venues, book early and ask for a table with a clear view of the stage.
Covered shoulders and knees are the courteous standard for an art that was sacred for most of its life, though no venue enforces it. Flat shoes matter more, because every venue involves a tuk-tuk, a dirt verge or a garden path. The Angkor dress code guide sets out the daytime rule the evening one follows.
Photos are generally welcome without flash. Dancers come down for photographs at the end at most venues. A tip box for the troupe, where there is one, takes $1 to $2 a head, and the tipping guide covers the rest.
Everything here is under a roof except Kanell’s garden. In the rainy season, May to October, confirm the night before and leave 15 minutes earlier.
By Situation
You have one evening and want dance specifically
Kanell at 7:30 p.m. for a published price and a garden, Park Hyatt on its listed days for a hotel courtyard, or Apsara Theatre for a timber theater hall and a later start. Visit the museum that afternoon.
You are traveling with children
Koulen’s buffet hall, where nobody minds a child walking around, or Temple Balcony early in the evening before the club downstairs wakes up. Phare is the better children’s evening overall, and the Siem Reap with kids pillar explains why.
You are on a tight budget
Temple Balcony, free with a $5 to $8 main. Or Koulen at $19 to $22 with the tuk-tuk included. The daily budget pillar fits either into a town day.
You have a sunrise the next morning
Kanell or Park Hyatt, both finished by about 9:00 p.m. Avoid the 8:30 p.m. start at Apsara Theatre that night.
You want something no tour group does
The Sacred Dancers of Angkor at Banteay Srei, arranged a week ahead, after a morning at the temple.
What It Actually Costs
Rows follow the order of the sections above.
| Venue | Adult price | Includes | Start | Tuk-tuk from Pub Street, each way |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Park Hyatt, The Dining Room | Not published | Set menu, dance, Bokator | 7:00 p.m., listed days | Walk, or $2 |
| Kanell | $29 (5 courses) or $36 (7), plus 7% service | Set menu, dance, Bokator | 7:30 p.m. | $2 to $3 |
| Apsara Theatre | Not published | Khmer dinner and dance | Dinner 7:30 p.m., show 8:30 p.m. | Walk, or $2 |
| Koulen Restaurant | $19 to $22 via resellers | Buffet, show, two-way transfers | 6:30 p.m. | Walk, or $2 |
| Amazon Angkor | $21 to $26 via resellers | Buffet, show, tuk-tuk from $22 | 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. | Included, else $4 to $6 |
| Sofitel Angkor Phokeethra | Not published | Buffet and dance, selected days | Not published | $3 to $4 |
| Temple Balcony | Free with food and drink | Dance program | 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. | Walk |
| Sacred Dancers of Angkor | About $240 for two (2024 report) | Private performance | By arrangement | $25 to $30 round trip to Banteay Srei |
Not included anywhere: drinks, except a welcome drink at Kanell, the troupe’s tip box, and the driver’s tip for waiting, $1 to $2. Prices are in dollars, change under $1 comes in riel at about 4,000 to the dollar, and torn notes are refused. Reseller bundles are worth it when they include a two-way tuk-tuk and name the start time, and not otherwise.
What Other Guides Get Wrong
- Calling every performance “Apsara dance.” Robam Tep Apsara is one 10-minute piece from the 1950s. Most of the program is the Reamker and the folk dances, and the folk dances are what audiences like best.
- Listing venues that no longer exist. Smile of Angkor still tops many lists, but its official domain was parked and for sale in October 2026 and no 2025 or 2026 schedule could be confirmed. Raffles’ own dining pages no longer mention a dance terrace.
- Publishing fixed schedules. Most venues do not publish their own. Reseller start times for the same buffet differ by an hour. Confirm the day before.
- Treating the buffet as the reason to go. Go for the dancing. In the large halls, the food is the price of the seat.
- Ignoring the free option. A dance program upstairs on Pub Street costs only dinner, which matters on a $30 day.
- Describing the dancers as preserving an unbroken ancient ritual. The repertoire was rebuilt after 1979 by the few teachers who survived. That is a better story than the brochure’s, and it is true.
Addresses, hours, prices and transport times checked against operator websites and official sources in October 2026. Hours change seasonally and prices change often. Confirm anything time-critical with the operator.
Where to Go Next
The evening shows pillar sets the dance against Phare and the puppet theater, and the Phare guide covers the other half of a two-night plan. For what to do before and after the show, things to do in Siem Reap at night covers the hours beyond Pub Street, and the Wat Bo area guide the quieter side of the river. The Khmer restaurants guide is the answer for anyone who would rather eat well and skip the stage.
Addresses, hours, prices and transport times checked against operator websites and official sources in October 2026. Hours change seasonally and prices change often. Confirm anything time-critical with the operator. Found an error? Tell us and the guide's review date will be updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I see Apsara dance in Siem Reap?
In four kinds of place. Set-menu dinners in a garden or theater: The Dining Room at Park Hyatt Siem Reap, Kanell on 7 Makara Street from $29, and Apsara Theatre on Street 26 off Wat Bo Road. Buffet halls: Koulen Restaurant on Sivatha Boulevard at $19 to $22 with transfers through resellers, and Amazon Angkor off the airport road at $21 to $26. A free program for diners at Temple Balcony on Pub Street from 7:30 p.m. And a private performance by the Sacred Dancers of Angkor at Banteay Srei, arranged a week ahead. Confirm the date the day before, because few venues publish a weekly schedule.
What is the best Apsara dance show in Siem Reap?
It depends on what you want from the evening. For a set meal with a published price, Kanell's 7:30 p.m. evening at $29 to $36. For a hotel courtyard on listed days, Park Hyatt, with no published price. For a timber theater hall and an 8:30 p.m. start, Apsara Theatre on the Wat Bo side, also with no published price. For the cheapest seat, Temple Balcony on Pub Street, free with dinner. For a show with children, Koulen's buffet hall. For dance as a ritual rather than a product, the Sacred Dancers of Angkor near Banteay Srei, at a much higher price.
How much does an Apsara dance show cost in Siem Reap?
From nothing to about $240 for two. The free option is Temple Balcony on Pub Street, where the program comes with dinner at normal menu prices. Buffet shows at Koulen and Amazon Angkor sell through resellers at $19 to $26 per adult, usually with a two-way tuk-tuk. Kanell publishes $29 for five courses and $36 for seven, plus 7 percent service and drinks. Apsara Theatre, Park Hyatt and Sofitel do not publish prices. A private performance by the Sacred Dancers of Angkor was reported at about $240 for two in 2024.
Is a dinner show a tourist trap?
It is a tourist format, which is different. The dancers are trained Cambodian performers, and every classical dancer working today learned from the few teachers who survived the Khmer Rouge years, when about 90 percent of classical artists died. What makes an evening feel like a trap is the food and the room: a weak buffet in a hall of 300 with tour groups leaving before the last dance. Choose by format. A set menu in a small garden, or a free program with your own dinner, avoids most of that. Learn what the hand gestures mean beforehand and the hour changes.
How long is an Apsara dance show?
The Apsara dance itself lasts about 10 minutes. A full evening program in Siem Reap runs about 50 minutes to an hour, with a classical piece, a Reamker scene such as Hanuman and the golden mermaid, and two or three folk dances such as the fishing dance and the coconut dance. Kanell says its whole evening, from a 7:00 p.m. welcome to the end, lasts about two hours. Temple Balcony lists 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. A buffet evening at Koulen or Amazon Angkor takes about 90 minutes with the meal.
Is Phare the same as an Apsara dance show?
No. Phare, the Cambodian Circus, is a one-hour theater piece with acrobatics, live music and a story, performed at 8:00 p.m. nightly on Ring Road for $18 to $38. It does not include classical dance. A dance show is a seated dinner with classical and folk dances performed on a stage. Most visitors with three nights or more do one of each. With only one evening, Phare is the safer choice for mixed groups and children, and a dance dinner is the better one for anyone who came specifically for Khmer culture.