Areas & Neighborhoods
Pub Street and the Old Market: What It Is, What It Is Not, and When to Go (2026)
Psar Chas at 6 a.m. and Pub Street at 9 p.m. are the same block on different shifts. What each hour is for, where to eat, and which rooms hear the music.
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Pub Street and the Old Market are one block with two jobs, and the block works only if you arrive for the right one. At 7:00 a.m. Psar Chas is a working market where Cambodians buy fish and eat pork and rice. At 10:00 p.m. Street 08 is a party street for visitors on their first night in the country. Between the two, from late morning to late afternoon, the block is hot, crowded and least worth your time.
Most descriptions of the area merge the two and call it the heart of Siem Reap, then rank the bars. They rarely say that the market’s food section closes before most visitors wake, that the street does not start until 5:00 p.m., or that a hotel one block away hears the music until 2:00 a.m. This guide takes the area hour by hour, says what each part is for and is not for, and where to eat, shop and sleep around it. The Siem Reap neighborhoods guide sets it against the rest of town.
Prices, hours and transport times below were checked against venue websites, local listings and official sources in October 2026.
One Block, Two Shifts
The trap is treating the area as a single destination. It is two places that share a few hundred meters and almost never overlap in time.
The day shift belongs to Psar Chas. The wet market in the center of the covered hall is busy from about 6:00 a.m., with river fish, pork cut to order, frogs, herbs, dried fish, prahok and palm sugar, and breakfast counters selling to traders. It thins by 10:00 or 11:00 a.m. The souvenir stalls on the outer ring open from about 9:00 a.m. and most close around 6:00 p.m.
The night shift belongs to Pub Street. Bars open their shutters around 5:00 p.m., barriers go across the ends of Street 08, and the restaurants fill from 6:30 p.m. Around 9:00 p.m. the volume rises, and the bars run past midnight. A nightlife listing checked in February 2026 says most places stay open until 2:00 a.m. or later at weekends, and no closing time is published for the street.
The overlap is the row of market stalls facing Pub Street and the river, which stays open until 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. That row is the only part of the market most evening visitors see, and it is the least interesting part.
What the Area Actually Is
The whole district is four short streets and a market. The Old Market, Psar Chas, occupies the block on 2 Thnou Street between Pub Street, the river and Hospital Street. Pub Street is Street 08, about 100 meters long, running from The Red Piano on the Street 11 corner at its western end to the Old Market end. Street 7, called The Lane, runs parallel one block north. The Passage, a pedestrian alley, runs parallel one block south. Alley West and the small passages between Street 08 and the market hold quieter restaurants. Street 11 closes the western end, and Sivatha Boulevard, the main north-south road of the town, is one block further west.
East of the market, Pokambor Avenue runs along the west bank of the river, with a footbridge across to the Siem Reap Art Center Night Market and the Wat Bo side. That is the whole area. It fills quickly and the sound has nowhere to go.
What it is not: the town’s nightlife, its food center or its shopping center. The better bars are ten minutes away, covered in the best bars guide. The better Khmer kitchens are on the riverside and across the river. The better shopping is at Made in Cambodia Market and the craft workshops, ten minutes on foot. The block is the center of the map, not the center of anything else.
Psar Chas, Hour by Hour
6:00 to 9:00 a.m.: the food market
The honest verdict: the best hour of the day in the area, and the one most visitors miss. The center of the hall is a working wet market, and the food counters where produce meets the clothing aisles sell bai sach chrouk, kuy teav and num banh chok on stools. A plate costs $1 to $2 according to a food guide updated in October 2026. Prices are rarely posted, so ask before ordering. The limitation: the floor is wet, the fish counters smell, and pickpockets work the narrow aisles.
A temple day that starts at 5:00 a.m. ends around 11:00 a.m., too late for this. Go on a non-temple morning, or on the first morning before a late start.
9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.: the souvenir market
The outer ring sells kramas, T-shirts, silk-look table runners, coconut-wood spoons, carvings, silver and silver-look jewelry, spices in sealed bags, lacquer boxes and paintings. Gold shops, hardware and bedding counters show that Cambodians still use the building. The crowd is densest after 10:00 a.m., when tour groups return from Angkor. From March to May the covered hall is hot between 11:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., and the honest advice is to come back at 4:00 p.m.
A checked krama starts around $1 to $2 and is usually a cotton-polyester blend. A scarf sold as silk for $3 to $5 is polyester or a blend. Kampot pepper sold by weight is pepper, with its provenance on the vendor’s word. The Siem Reap markets guide explains how to tell, and the souvenirs guide says what to buy instead.
4:00 to 9:00 p.m.: the evening rim
Most of the hall closes around 6:00 p.m. The stalls facing Pub Street and the river stay open until 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. for the dinner crowd. The food section is closed by then.
Pub Street, Hour by Hour
The Pub Street guide covers the bars, the scams and the late night in detail. This is the short version for someone deciding when to go.
Before 5:00 p.m.
Motorbikes still use the street, half the shutters are down and a few restaurants serve lunch to a trickle. The only reason to come is to see the shophouse fronts without the crowd. Happy-hour boards go up around 4:00 p.m.
5:00 to 9:00 p.m.: the eating window
Barriers close the street to traffic. Happy hours mostly run 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Restaurants fill from 6:30 p.m. This is the window to eat here, if at all, and to watch the free dance performance at Temple Balcony, listed daily from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. for diners who order food and drink.
9:00 p.m. to midnight: the handover
The sound systems go up. By 10:00 p.m. in high season the street is shoulder to shoulder. Twenty minutes from a balcony is enough to see it.
After midnight
The drinking crowd runs the street until most bars close around 2:00 a.m. or later at weekends. Book a ride on PassApp or Grab from inside, and leave by the Old Market bridge if you are walking to Wat Bo.
Dry season and rainy season
From November to March the street is full every night and outdoor tables are taken by 7:00 p.m. From May to October the rain usually arrives in the late afternoon or early evening and clears within an hour or two, and the bars are half empty after 11:00 p.m. Street 11 and the market side pool after a heavy storm.
Where to Eat In and Around the Block
The food on Street 08 is aimed at visitors, priced for foot traffic, and the Khmer dishes are cooked sweeter and milder than anywhere else in town. The guide to whether Pub Street is worth eating on has the full case. These are the addresses in or on the edge of the block that earn their place.
Psar Chas food counters
The honest verdict: the best meal in the area, at breakfast. Bai sach chrouk, kuy teav and num banh chok at $1 to $2, best before 9:00 a.m. The limitation: closed by the evening, when most visitors arrive.
The Red Piano
The honest verdict: the one Pub Street address that works as a restaurant rather than a bar. At 341 Street 08 on the Street 11 corner, open 10:00 a.m. to about 12:30 a.m., with a European menu, some Khmer dishes and mains at $6 to $12. Angelina Jolie drank here during the filming of Tomb Raider in 2001, and the menu still says so. The limitation: prices run above the street average, and the story does more work than the kitchen.
Khmer Family Restaurant
The honest verdict: the Pub Street kitchen to choose for Khmer food without leaving the street. Locally owned, picture menu, amok and lok lak at $4 to $7, tables full of families before 7:00 p.m. The limitation: cooked for a tourist palate, so compare it with the dishes in the guide to Khmer dishes to try.
Temple Balcony
The honest verdict: dinner here is mainly a seat for the free Apsara dance performance from 7:30 p.m. It is the upper floor of the Temple building mid-street. Mains are in the street’s $5 to $8 range. The limitation: the kitchen has slipped by recent accounts, and the club below is loud from 10:00 p.m.
Sister Srey Cafe
The honest verdict: the Western breakfast with a river view, a minute from the market. At 200 Pokambor Avenue opposite the Old Market, open daily 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. according to listings, run since 2012 with part of its profits going to APOPO’s landmine clearance work. Prices are not published online. The limitation: it is a Western café, not the place for Khmer breakfast.
Asana Old Wooden House
The honest verdict: the bar to choose within one minute of Pub Street. A traditional wooden Khmer house on Street 7, The Lane, serving cocktails built on Khmer herbs since 2012, daily from 4:00 p.m. to midnight, with a 90-minute cocktail class at 6:00 p.m. for $20, or $18 booked online. The limitation: the house is small, and the class fills in high season.
For a full Khmer dinner, walk 5 to 10 minutes north along Pokambor Avenue to Chanrey Tree or Malis, or cross the river to Street 26. The best restaurants by neighborhood lists them.
Shopping Beyond the Market Hall
Siem Reap Art Center Night Market
The honest verdict: the night market to pick if you want one, because it costs a footbridge and nothing else to reach. On the east bank directly opposite the Old Market. A directory updated in October 2026 lists Monday to Saturday 4:00 to 11:00 p.m., closed Sundays, and its map listing agrees. Sportswear, bags, wooden crafts, paintings and foot-massage chairs. The limitation: despite the name, there is little art.
Phalla Angkor Night Market
Off Sivatha Boulevard, daily 4:30 p.m. to midnight, selling the same imported goods as every other night market. The original Angkor Night Market of 2007 has an uncertain status. A local directory updated in October 2026 says it has not reopened since Covid, while 2025 and 2026 reviews describe active vendors at a listing of that name. The night markets guide sorts them out. The limitation: the stock is the same everywhere, so choose the closest.
Made in Cambodia Market
The honest verdict: the market to send anyone who wants something made in the country without arguing over the price. On Oum Khun Street, 10 minutes on foot north of the Old Market, about 20 stalls, daily from noon to 6:00 p.m., with goods that must be made in Cambodia and vendors who may not call out. The limitation: prices are fixed and higher than the market hall.
Senteurs d’Angkor and Artisans Angkor
Senteurs d’Angkor’s town shop on Preah Sangreach Tep Vong Street, a short walk from the Old Market, sells Kampot pepper from $5 to $6 for 50 grams, palm sugar, spices and soaps, daily 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Artisans Angkor’s craft center on Stung Thmey Street, five minutes west, runs free guided tours of its workshops daily 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The limitation: both charge fixed prices well above the market, because the goods are what the market’s copies imitate.
Sleeping Near the Block
A hotel within two blocks of Street 08 sells proximity and delivers noise. Rooms facing Street 08, The Lane, The Passage or Street 11 hear the sound systems past midnight. Rooms on Sivatha Boulevard hear motorbikes from 5:00 a.m. The where to stay guide compares every area, and the best area to stay guide argues this one against Wat Bo.
Onederz Siem Reap
The honest verdict: hostel beds with four pools, two minutes from Pub Street. Dorm beds run $5 to $9 in 2025 and 2026 listings. The limitation: it is two minutes from Pub Street, and that is the sound you will hear.
Mad Monkey Siem Reap
The social hostel on Rose Apple Road, with dorm beds in the same $5 to $9 range. The limitation: the bar is the point, and sleep is not.
Memoire d’Angkor Boutique Hotel
The honest verdict: the practical mid-range choice, three minutes from the Old Market with a pool. At 54 Sivatha Road, 48 rooms, with aggregator rates of $42 to $62 a night for late October 2026. The limitation: Sivatha is the busiest road in town, so ask for a pool-facing room.
Park Hyatt Siem Reap
The honest verdict: the one high-end hotel inside the grid, at 3 Sivutha Boulevard. The upper tier of the area runs $190 to $700 a night in 2026. The limitation: the grid outside is the same grid, and the walk to dinner passes the same bars.
By Situation
You have one evening in Siem Reap
Walk the market rim at 5:00 p.m., eat at Khmer Family Restaurant or The Red Piano by 7:00 p.m., watch twenty minutes of the Temple Balcony dancers, then cross the footbridge to the Art Center Night Market and walk home before the volume rises.
You want to see the real market
Psar Chas between 6:00 and 9:00 a.m., with breakfast at the counters. Then Psar Leu on National Road 6 the next morning if the first one hooked you.
You are a light sleeper
Stay in Wat Bo, 5 to 10 minutes across the river, and walk over for dinner. Viroth’s Hotel on Street 24 and Angkor Village Hotel on Street 26, wooden buildings around ponds five minutes from the Old Market, are two examples on quiet cross-streets. The limitation: rooms facing Wat Bo Road still hear its traffic, so ask for the back. The Wat Bo area guide covers it.
You are traveling with children
Come in daylight. The market rim at 4:00 p.m., an early dinner, and gone before 9:00 p.m. The Siem Reap with kids guide has the rest.
You want to buy something real
Skip the hall and walk 10 minutes to Made in Cambodia Market, or 5 minutes to Artisans Angkor.
What It Actually Costs
Dollars are accepted everywhere, and change under $1 comes back in riel at about 4,000 to the dollar. Torn or written-on bills are refused.
| Item | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Market breakfast plate | $1 to $2 | Before 9:00 a.m. |
| Pub Street main course | $5 to $8 | The Red Piano $6 to $12 |
| Khmer Family Restaurant main | $4 to $7 | Amok, lok lak |
| Temple Balcony dance performance | Free | With food and drink |
| Krama at the market | $1 to $2 | Usually a blend |
| Kampot pepper, Senteurs d’Angkor | $5 to $6 for 50 g | Fixed price |
| Asana cocktail class | $20, or $18 online | 90 minutes |
| Hostel dorm bed nearby | $5 to $9 | Onederz, Mad Monkey |
| Mid-range room, Memoire d’Angkor | $42 to $62 | Late October 2026 |
| Tuk-tuk across the center | $2 to $3 | PassApp and Grab quote fixed fares |
| Tuk-tuk to the Angkor park entrance | $3 to $5 | 15 to 20 minutes, agree the fare first |
The getting around guide covers fares in detail.
What Other Guides Get Wrong
- Treating the market as an evening sight. Its food section closes long before dinner. The working market is a 6:00 to 9:00 a.m. affair.
- Calling Pub Street the nightlife of Siem Reap. It is the busiest street, not the best. The better bars are in The Lane and across the river on Street 26.
- Listing the original Angkor Night Market as open until midnight. Its status is uncertain in 2026. The Art Center Night Market across the footbridge is confirmed, Monday to Saturday.
- Selling hotels near Pub Street as convenient without the noise caveat. The bars run past midnight, most until 2:00 a.m. or later at weekends.
- Bargaining everywhere. Bargain at the souvenir stalls. Not at the food counters, Made in Cambodia Market or the workshops.
- Calling every scarf silk. A $3 to $5 silk scarf is polyester or a blend, almost always imported.
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 block makes more sense against the rest of town, and the Siem Reap neighborhoods guide measures every other area from the Old Market. The Pub Street guide covers the night in detail, the Siem Reap markets guide explains every market in town, and the Siem Reap food guide says where to eat once you have walked out of the grid.
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
What is the difference between Pub Street and the Old Market?
They are neighbors on different shifts. The Old Market, Psar Chas, is a covered market on 2 Thnou Street, a working wet market from about 6:00 a.m. and a souvenir market from about 9:00 a.m., with most stalls closed by 6:00 p.m. Pub Street is Street 08, one block west, a 100-meter strip of bars and restaurants that wakes up around 5:00 p.m. and runs past midnight. Visit the market in the morning and the street in the early evening. Seeing both at the same hour means seeing one of them at its worst.
What time should I visit the Old Market in Siem Reap?
Before 9:00 a.m. for the food market, when the fish, pork, herbs and prahok counters in the center are working and the breakfast stalls sell bai sach chrouk for $1 to $2. After 4:00 p.m. for the souvenir stalls, when the heat drops and the tour groups have gone. Avoid 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. from March to May, when the covered hall is hot and crowded. The stalls facing Pub Street and the river stay open until 8:00 or 9:00 p.m., so an evening walk-through is possible, but the food section is closed by then.
Is it a good idea to stay near Pub Street?
Only if you plan to be out until the bars close. Rooms facing Street 08, The Lane, The Passage or Street 11 hear competing sound systems past midnight, most until 2:00 a.m. or later at weekends. Two blocks away on Sivatha Boulevard the music fades and motorbike traffic takes over from 5:00 a.m. Across the river in Wat Bo, a 5- to 10-minute walk, the music is gone. If you stay in the grid, ask for a room at the back of the building, away from both the bars and Sivatha, and plan the sunrise for a later morning.
Is Pub Street worth visiting?
Once, at the right hour. Before 8:00 p.m. it is a restaurant street where The Red Piano and Khmer Family Restaurant serve dinner and Temple Balcony stages a free Apsara performance for diners from 7:30 p.m. After 10:00 p.m. it is a drinking street with buckets and bass, and twenty minutes is enough to see it. Neither shift is worth a long stay before a 4:30 a.m. sunrise pickup. The better food is 5 to 10 minutes away on the riverside or across the river in Wat Bo, and the better bars are in The Lane and on Street 26.
Can you bargain at the Old Market?
At the souvenir stalls, yes. The opening price is usually 30 to 50 percent above what the vendor will accept, so a counter at half and a settlement around 60 to 70 percent of the first number is normal. Do not bargain at the food counters, where prices are fixed and low, or at Made in Cambodia Market and the social-enterprise shops nearby. Arguing over 2,000 riel, about 50 cents, is not worth it. Remember that a $3 to $5 silk scarf at the market is polyester or a blend, and a $1 to $2 krama is usually a cotton-polyester mix.
Is the Pub Street area safe at night?
Mostly. The street is pedestrian, lit and crowded, and violent crime against visitors is rare. The risks are on its edges: bag and phone snatching from passing motorbikes on Street 11, Sivatha Boulevard and the river road, drink spiking in bars, and change counted short in riel. Carry the bag on the side away from the road and put the phone away when you step off the pedestrian block. Book late rides through PassApp or Grab rather than accepting an offer on the street. Walking home across the Old Market bridge to Wat Bo at midnight is normal.