Angkor What? Bar
Angkor What? Bar is Pub Street's longest-running institution, famous for its 50-cent draft beers and its role as the starting point for every backpacker night in Siem Reap. The bar's name is its philosophy: irreverent, cheap, and unapologetic. The music is loud, the drinks are cheap, and the crowd is every nationality you can imagine. By midnight, the dance floor upstairs becomes a sweaty, joyful chaos.
What to Expect
The quintessential backpacker bar. Cheap drinks, loud music, and international chaos. Not cultural, not sophisticated. Just fun.
Cheap, loud, and chaotically fun.
Party hits, reggaeton, and electronic from the DJ
Whatever you're wearing.
Backpackers and budget travelers.
Cash (USD)
Price Range
Draft beer $0.50, cocktails $2-4
≈ €0.47-4
Hours
Daily from 5 PM to late
Insider Tip
Start here for the cheap drinks, then let the night take you where it will. The upstairs dance floor opens later.
Full Review
Angkor What? Bar is a two-level operation on Pub Street's main strip. The ground floor is an open-front bar with the counter facing the street, catching foot traffic with its 50-cent draft beers and a neon sign that's become one of Siem Reap's most recognizable images. Upstairs holds the dance floor: a darker, sweatier space with a DJ and colored lights that becomes the backpacker party after midnight.
The crowd is overwhelmingly international and overwhelmingly young. Gap-year travelers, digital nomads, and backpackers from every continent fill the space with a chaotic, joyful energy. The drinks are cheap because everything in Siem Reap is cheap, but Angkor What? anchors the bottom end of the price scale. Conversation is easy to start because everyone is in the same boat: visiting temples by day, drinking by night.
On Pub Street, Angkor What? is the starting point, not the destination. It's cheaper than Temple Club, less themed than X Bar, and more straightforward than Miss Wong. The comparison isn't really about quality; it's about function. This is where the night begins. Where it ends depends on how the evening develops.
Start here for the cheap drinks and the social atmosphere, then let the night take its own course. The upstairs dance floor opens later and gets progressively more chaotic. Don't bring valuables you'd miss; crowded rooms and cheap drinks are a combination that rewards caution.
The Neighborhood
Angkor What? Bar sits at the heart of Pub Street, Siem Reap's condensed backpacker nightlife strip. The street closes to traffic in the evening and fills with bar-hoppers, street food vendors, and the foot traffic that connects Siem Reap's guesthouses to its temples-and-party circuit.
Getting There
Tuk-tuk from most Siem Reap hotels costs $1-2. Pub Street is walkable from the Old Market area and most central guesthouses. The bar is impossible to miss on the main strip.
Address
Pub Street, Siem Reap
Where to stay in Siem Reap
Compare hotels near the nightlife districts. Free cancellation on most properties.
Other Venues in Pub Street
Temple Club
Large multi-level venue with a ground-floor restaurant, upstairs bar, and a packed dance floor. Free entry most nights with commercial dance and hip-hop from resident DJs.
Miss Wong
1930s Shanghai-inspired cocktail bar down The Lane, just off Pub Street. Well-crafted drinks in a dimly lit, intimate setting at mid-range prices. One of Siem Reap's few genuinely sophisticated bars.
X Bar
Rooftop bar and club with open-air views over the old market area. Regular DJ nights, fire shows, and a pool table draw a younger backpacker crowd that stays until sunrise.
Laundry Bar
Compact, music-focused bar with rotating DJ sets leaning toward house and funk. Starts mellow in the early evening and builds to a full dance party after midnight.
Banana Bar
Open-front Pub Street fixture serving fruit shakes alongside beer towers. A casual people-watching spot early on that turns into a loud, standing-room-only party by 11 PM.