About SPOONS Café and Restaurant

Spoons has taken bamboo architecture to a new level in Siem Reap, serving as model for environmentally conscious and sustainable construction. Cambodia has the 3rd highest rate of deforestation in the world. Corporate timber production and illegal logging are cutting away at some of Asia’s oldest and most diverse forests—with the rate of forest loss estimated at 804 square miles a year! We find this completely unacceptable. Not only does building with bamboo alleviate the demand for timber but it helps raise awareness of this serious environmental issue. Plus bamboo grows in areas not fit for food crops, so it does not compete with food production, and is more energy efficient than other materials such as steel or plastic. Here in Cambodia we’ve partnered with Bambusa Global Ventures, pioneers in sustainably harvested bamboo, who provide a sustainable source of livelihood for the indigenous communities living around the forest areas in Mondulkiri province. We hope Spoons will show the wider community how sustainable—and beautiful—bamboo construction can be! We were lucky to partner with some great mind minds leading the industry in sustainable bamboo harvesting and construction. Thanks to our friends at Lumley & Koller for the initial designs, Stuart Cochlin and team for the construction support, Vinc Math for the invaluable technical guidance, Bambusa Global Ventures for the raw materials, and ES-PRO Construction for taking on the challenge of constructing with bamboo.

If you look around SPOONS Café, nearly all of our design elements and merchandise have been made especially for SPOONS by some of the fantastic social enterprises in Siem Reap. Plus we are an active participant in Siem Reap’s green initiatives including the Re-fill Not Landfill Initiative—an effort to cut down on the 4.6 million tourism-related plastic water bottles discarded monthly in Siem Reap. Come buy your Spoons bottle today and refill it at any of the participating locations around town! While you are here check out all the little details we think make us and our partners so special:

● Life and Hope Association makes our Spoons uniforms, featuring the traditional Cambodian Krama cloth. The NGO runs several projects in the community to provide training and educational opportunities to underprivileged youth and women.

● Cambodia Doodle Club has hand sketched the mesmerizing mural adorning the wall behind the Spoons Bar.

● Bambusa Global Ventures in addition to providing the building materials have used their signature bamboo to manufacture our table and the many other bamboo design elements around the café. You can buy some for yourself such as our candle holders and napkin rings.

SPOONS Café and Restaurant is a SPOONS Cambodia Organization Project, meaning all of our proceeds go towards supporting the costs for running SPOONS Organization—helping draw us closer to becoming a financially stable organization whose work can continue for the long run. Spoons Café is an extension of the SPOONS Organization classroom, where students gain the skills and experience they need to succeed in their future hospitality careers. A dining experience at SPOONS is a small way to help students practice what they are learning, making a big step to lift themselves and their families out of the cycle of poverty. SPOONS is also home to a knowledgeable team of chefs and hospitality professionals, who provide expert training and experience to our students and serve as invaluable role models for the successes they can achieve. We are proud to say SPOONS Café—and SPOONS Organization —are entirely Cambodian-run projects.

Have you heard much about Cambodian food? Chances are likely not much. Cambodia’s cuisine often gets outshone by neighboring Vietnam and Thailand. But there is so much to offer, and here at SPOONS we strive to provide delicious, authentic Cambodian food, so you can try an array of the country’s finest dishes—from street food favorites to classic homestyle dishes. Our menu is inspired by Cambodia’s traditional street food and countryside flavors and we constantly strive to bring lesser known Cambodian dishes to the dining table. SPOONS Organization alumni have also had a hands-on role in inspiring the creations on our drinks menu, meaning our food is truly a reflection of our staff and students culinary heritage. We use only the freshest local ingredients, helping to support local food suppliers and farmers. We also showcase the great products being produced right here in Cambodia. Our coffee comes from Feel Good Coffee in Phnom Penh, and are some of the best beans you’ll taste. Our cocktails feature a special blend of infused Cambodian rice wine custom made for SPOONS, prepared right down the road from us at Sombai.