Marum

Everything about this training restaurant for underprivileged youth is slickly cute and colorful. It’s a bit disconcerting, considering many of the t-shirted trainees were apparently rescued from grim lives on the street, but the Tree Alliance, run by a French-led NGO that has seven restaurants around Asia, knows how to market its fair-trade products and food. Whether in a turquoise dining room plastered with bright children’s paintings or in its lovely outdoor garden, this is a nice spot to combine social action with a meal that’s been creatively constructed in the manner of what might be termed high-end “hippie-Asian.

For traditional Cambodian and more modern Asian-fusion tapas-sized dishes and sharing plates (pictured above), try Marum. One of Siem Reap’s best hospitality-training restaurants, Marum is ran by Friends International and is set in a timber house with vibrant art on the walls and alfresco seating on a terrace in lovely, leafy gardens. The menu is constantly tweaked, but if listed when you dine, sample the red tree ant fritters, barbecued pork ribs with apple and daikon salad, and the roast duck and pumpkin croquettes with citrus and hoisin sauce.

Marum ( GoogleMaps) is a vocational training restaurant that’s a part of Tree Alliance, an organization dedicated to building a sustainable future for marginalized children in Cambodia who lack any other opportunities. The training restaurant is run by the NGO Kaliyan Mith which supports Khmer children living on the streets. At Marum, there’s also a small social-enterprise shop which offers creative goods from local artisans who utilize recycled materials to create their masterpieces.

On my last night in town, I make my way to Marum, a hospitality training restaurant for disadvantaged Cambodian youth run by Friends International, which operates similar restaurants in Phnom Penh and Laos. Marum occupies a lovely teak mansion, whose tables spill into a large garden shaded by trees strung with fairy lights. Its menu includes small plates of creatively Cambodian (lotus seed, jackfruit and coriander hummus with toasted baguette) and more authentic fare.

Another place where you’ll find insects on the menu is Marum (#8A,B Phum Slokram, +855 17 363 284), a training restaurant for disadvantaged locals, where a beef stir fry comes with red tree ants (6USD). There are plenty of non-buggy options however, and the food, served in a lovely courtyard space, is tasty. Similarly, Haven (Chocolate Road, +855 78 342 404), another training restaurant, boasts a peaceful garden and excellent menu.

Named after the moringa tree, also known as the 'tree of life,' Marum is run by Kaliyan Mith, the Siem Reap arm of the highly regarded Mith Samlanh (Friends) NGO that trains Cambodian street children for jobs in the restaurant industry. The menu features a delectable array of small tapas-style dishes that offer a creative twist on traditional Cambodian cuisine, plus a large variety of vegetarian options and creative cocktails.

This popular NGO-run training restaurant, with sister branches all the way from Phnom Penh to Ethiopia, has a frequently rotated menu centred around small tapas-style dishes. There’s a mix of local and fusion dishes, and this is somewhere that’s not afraid to let true Khmer dishes loose on tourists. Be sure to try the prahok k’tis made with the local speciality of fermented fish, as well as stir-fried beef and red tree ants.

Marum is set in a beautiful two-story wooden house with a gorgeous courtyard garden. Location: Por Trach Village, Sangkat Slor Kram, Siem Reap. Marum Restaurant is operated by Tree Alliance – a global network of training restaurants that provides training programs for local youths to become skilled and productive staffs in the hospitality industry with a more secure future.

Set in a delightful wooden house with a spacious garden, Marum serves up lots of vegetarian and seafood dishes, plus some mouth-watering desserts. Menu highlights include red-tree-ant fritters and ginger basil meatballs. Marum is part of the Tree Alliance group of training restaurants; the experience is a must.

Good food: Inventive Cambodian tapas-styled dishes such as lotus, jackfruit and coriander hummus served with toasted baguette. Red ants and beef stir fried with kaffir lime leaves and chilli. And for dessert, banana fritters with palm sugar caramel and lemongrass galangal ice-cream.

Part of the small ‘Tree Alliance’ chain of restaurants, Marum invests in training and social programmes for their students. The tapas-style menu looks delicious and you can find more restaurants in Phnom Penh, Sihanoukville, Bangkok and Laos. Marum – #8A, B Phum Slokram

Marum is a training restaurant that has a superb local menu at a relatively affordable price. The menu is broken up into distinguishable sections. First, there are the drinks: shakes and freezes, fresh juices and soft drinks, tea and coffee, wine, and a few cocktails.

Marum, situated next to Wat Polanka Pagoda, is not just about good food but also a good cause. As part of Friends International, it provides training to disadvantaged youths. The restaurant itself boasts a peaceful garden atmosphere, complemented by fairy lights.

A hospitality school training restaurant in Siem Reap, Marum is set inside a delightful wooden house with a wonderfully spacious garden. The food is a bit like a Cambodian version of tapas, with a great choice of small plates designed for sharing.

Dine at Marum Restaurant: This authentic restaurant not only serves up delicious Khmer cuisine but also supports a great cause by training and employing at-risk youths. Indulge in flavorsome dishes while doing good.

Marum: gorgeous tropical garden, great food, kids menu and some children’s books and board games. There’s also a fantastic shop selling products made with upcycling and repurposed materials.

Marum restaurant – the evening we reached, we went to a restaurant run by an NGO who works with marginalised young people since last 15 years.