Lonely Planet Magazine
“Common Grounds is not only about freshly brewed coffee, a selection of pastries and tasty sandwiches as well as delicious soups of the day – it’s also about people. You don’t have to be a socially responsible traveller to enjoy a freshly brewed cappuccino, a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup combo or some of the local Khmer dishes, but the team at Common Grounds also aim to promote ’micro-enterprise development’, giving locals a working chance and create income that helps to sustain the Children’s Home in Siem Reap Common Grounds serves as a vocational training center, teaching English and computer skills and provides housing for long and short-term volunteers and staff.. If you bring your own laptop, there is also free wireless Internet and, as a whole, we believe Common Grounds is a good choice whether you’re looking for a healthy breakfast, lunch or dinner.” Lonely Planet Magazine
BeanHunter
The best coffee I had in Siem Reap and, as seems to be the case in this part of the world, also backed by a solid social conscience (http://peopleforcare.org/). Not only do they provide work and training for local people, but they also generate an income for a local Children’s Home, provide Vocational Education (English, IT etc.), and even provide temporary accommodation for volunteers. To back up their social conscience they serve a decent doppio. I was reading a book when it arrived (very quickly) and it took me 30+ secs to look at it. SHOCK!!! THE CREMA WAS STILL THERE!!@#! The taste was still there too – good flavour, smooth and strong without being over-extracted and…. about 95% chemical flavour free. Woot. Onto a winner. So let’s get this straight – you: get a decent espresso (in SEAsia), a cookie, WiFi, a balm for your conscience, do a good deed AND………… all for $1.50USD. BeanHunter.com
Siem Reap Post
[…]They serve really great coffee. That’s the best start. The beans come from Three Corners coffee. They are the only International Standard Coffee Roaster in Cambodia. Their beans come from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam and this gives the beverage its wonderful taste. The staff in there know how to make good coffee and it’s well served.
Then there are the “treats”. There’s always a bakery counter filled with yummy temptations. From their aptly named “Build a Breakfast”, sandwiches, omelettes and muesli for brekky to burgers, soups and salads and even Cornish pasties and cheesesteak, it’s all there to delight you. All is well cooked and nicely served.
100% of Common Grounds profit goes to “People for Care and Learning.” Common Grounds is 100% owned by this NGO. Their work is amazing. The current project is “Build a City”. They are raising 2.2 million dollars to build 1,500 homes for 6,000 people. (1.4 million dollars have already been funded!) They are building Andong, near Phnom Penh. A city for displaced people. A city for people without opportunities or the power to change. […] Read full article