Dining Out in Laos
Where & What to Eat in Laos
Vientiane and Luang Prabang are not without good French restaurants, a remnant of the country's colonial era, as are the widely available baguettes and pastries. Major cities in Laos offer dishes that will satisfy the vast majority of palettes; the selection dwindles quickly as you embark on roads less travelled.
When traveling foreign lands and encountering alien cultures an open mind will undoubtedly serve you well, apply this to your food encounters and you might just discover a passion for the great unknown – frog baguette anyone?
Down by the river is pretty much as lively as it gets in Vientiane. Various chilled out river side joints serve traditional Thai and Southeast Asian dishes to be enjoyed while overlooking the Mekong. Some restaurants reside on stilts others are sidewalk based, each offering a different experience of the surrounding area. There is a distinct European charm to dining out in Vientiane, where you can watch the locals and tourists go about their business; an experience sometimes lost in the more hectic and polluted cities of Hanoi and Bangkok.
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Rather than where to eat, the question what not to eat feels more apt? The eclectic range of menus in this small town, fuse traditional European fare including hot crusty baguettes, hearty stews and succulent steaks with the spicy and exotic dishes of the Orient. Other than the distinct architectural feel the town has due to the French-connection, the food choices truly serve to demonstrate the positive influences of colonisation. The popular Restaurant Row on the banks of the Mekong houses a range of restaurants from Indian to Laos to Laos and French fusion.
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Apart from local stalls on main streets selling foods like noodle soup and standard Lao dishes such as laap with sticky rice, all eating options are restaurants attached to guesthouses and hotels within the towns. Like most of Laos provinces, baguette stalls dominate the main streets in Pakse. However, there are a few restaurants serving varied of Western food as well as for Thai, Chinese, and Vietnamese which is quite diverse for the size of the town.
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Eating options are not particularly varied in Xieng Khouang; the vast majority of restaurants serve traditional Asian fare. The usual French influences can be found in the coffee, baguettes and pastries but the chic fusion menus of Luang Prabang and European cuisine found so readily in Vientiane are less likely to be savored here. All the same, the food in hotels such as the Malay is more than adequate and probably the best in town. Some restaurants feature a few European dishes, but we advise that you stick to what the chef knows and really get stuck in to some traditional Laotian cooking while the options for anything else are pretty scarce.
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Savannakhet is like most tranquil cities in Laos and small restaurants run by locals are easy to find. Street food can meet the needs of those who wish to try the original taste of traditional Laos dishes. French cuisine can be easily found, and the most obvious French influence - baguette sandwiches are sold on most streets while Vietnamese, Thai, and Chinese dishes are easy enough to find.
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Decent restaurants serving standard local food and simple westerner dishes can easily found along the Mekong River. Several of them offer outdoor seating with big patios overlooking the river. Highlight is Lao-styled barbecue, a tasty do-it-yourself menu which meats and veggies are grilled and stewed by customers themselves, combination like Japanese Shabu-Shabu and Korean BBQ. Most of the guesthouses also provide simple choices on the menu at reasonable price.
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Lao cuisine is very similar to its Thai and Vietnamese neighbor’s, and meals of spicy soup, sticky rice and chicken or laab are favorites with locals. Vientiane is serviced by several good French restaurants, a remnant of the country's colonial era, as are the baguettes and croissants are also widely available. Major cities in Laos offer restaurants to suit almost any palette, the selection dwindles quickly as you embark on roads less traveled. This chance to experience the original taste of the traditional food is not-to-be-missed.
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