Places to eat in Laos

The restaurant is run by Friends International (www.friends-international.org). It helps the integration of adolescents by teaching them to cook and wait tables. The food consists typically of Lao dishes very tasty.

About 100 meters after the bridge coming from Nong Kiau Village you'll find an extremely nice restaurant on the left hand side of the road. Mekara sure doesn't look like much but serves delicious Lao dishes of all kinds suitable for everyone.
The owner, Dyane, speaks great English and is a very friendly and glad person, which adds to the experience. He runs the restaurant with his wife and mother - none of which speaks a word of English but both carrying big enough smiles to make you forget the language barrier.
During my one month in Nong Kiau I had dinner at Mekaras five or six times and breakfast twice. Always tasty and wellprepared and tasty meals.

Favorite Dish: I couldn't point our one specific dish that I prefer.

A baguette with 'what you wish' inside seems to be very popular with foreigners in Laos. The sandwiches are usually made in food markets and at some places they also serve coffee so you can have a full breakfast or lunch without wasting much time or money.
The most common ingredients for your sandwich can include: roast chicken, eggs, tofu, tomato, cucumber, lettuce and mayo. You may consider the hygienic (or rather non-hygienic) aspects of the dish, like dirty hands, unwashed vegetables, dust of the place - but who, coming to Asia, would worry about such things?

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You won't find many restaurant tips on my pages. It's not that I don't like eating out, on the contrary - I love it. But I must confess I'm very conservative or even suspicious about the things I eat. No seafood for me, please! I know that tasting local food is part of discovering a new country, but I can't conquer my inhibitions. My sister-in-law looked at me with horror when I ordered spaghetti carbonara in Laos. So not to get on her nerves I usually had fried rice with vegetables, of course washed down with lao beer and I was perfectly happy.
What I looked for when we were picking out where to eat was the ambience rather than food. Luang Prabang has lots of atmospheric places. Our favourite ones were riverside restaurants with a view on the Mekong. Sitting at a table shaded by trees, away from the street noise, drinking excellent cold beerlao and eating my vegetarian rice I was thinking : 'what a wonderful world'.

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We were out with some friends we met on the slow boat over from Thailand. After spending a couple days on a boat together it was good to sit down for a well put together meal. The place was full and drinks were flowing. Food looked decent all around but did proove to be one of our most expensive meals in all of Laos.

Favorite Dish: Well I had the burger....seemed like one of the only times we were able to get good beef......well, something hearty anyway. The bun was fresh which is a large component of any good burg.

KPP is a local restaurant in Vientiane where the food is fantastic...whether you want western soup, pizza, pasta or traditional Lao dishes. The food is always served up with a smile from one of the charming waiters. It only cost about $2 for a meal.

Favorite Dish: Probably pizza...very tasty...pastas also good.

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A balanced mix of eastern and western deli-cacies are awaiting you at our café. You will find Laotian highlights and Swiss classics as well as tender local beef and a large variety of delicious snacks and fresh salad creations

Favorite Dish: Fish Choumkong ( Roll Fish with lemon grass cream sauce.

Every time the bus stopped in Laos, vendors would appear shoving their ware through the bus windows. We actually saw cooked rats on a stick, and other people buying and eating them. Sorry to say, we never worked up the nerve to try them.