As of today, we have been in Vientiane for a month. In that time, we have yet to cook a meal for ourselves. Actually, a couple of days ago, I scrambled some eggs to try out our new French-made frying pan (we eschewed the cheaper, lead-infused Chinese one) that I felt compelled to buy. Other than that, we have eaten every lunch/dinner in some local restaurant (breakfast - coffee and fresh fruit - we eat at home). The reasons are two-fold. One, shopping for local foodstuffs seems a bit labor intensive, and our kitchen, with its two-burner hotplate and lack of counter space, is not conducive to culinary extravaganza. Two, the restaurants here are ridiculously cheap and the food is fantastic.
Our first ten days in town we mostly wandered around Central Vientiane looking for places to eat. We had fresh fish on the banks of the Mekong (whipped up by a lady we dubbed the “Galloping Gourmet”), sampled local Lao cuisine with its Thai, Vietnamese and Chinese influences, enjoyed lovely salads w/ fresh lettuce, tomato and cucumber, and delved into the simple pleasures of kao niao, or sticky rice, the staple of every good Lao meal. We couldn’t help but notice immediately that everything was cheap, and everything was delicious.
How cheap? It is difficult to spend more than five bucks on lunch for two or more than ten bucks on dinner. The most expensive thing either of us has ever ordered in any restaurant is less than six dollars. The large Beer Lao, enough for two nice frosty mugs, is a little over a dollar. We haven’t tried any of the highly regarded French restaurants in town yet (although we both have birthdays coming up!), but they too are supposed to be absurdly inexpensive for the quality of the cuisine.
How delicious? I told Jen today as we were completing our lunch of red coconut curry chicken w/ fresh basil and pork and spring onion omelet (served with soup & rice, of course), washed down by icy fresh lemonade, “I’ve forgotten my previous life as an eater”. As I paid the bill of $4.80, I realized that I was just exaggerating a little. One place, a restaurant called Mak Phet (Red Pepper), has provided me with probably the most extraordinary flavor experience ever. My taste buds may never recover! BTW, it is staffed by really sweet ex-street kids, who are trained to be cooks and waiters (see slide show). It is just one of many places we have had fabulous Lao food.
Now that we live out in the neighborhoods, we have a rotation of 5 or 6 local places where we eat. All are within a six minute walk of our house. The cheapest, a lunch place called Nang Vong, sells a lunch special (three home-cooked items, plus rice, soup and plenty of cold drinking water) for $1.20. Ridiculous! The most expensive, Kop Kap, features a whole fresh fish, smothered in garlic, red pepper and fresh herbs, for $4.40. Absolutely out of this world (if you like that sort of thing), it is the most expensive item on the menu!
The Lao take their food seriously, consistently producing high quality dishes for relatively little cost. That being said, there are countless street food vendors, literally on every corner, churning out steaming plates of god-knows-what at a fraction of what we are paying. This is where most of the locals eat. I guess we are still conditioning ourselves for the inevitable foray into the “grilled frog on a stick” or “deep fried insects” that represents a true exploration of Lao cuisine. [Photos courtesy of J.M. Herrin]
Our first ten days in town we mostly wandered around Central Vientiane looking for places to eat. We had fresh fish on the banks of the Mekong (whipped up by a lady we dubbed the “Galloping Gourmet”), sampled local Lao cuisine with its Thai, Vietnamese and Chinese influences, enjoyed lovely salads w/ fresh lettuce, tomato and cucumber, and delved into the simple pleasures of kao niao, or sticky rice, the staple of every good Lao meal. We couldn’t help but notice immediately that everything was cheap, and everything was delicious.
How cheap? It is difficult to spend more than five bucks on lunch for two or more than ten bucks on dinner. The most expensive thing either of us has ever ordered in any restaurant is less than six dollars. The large Beer Lao, enough for two nice frosty mugs, is a little over a dollar. We haven’t tried any of the highly regarded French restaurants in town yet (although we both have birthdays coming up!), but they too are supposed to be absurdly inexpensive for the quality of the cuisine.
How delicious? I told Jen today as we were completing our lunch of red coconut curry chicken w/ fresh basil and pork and spring onion omelet (served with soup & rice, of course), washed down by icy fresh lemonade, “I’ve forgotten my previous life as an eater”. As I paid the bill of $4.80, I realized that I was just exaggerating a little. One place, a restaurant called Mak Phet (Red Pepper), has provided me with probably the most extraordinary flavor experience ever. My taste buds may never recover! BTW, it is staffed by really sweet ex-street kids, who are trained to be cooks and waiters (see slide show). It is just one of many places we have had fabulous Lao food.
Now that we live out in the neighborhoods, we have a rotation of 5 or 6 local places where we eat. All are within a six minute walk of our house. The cheapest, a lunch place called Nang Vong, sells a lunch special (three home-cooked items, plus rice, soup and plenty of cold drinking water) for $1.20. Ridiculous! The most expensive, Kop Kap, features a whole fresh fish, smothered in garlic, red pepper and fresh herbs, for $4.40. Absolutely out of this world (if you like that sort of thing), it is the most expensive item on the menu!
The Lao take their food seriously, consistently producing high quality dishes for relatively little cost. That being said, there are countless street food vendors, literally on every corner, churning out steaming plates of god-knows-what at a fraction of what we are paying. This is where most of the locals eat. I guess we are still conditioning ourselves for the inevitable foray into the “grilled frog on a stick” or “deep fried insects” that represents a true exploration of Lao cuisine. [Photos courtesy of J.M. Herrin]
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