Where To Eat
The cheapest places for food are markets, food stalls and noodle shops. Found in most towns throughout Laos, morning markets ( talat sao) remain open all day despite their name and provide a focal point for noodle shops ( han khai foe), coffee vendors, fruit stands and sellers of crusty loaves of French bread. In Louang Phabang and Vientiane, vendors hawking pre-made dishes gather in evening markets known as talat laeng towards late afternoon. Takeaways such as grilled chicken ( ping kai), spicy papaya salad ( tam mak hung) and, sometimes, dishes ranging from minced pork salad ( lap mu) to stir-fried vegetables ( khua phak), are all available. Noodle shops and some food stalls feature a makeshift kitchen surrounded by a handful of tables and stools, inhabiting a permanent patch of pavement or even an open-air shophouse. Most stalls will specialize in only one general food type, or even only one dish, for example a stall with a mortar and pestle, unripe papayas and plastic bags full of pork rinds will only offer spicy papaya salads. Similarly, a noodle shop will generally only prepare noodles with or without broth - they won't have meat or fish dishes that are usually eaten with rice. A step up from street stalls and noodle shops are han kin deum, literally "eat-drink shops" where you'll find a somewhat greater variety of dishes, as well as beer and whisky. Outside the major tourist centres, street stalls and noodle shops rarely stay open beyond 8pm. Most proper restaurants ( han ahan) are open-air establishments of dubious hygiene. Ethnic Vietnamese and Chinese dominate the restaurant scene in Laos, as many Lao simply don't eat out. A Lao-food restaurant is identifiable by a bowl of water placed on a stool near the entrance - for diners to wash their hands - and, of course, the tip khao (lidded wicker basket for sticky rice) on the tables next to diners. Many of these basic eateries won't have any menus - in Lao or English - so it's a good idea to memorize a few stock dishes. Restaurants catering more to foreigners usually have an English menu and offer fried noodles and fried rice as well as a variety of Lao, Chinese and Thai dishes. Vientiane has a range of more expensive gourmet Lao restaurants, as well as some of the best international food in Southeast Asia. A meal in one of these places won't cost more than $10.
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