Visit only 3 places in Luang Prabang that are near must see places and you can taste at least 10 traditional and authentic Luang Prabang food already. I chose Xieng Thong Phonsavanh restaurant because you can taste at least 4 there. Go to Xieng Thong Noodle Soup restaurant near Wat Xiengthong and you can taste one. Then go to the Night Market and you get to taste 4, as well as 4 kinds of beer: the Beer Lao classic or original, the dark lager, the limited edition IPA, and the white lager. Yum!!!
Xieng Thong Phonsavanh Restaurant
The food is truly delicious and the price is not expensive.
WHEN TO DINE
If your accommodations are at Mekong Riverview Hotel or somewhere in the vicinity of the Hotel Villa Deux Rivieres, where we stayed, the best time to try this restaurant is at dinnertime since it's an easy walk back to the hotel after dinner. We dined at this place after doing the Sasa sunset cruise along the Mekong River.
LOCATION
MENU
THESE ARE WHAT WE ORDERED
LARB
(Minced fish cooked with herbs)
The "unofficial" national dish of Laos
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Spicy minced fish cooked with herbs (larb)... (50,000 kip or 290 php or 6 usd) My tip: Be careful getting the meat submerged in sauce. It's VERY SPICY!!! |
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...to be wrapped with lettuce, dill and mint. |
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Larb is a minced meat salad that may be made of fish, chicken, pork, etc
This restaurant serves fish larb.
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KAIPEN
(Mekong weed)
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Crunchy Mekong river weed (20,000 kip or 115 php or 2.25 usd) It is usually eaten with Jaew. The river weed is dried green algae with sesame seeds and garlic, fried before serving. Check out this post: How Kaipen is Made |
JAEW
(Fish penny sauce)
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Spicy fish penny sauce (jaew) or fish eggs sauce, used as viand when paired with rice or as dip when paired with Mekong weed. (20,000 kip or 115 php or 2.25 usd) |
STICKY RICE
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Sticky rice (5000 kip or 30 php or .60 usd) |
DEEP FRIED SHRIMP IN GARLIC
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Deep fried shrimp in garlic (60,000 kip or 345 php or 7 usd) |
MY TIP: The restaurant has 2 seating areas: one inside the main restaurant along the road, and the other across the main restaurant with view of the river. The view of the restaurant is the area where the Nam Khan river joins the Mekong river. It's nicer to seat in the area with river view.
XIENG THONG NOODLE SOUP
WHEN TO DINE
Since this place is just 200-300 meters walk from Wat Xiengthong, the best time to dine at this place is before or after you visit Wat Xiengthong in the morning. The restaurant opens from 7:00 AM to 2:00 PM daily so it's best to time the visit to Wat Xiengthong in the morning to also be able to dine at this place.
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This is the lunch time crowd We were there at 12:30 PM on a Friday. |
LOCATION
MENU
THIS IS WHAT WE ORDERED
KAO PIAK SEN
(Noodle Soup)
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Noodle Soup, Pork, Egg (14000 kip or 80php or 1.6 usd) |
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Seasoning |
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Spices you can add to the soup |
BEER LAO
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Beer Lao in Can (7000 kip or 40 php or .8 usd) |
LUANG PRABANG NIGHT MARKET
The first time we attempted to dine at the night market we found it difficult to find. We went through endless rows of stalls in makeshift tents selling goods like clothes, housewares and souvenirs before finding the night market food area. At some point, we got lost. So I felt there's a need to make this guide.
The night market stalls are in makeshift tents. They are not visible during the day. Tents are only set up late afternoon of every day to prepare for the night market. When we explored the Royal Palace the next day, we didn't realize that the road across it, Sisavangvong Road, was actually the location of the night market that we visited the night before. Not until we visited the night market again next day did we realize that the night market actually disappears during the day. The night market doesn't just close during the day. The tents actually disappear during the day.
The night market is along Sisavangvong Road, from Haw Pha Bang, across the Royal Palace, until Kitsalat Road. It's about half a kilometer of stalls set up in the late afternoon of every day. So where can we find the night market street food?
LOCATION OF NIGHT MARKET STREET FOOD
The night market street food area is on the road perpendicular to Sisavangvong Road. It's actually more of an alley than a road. It's the road between Indigo House and the Tourist Information Center. You can actually use Indigo House as point of reference in google maps.
When you walk through that alley, this is what you will see:
HOW TO ORDER
There are waitresses in charge of each food stall. You tell them what your order is and then they will find you a seat. Due to the limitation on the number of seats available, seats are usually shared with other diners. Turnover of diners is fast so you don't wait long. We were there on a weekday and on a weekend and we were seated immediately.
For grilled food, you get a plate and get the food that you want and then they grill it again to heat it. The stall below is where we ordered our food.
WHAT WE ORDERED
STICKY RICE
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The only rice available is sticky rice. But it's the perfect rice to balance the spiciness of the dish |
PAPAYA SALAD
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They ask how spicy you want the papaya salad to be. |
LAO SAUSAGE
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MUST NOT MISS!!! The Lao sausage is so delicious that we returned to the night market on our last night to eat it again. There's so much depth in the flavor of this sausage because of the variety of herbs and spices used. I wasn't able to ask the locals what's in it but online research showed that it has mint, basil, lemongrass, cilantro, galangal, shallot, garlic, fish sauce, lime leaf and chili. |
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One serving of Lao sausage They grill it again and then cut it. The Lao sausage is so delicious because of the pork without extenders and the multitude of herbs mixed with it. |
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Grilled fish, chicken and Lao sausage |
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This is what we ordered on the first night. This meal costs 136,000 kip (780 php or 15 usd) It consists of: 3 orders of sticky rice 1 grilled fish 1 skewer of grilled chicken 1 Lao sausage 1 order of papaya salad 3 orders of Beer Lao |
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This is what we ordered on our second night. The red dipping sauce is for the sausage. The Lao sausage with dipping sauce is so spicy and so delicious!!! This meal costs 67,000 kip (385 php or 8 usd) It consists of: 2 orders sticky rice 2 orders Lao sausage
(our 2nd serving of sausage is not in the photo) 1 order of papaya salad 1 Beer Lao |
BEER LAO
Of course we had to try the Beer Lao. We tried the Dark Lager, the Limited Edition IPA (India Pale Ale) and the White Lager. It's the first time I tried the IPA and among all three, I liked the IPA the most.
So what is IPA?
"India pale ale (IPA) is a beefed-up version of pale ale, made using more hops and with a higher alcohol content. Created in England, the name is a result of its popularity with British troops stationed in India in the 19th century, when the subcontinent was still a British colony. However, there is some dispute about exactly how and why it was invented.
The most popular theory is that IPA was created to survive the tough, months-long trip from Britain to India through tropical weather with no refrigeration. “They upped the hops and [alcohol by volume in pale ale], and the beer not only made the voyage, but the troops loved it,” says Julia Herz, the craft beer program director at the Brewers Association in Boulder, Colorado."(source: https://www.chowhound.com/food-news/55095/what-does-india-have-to-do-with-india-pale-ale/)
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Us enjoying our beer! |
COCONUT PANCAKE
For dessert you can try the delicious coconut pancake. Many stores are selling these at the entrance of the night market street food area/road/alley.
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5,000 kip (28 php or .6 usd) for 5 pieces of coconut pancake |
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Delicious coconut pancake |