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Laos Food

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Lao cuisine is similar to its Thai and Vietnamese neighbour’s culinary offerings. Spicy soup, rice and a range of meat-based side dishes make up a meal, shared by all at the table. Some of the raw vegetables can be used to cool your mouth when the chilis are overwhelming. Rice is the staple carbohydrate. The standard kind is sticky rice, eaten by hand from small baskets called Tip Khao. Using your right hand, pinch off a bit, roll into a ball, dip and munch away.

Popular Dishes Suggested to Try

Laap (also called larb, a national dish), a "salad" of minced meat mixed with herbs, spices, lime juice and, more often than not, blistering amounts of chili. Unlike Thai larb, the Lao version can use raw meat (dip) instead of cooked meat (suk), and if prepared with seafood makes a tasty if spicy carpaccio.
Tam Maak Hung, the spicy green papaya salad known as Som Tam in Thailand, but which the Lao like to dress with fermented crab and a chunky, intense fish sauce called Pa Daek, resulting in a stronger flavor than the milder, sweeter Thai style.
Ping Kai, spicy grilled chicken
Mok Pa, fish steamed in a banana leaf.

Guests-Picked Restaurants
Vientiane
Aria Italian Culinary Arts	8 Rue Francois Nginn, Ban Mixai
L'Adresse de Tinay	Wat Ongteu
Lao Kitchen	Rue opposite KP Hotel
Makphet Resturant	Sethathirat Road, Chanthabouly District
Noy's Fruit Heaven	Heng Boun Road, Ban Haysok
Xang Khoo Restaurant	68 Pangkham Road
Luang Prabang
Mekong Riverview Hotel	Mekong Riverside Road, Xieng Thong Village
Riverloft Restaurant	80 Kingkitsarath Road (Formerly Arthouse Cafe)
Tangor	House No.636, Ban Xiengmouane, Rue Sisavangvong
Blue Lagoon Restaurant	Ban Choumkong, beside the former Royal Palace or National Museum
Delilah's Place	Chao Fa Ngum Road, Wat That
Rosella Fusion Restaurant	Group 114, Kingkitsarat Road, Ban Vat Sene Village
Pakse
Le Panorama	Street no. 5, Bane Watlouang
Champady Restaurant	Stree 12, South of Stree 13
Bolaven Cafe	Highway 13 South, across from Sang Aloon Hotel
Xuan Mai	On the Corner near Hotel PakseDaolin Restaurant Cafe
Daolin Restaurant Cafe	Road 13, Thaulang Quarter
Vang Vieng
La Verandah Restaurant	Vang Vieng keo
A.M.D Restaurant	Ban Viengkeo
Kangaroo Sunset Bar	River Road, Corner of Blue Lagoon Turn Off, Past the Hospital
Jungle Restaurant	River Road
River Spirit	Sisavang Street, Ban Viengkeo