Laos - Vientiane Restaurants and Bars

[dirtydog]

The thread of where to eat, where to drink, which are the best and worst places in Vientiane, actually I have to admit I was not disappointed with any of the restaurants we went to, ok the bars weren't quite on par with Soi Yodsak in Pattaya, but we didn't go there for the girls, although they are pretty damn good looking and quite friendly towards us nasty farangs, plus my friend is a TEFLer so he can't do those sort of nasty things us normal folks do, plus he is married aswell and his wife was with us so he didn't stand a chance.

So first restaurant is The Sweet Corner on Sihom Road which was opposite where we stayed at the Sihom Hotel Guesthouse place.

Actually Vientiane is pretty good for food, we done French food, Indian restaurants and still missed out on loads of other stuff like Pizza and that.

This restaurant I think is owned by a farang and is about 500 meters from the main street of restaurants by the Mekhong River.



Nice outdoor area for eating, never did see anybody eating inside but this is a newly opened restaurant.



The breakfast, scrambled eggs, bacon, ham and a roll.



Mine was ham and cheese baguette with french fries, this cost about 70baht, funny thing is coffee cost 35baht while a large beer Laos cost 30baht, I really should have started drinking in the day time



Backpackers menu for the restaurant.



It's about 28,000kip to 100baht or 3 US dollars, so that gives you an idea of the prices, personally I think the prices, food quality and selection is way ahead of Thailand, maybe it would have been good for Thailand if they had been taken over by the French.

[dirtydog]

We shall get to the lovely Indian restaurants in Vientiane later, for now lets stick with European food, although this place also done Thai food.

This is Addy Restaurant, it's on the wrong side of the road to be viewing the Mekhong river, but most of those places are for the night time, anyway we needed sandwiches or baguettes as the nasty French call them, these cost between 10,000 and 20,000 kip, ie 30 to 60baht so they aint gonna break the bank.

Cigarettes in Vientiane cost about 10baht per packet for the Laos and Chinese ones so they are quite a bargain.



Only reason we were inside was that it started raining.



Look at that lovely cheese and ham baguette, about 15,000kip.



This is my sausage and cheese roll, not sure what butter they use but it sure does taste good

[dirtydog]

This picture of NaZim Indian Restaurant i took in the day time, got to admit that evening it was a difficult choice between Indian or Mexican food, yep, there is that much choice in Vientiane.

Again this restaurant is down by the river Mekhong and on the wrong side of the road, but hell, who cares when your eating lovely Indian food.



So we got 3 curries, 2 rice and a mint nan bread, with a beer each the whole lot came to about 300baht, yep, Vientiane is damn cheap for food and beer.
So going from left to right let me introduce you to our dinner, vegetable curry, chicken madras, rogan josh, the rogan josh was my favourite, the mint nan bread was the first time I had eaten that, normally go for cheese or garlic.



Close up picture of the mint nan bread.



The lovely rogan josh, chicken it was.



Some of the menu.

[obsidian]

they used a cheese butter when was there that was wonderful.

[Mr Earl]

I could live there just for those NaZim indian restaurants. They're also in Vang Vien and Luang Prabang.
The expresso at the Scandinavian bakery is the best too, that those little butter cookies are positively evil!

[pesky tourist]

[quote=Mr Earl;523947]I could live there just for those NaZim indian restaurants. They're also in Vang Vien and Luang Prabang.

There's another branch of this family-owned chain in Huay Xai across the river from Chiang Khong.

[melvbot]

I went to Nazims on Monday, ordered chicken jalfrezi, steamed rice and garlic naan. The garlic naan was great, the steamed rice was steamed rice and the chicken jalfrezi was 95% vegetables, there were a few bitty strands of chicken in a mountain of cabbage, taste wise average to be honest and the value was poor for what was offered. I was pretty disappointed with the meal and will think twice about eating there again.

I ate at a couple of different places for breakfast and I cant say any was worth the 30,000 kip they charged for 2 eggs, ham, crap bacon, stupid hot dog cocktail sausages, coffee and bread, the bread being the only redeeming factor. Ive had better for the same price in Thailand.

[jarne]

hello
another nice tread.


been to Vientanne afew times as well as LP.

V gets a bit boring when you are used to pattaya living.

regarding the girls they are easy available in bars and #snackbars# where you select from the fishbowl and then join you at your table and you make a deal.
Have the same system in PP at many local restaurants.
A few gh/hotels dont allow girls in the room, but just ask before booking.
Ive tried Nazir but it was not to my liking. PP have great cheap indian food.
But they have great noodle soup in laos, wow, I really miss the noodle soup, and there is a lot of sweet girls.
Most of the massage places have nice girls and i have often brought two with me for dining and talking. And usually they give you a happy ending. Sweet girls.
They make their mama proud, for sure
Close to the wat by the river you have afew nice massage places and a traditional sauna. Around 25 b to enter the basic sauna facilities and on the second floor the have two lassies giving massasje. The last time i was there it was very much a local homo place so for me beeing keen on ladies it was a change for the worse. But check it out. In the same area as the swedish place.

If you do the visa run on your own you save 5000 bath compared to the 9900 b tours (double entry)
Regarding accomondation i find it a bit pricier than most places in thailand, but still ok.
In PP there is a million gh , newly built in good location ac/tv 7/10 us a night, but laos is more expensive. And so are the girls.
But for me going alone i get bored. To quiet in the night. I miss good gyms and loads of girls avaiable everywhere.
But the city is pleasant during daytime. The traffic is polite and quiet and the boulevards are wide and nice. its tidy
My friend did afew days on a dirt bike in lao during the rainy season and that was a kick. He wasnt happy about Vang V because of all the fucking know it all backpackers, but he recomended the biking.

Evertime ive been there i tell myself i wont come back, but i do.
Must be the noodle soup.

[dirtydog]

ahhh, that must have been it, it sure does taste good though.

So lets have a look at the street food in Vientiane, no where near as prolific as in Thailand and they eat frogs little cute ones that they BBQ.

[dirtydog]

Ok first up we got the Carlsberg bar boat on the mighty Mekhong river, this is a bar for the evenings, soft drinks cost half of what beer does so are not really worth drinking, 35baht a big beer sounds good to me.

The river you can see is flowing about as strongly as I can piss after a few beers, so mighty may not be the right word to describe it.



One of many similar restaurants on the banks of the river Mekhong.



Would look so much better if there was some water in the river.

[hooter]

I'm going to Vientiane for the 1st time mid-March interesting stuff.

[dirtydog]

So you want to be rich and look good in the street cafes of Laos?
Time to get some Lao Kip, for 4,000baht or about 120 US dollars you can become a Laos Millionaire, although I should mention that a note as small as a 500kip note wouldn't actually buy you anything, I was in an internet cafe, my bill came to 2,500kip, I gave her 5,000kip note, she gave me 2,000kip and 3 boiled sweets for change

The beer costs about 10,000kip for a large bottle, ie about 1 US dollar

[dirtydog]

The Nazim Indian Restaurant.



Some drink prices, beer costs two times as much as water and 10 percent more than a coke

[dirtydog]

The entrance to the Carlsberg beer boat on the river Mekong.

[dirtydog]

Had quite a few of these stall type places selling ham and cheese rolls, also got pate and that.



Farang food all over the place.



The Swedish Pizza and Baking house, this is off of the river front a bit and down a side street.



Or you could even try some Lao food.

[dirtydog]

This lady was the only food vendor I saw that actually carried her stuff with her.



The Wind West bar, only open in the evenings and has a live band.



The Victory Club, which consists of the Xaya snack bar, Xaytana Night Club and probably a few hot Lao girls

[MARC]

I notice that all the restaurant prices are in kip. My hotel advertises in USD$'s .
What is the preferred currency, $'s, baht, or kip?
Is the bridge the best place to change money to kip?
Thanks.

[ChiangMai noon]

Been a while since I went but i don't think you don't need to change baht for kip at all.
everybody is happy to accept the baht and give you change in kip for any item.

[dirtydog]

Dollars baht or Kip, it don't make a difference to them, just make sure you give small notes in whatever currencey.

[benbaaa]

Originally Posted by MARC

I notice that all the restaurant prices are in kip. My hotel advertises in USD$'s . What is the preferred currency, $'s, baht, or kip? Is the bridge the best place to change money to kip? Thanks.

Yep, me & Mrs BB stopped at a Martini bar early one evening to try a mango martini. The menu was all priced in US$, we paid the bill in Baht and they gave us change in Kip. Useful to be good at mental arithmetic in Laos.

We also went to that Nazim curry place and it was ok-ish, but I definitely get better Indian food here in Chiang Mai.