Eating in Vientiane, Laos – Part 3 – Non-Asian places to eat

Following on from Eating in Laos – Part 2 – Asian restaurants, I’ve organised this chapter into the non-Asian eateries from our holiday in Vientiane.

Senglao Cafe

Our friends took us to Senglao Café, an American/Asian-fusion eatery serving rice dishes, pasta, pizza, salads, steaks and sandwiches.

The retro movie themed fit out includes old cinema chairs, old cars, statues of Elvis and Marilyn Monroe. It is a more upmarket restaurant compared to other eateries in Vientiane. Some popcorn is provided for us to nibble on while we peruse the menu. Warm bread rolls (a little sweet and reminded me of dense scones) also arrive with some whipped butter on the side.

I tried a fresh lemonade – a popular drink in Laos made with fresh lime juice, syrup instead of sugar, and topped with soda water. Senglao has its own branded lime soda (20,000 kip). I had to check whether the ice was safe to have in our drinks, and our friends assured us that it was safe.

I order the seafood spaghetti with basil and chilli (unsure of price). By Australian portion sizes, the servings are rather small. However, as it was warm (30 degrees), I found that I actually didn’t need to eat much. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from an Italian spaghetti in Laos. Simple flavours and a slight chilli hit.

Mr FPJ orders the spinach, garlic and chilli fettucine.

We stay for dessert where we share the oreo pancake. These are chocolate pancakes sandwiched between cream, with fresh bananas and apple on the side, served with vanilla ice cream. Pretty basic dessert.

Our friends order the banana pancake stack which is served with cream, vanilla ice cream, and choc chips.

The food didn’t blow me away but Senglao is located within a quiet area and there’s a decent sized space for kids to explore.

The Italian Job

After some sightseeing at Pha That Luang, the great golden stupa, our friends drive us to The Italian Job which is their favourite pizza place in Vientiane. There is plenty of outdoor and indoor seating with wood fired ovens for the pizzas. I start off with a lime soda.

We order a Capricciosa pizza (75,000 kip), homemade gnocchi bolognese (78,000 kip), and a chicken salad (55,000 kip) to share. The pizza is surprisingly good. The dough has good elasticity and puffy edges just how I like it, while still being a thin pizza with minimal toppings. Very tasty.

I love fresh gnocchi and this didn’t disappoint. I would have eaten more of it had I been hungrier.

The chicken salad was massive and there was enough to take home for another day.

Paradice

One hot afternoon, we get some ice cream at Paradice. It’s a small shop front with about 6 flavours at the front counter, or several mini-boxes of ice cream in different flavours in the freezer.

I choose the pandan, while the others choose the banana rum, and honey and ginger (18,000 – 20,000 kip each). It’s a decent serving size as the box is packed quite densely to the top. We enjoy this at the Paradice outdoor undercover area where tap water and some kind of tamarind juice is provided.

La Cage du Coq

One night we had dinner at La Cage du Coq, a French restaurant in town. The wait staff bring over colouring pens and paper for our friends’ 2 year old. The menu is split with French on one page, and English on the other page.

For an entrée, I choose the camembert and morning glory raviolis (49,000 kip) which come served two ways – fried and boiled in a broth.  This is slightly salty from the Camembert but hot and gooey from being fried/boiled.

I pick the restaurant’s signature dish, the duck breast stuffed with foie gras and Armagnac sauce (128,000 kip) as my main. It is the last dish to arrive at the table. The duck breast is cooked beautifully (I’m always afraid that it’s overdone). The foie gras is a little slimy and dense, and not as soft as expected. I love the fettucine and baked potatoes that accompany the dish. A very filling but rich dish.

Mr FPJ chooses the duck leg confit with roasted potatoes and mushrooms (84,000 kip). The confit duck is a little dry and the overall dish is quite plain (it is exactly as per the menu description), and he regretted not trying something different and more unique.

Our friends order the Lao beef skewers with grilled vegetables (93,000 kip),

And the duck breast covered in a coffee sauce (104,000 kip) which is from the specials menu.

We all share a dessert tasting platter café gourmand (84,000 kip) – a little tricky to share between four but it was nice to finish off with something sweet.

La Cage du Coq was the most expensive meal we had in Vientiane. However, this option should be considered if you’re in the mood for fancy French cuisine.

Gringo’s Taco Bar

Our friends take us to Gringo’s Taco Bar, the main Mexican eatery in town. We got there in time for 2-for-1 margaritas on a Friday night (between 4pm-7pm). Gringo’s is a food truck run by an American and serves all sorts of tacos, burritos, flaming enchiladas, nachos, and quesadillas.

There is an indoor playground for kids that is air-conditioned which is a bonus. Luckily it was winter time in Laos (still around 30 degrees for ‘winter’) and not too humid, as there is only outdoor undercover seating available.

The others order margaritas of course.

One of the starters is some jalapeno blooms (25,000 kip) stuffed with corn and cheese, crumbed, fried and served with sweet and sour sauce.

I order a whole beef quesadilla (45,000 kip, while a half size is 35,000 kip) filled with cheddar cheese, caramelised onions, roasted bell peppers which is then toasted on a griddle.

We share the chicken taco salad (45,000 kip). Fried tortilla shells line a bowl and come served with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, black beans, cheddar cheese, fresh corn with house made zesty ranch dressing.

For dessert, I try the apple tacos (28,000 kip). These are the best! I’ve never actually had apple tacos before but these are delicious – crunchy sweet tacos that hold its integrity under the weight of a generous portion of stewed cinnamon apple, whipped cream and a drizzle of caramel sauce. It is served hot and is very similar to a hot apple pie. The description describes it as hot apple sauce so it was fantastic to find out that actually meant apple chunks.

Our friends order the flaming banana tortilla (35,000 kip) of fresh banana cooked in butter, Grand Marnier liquor and orange juice served in a flour tortilla. This is topped with fresh cream and caramel before being set alight and flambéed at the table. From the impressive fire, there is a lot of liquor in it.

Once Upon a Time Cafe

After exploring Buddha Park outside of town, our friends take us to Once Upon a Time café, a fairy-tale themed café. Apart from the clock tower like display outside, fairy-tale artwork and décor inside, that’s where the theme stops.

The dishes include curries, noodles, rice dishes with a mix of Vietnamese and Thai cuisine. No fairy-tale themed names. The red chicken curry with butterfly pea steamed rice is a nice meal and not too spicy as we asked for a mild version.

We also order the pad thai chicken which is surprisingly tasty and flavoursome.

My iced coffee with coconut arrives after our main dishes. It goes down very quickly!

ATMO

We try French bar ATMO, but mainly because we needed the free wifi! The bartender is very friendly and came up with all the cocktail specials himself. Mr FPJ orders the carrot bourbon (50,000 kip) on the cocktail specials menu. It has bourbon, lemon, honey and carrot juice in it and he very much enjoyed the flavours.

Coco & Co

We wander over to Coco & Co for an after lunch dessert snack of waffles. Coco & Co is a vegan restaurant and the waffles are freshly made. There is a choice of ice creams and I choose coconut which comes served in a martini glass (unsure of price).

My friend orders the waffle with fruits (unsure of price) which looks great with in-season mango, dragon fruit, banana, and a side of honey.

The Cabana

For breakfast one morning, our friends drive us to a wholesome café, The Cabana. Our friends often go to The Cabana as they have the best coffee in the capital. There are cold brews, milkshakes and cold pressed juices and shakes.

I order a hot matcha and espresso latte (30,000 kip) which I’ve never seen on a menu or tried before. Usually it’s pure matcha, or a matcha chai mix so I am very curious about this. I really enjoy the double caffeine hit of matcha with espresso. I love that they keep the pure and slight bitterness of matcha, with the edginess of the espresso, without drowning it in sugar. I’m hoping I can replicate it at home. In Vientiane, there’s no raw sugar for coffee but sugar syrup is used. I also order the mango, banana, passionfruit shake (30,000 kip), while Mr FPJ orders and cold pressed orange juice (25,000 kip).

I love my baked eggs, and as it is a rainy grey cool morning, I order the summer shakshuka (50,000 kip or AUD $8.50). This is rather expensive compared to our other breakfasts, but it is one of the more hipster and non-traditional eateries in Vientiane. The shakshuka comes with a poached egg, smoked sausage, onion, capsicum, grilled tomato and cumin paprika sauce served with house made sourdough.

Mr FPJ orders the banana pancakes with fresh banana, house made salted caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream (40,000 kip).

Our friends order the fruit plank with slices of mango, banana and passionfruit topped with sunflower seeds, fresh mint, thickened cream, and mulberry jam on buttered sourdough (35,000 kip).

And The Great Lake home made bagel with scrambled eggs, smoked salmon, cream and herbs (46,000 kip).

That’s it for our trip to Vientiane. I hope you’ve liked the posts! Links to previous Vientiane posts below.

Eating in Vientiane – Part 1
Eating in Vientiane – Part 2

Eateries visited

• Senglao – Located inside Ban Naxay, Nongbone Road
• The Italian Job – Ban Thongkhan, Street 10
• ATMO – Hengboun Road (next to Lao Kitchen restaurant)
• Paradice – Rue Phonpapao
• Coco & Co – Rue Setthathilath
• Gringo’s Taco Bar – Sokpaluang Rd. Hom 9
• La Cage du Coq – Hengbounnoy street, Ban Haysok
• ATMO – Hengboun Road
• Once Upon a Time Cafe – Saphanthong Nuea
• The Cabana – 15-16 Quai Fa Ngum

Advice/Tips

• Eateries don’t tend to have a website, only a Facebook page.
• Take lots of insect repellant
• Try all the French bakeries!
• Take advantage of the cheap prices for food and eat out

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