Vientiane and the northwest - The Rough Guide to Laos - page 121

Enjoy it iced or hot, whichever you prefer, but be sure to order a couple of the home-made
chocolate truffles - you won't be disappointed. Daily 8.30am-6.30pm.
Scandinavian Bakery On the northern edge of Nam Phou Place 021 215199, scand-
inavianbakerylaos.com ; map . Vientiane's first European bakery is still going strong, selling
huge sandwiches, traditional Swedish cakes and refreshing lemonade (11,000K). Views of
the fountain have been all but obscured by new buildings, but the coffee makes up for it.
Daily 7am-9pm.
True Coffee Setthathilat Rd; map . City-sized, American-style café serving all the usual caf-
feine kicks (espresso 14,000K) plus some interesting variations such as English toffee latte
and choc-chip-twist coffee. There are five Skype-ready computers inside, with internet ac-
cess available by the hour (8000K). Daily 8am-6pm.
RESTAURANTS
Most of Vientiane's restaurants open for lunch and then again for dinner, but no-frills places
usually stay open throughout the day, closing around 9pm. In most Western restaurants you'll
pay on average $4 for each course, and even in more upmarket restaurants you'll rarely
spend more than $15 unless you get into the wine. Brunch buffets are on offer at the big
international-style hotels like the Mercure and Lao Plaza Hotel for roughly $10. Although
we've split restaurants here into two main categories - Asian and Western - most places offer
at least a couple of dishes from both regions.
ASIAN
Jamil Zahid Off Khoun Boulom Rd 030 990 9456; map . Tucked down an alley near the
western end of Heng Boun Road, this shed-like Indian place does superb Punjabi curries,
plus tandoor-cooked naans and tasty dahls. The eccentric owner is a camera fanatic, so
expect to have your picture taken and shown on the restaurant's dusty TV screen. Daily
11am-10.30pm.
Katenoy Chao Anou Rd, opposite Nazim 020 5539 4290; map . Simple Lao place with
plastic chairs and tables set outside on a dusty plot of land, doing cheap fruit shakes
(10,000K), draught beer by the jug, and an excellent spicy rice salad with holy basil
(20,000K). Daily 6pm-late.
LaoKitchen Heng Boun Rd 021 254332, lao-kitchen.com ; map . An excellent, reas-
onably priced option for first-time visitors who want to experiment with Lao food and know
exactly what they're ordering. The house special is a fresh-tasting chicken larp (34,000K),
but the menu also extends to regional dishes like spicy, Pakse-style sausage, with a good se-
lection of dips to choose from. Daily 11am-10pm.
Makphet Behind Wat Ong Teu, south of Setthathilat Rd 021 260587; map . Upscale,
not-for-profit restaurant on a quiet backstreet in the centre of town offering a modern take on
classic Lao dishes. The place is run by former street kids who were trained up for the job.