Vientiane Food Guide: Where to Eat the Best of Lao-French Fusion
Vientiane sits at one of the world's most delicious intersections: traditional Lao cuisine (Southeast Asia's least-known great food tradition) meets 70 years of French colonial influence (France ruled Laos from 1893-1953). The result is a city where you eat a perfect baguette sandwich for breakfast, a ferociously spicy laap for lunch, and a French-Lao fusion dinner that shouldn't work but absolutely does.
All for about $7-10 a day. Let me explain.
Why Vientiane's Food Is Special
Lao cuisine is the ancestor of Isan Thai food — the spicy, herb-heavy, sticky-rice-eating tradition of northeastern Thailand. In fact, more ethnic Lao people live in Thailand's Isan region than in all of Laos. The food is similar but distinct: Lao cooking uses padaek (fermented fish paste) where Thai uses fish sauce, the flavors lean more toward bitter herbs and raw vegetables, and sticky rice is eaten with every meal — literally, rolled into balls and used to scoop up dishes.
French colonialism left behind baguettes, pate, coffee culture, and pastries. Rather than replacing Lao food, these grafted onto it. The khao jee pate (baguette with pate and chili) is a Franco-Lao creation that exists nowhere else.
The Essential Dishes
Khao Jee Pate (Lao Baguette Sandwich)
A crusty French baguette split open and filled with pate, shredded chicken or pork, pickled vegetables, fresh herbs, and a smear of chili sauce. It costs 10,000-15,000 LAK ($0.50-0.75) from street vendors who set up carts near markets and schools starting at 6AM.
The baguette quality is genuinely good — crispy exterior, soft interior, baked fresh in the morning. The pate is smooth and rich. The chili sauce ties everything together.
Best vendor: the cart near the Patuxai roundabout, morning only. Also excellent at Le Banneton bakery (in proper bakery form for 25,000 LAK).
Laap (Minced Meat Salad)
The defining Lao dish. Minced meat (usually pork, chicken, or duck) mixed with lime juice, fish sauce, chili, shallots, mint, cilantro, and khao khoua (toasted rice powder that adds a nutty crunch). Served with a plate of raw vegetables — long beans, cabbage, basil — and endless sticky rice.
The flavor profile is aggressive: sour, spicy, herby, with the padaek (fermented fish paste) adding a deep umami funk that's more intense than Thai fish sauce. First-timers might find it challenging. Second-timers are addicted.
A plate at a local restaurant: 25,000-40,000 LAK. At the night market: 20,000 LAK.
Tam Mak Hoong (Papaya Salad)
Similar to Thai som tam but made with padaek instead of fish sauce, giving it a deeper, funkier flavor. Shredded green papaya pounded in a mortar with chili, lime, tomato, palm sugar, and crushed peanuts.
Ordering "pet" (spicy) gets you the local heat level, which is genuinely intense. "Bor pet" means mild. Even mild is spicy by most Western standards.
15,000-25,000 LAK at street stalls.
Khao Piak Sen (Lao Noodle Soup)
Thick, hand-rolled rice noodles in a rich chicken or pork broth with garlic, lemongrass, and galangal. Often served with fried garlic on top. This is Lao comfort food — the equivalent of chicken noodle soup, but with more depth and chewier noodles.
Breakfast food primarily. 20,000-30,000 LAK at morning market stalls.
Or Lam (Lao Stew)
A rich, complex stew from Luang Prabang that's available in better Vientiane restaurants. Made with buffalo or beef, eggplant, lemongrass, dill, chilies, and sa khan (a Lao wood vine that adds a bitter, numbing flavor). It's thick, dark, and deeply flavored — nothing like the clear, bright flavors of most SE Asian cooking.
50,000-80,000 LAK at restaurants like Kualao.
Where to Eat
Street Food & Markets
Mekong Night Market (Chao Anouvong Park area): The essential evening eating spot. Stalls selling grilled chicken, papaya salad, laap, sticky rice, and fresh juices. Most items 15,000-25,000 LAK. Opens at 5PM.
Morning Market (Talat Sao area): Breakfast stalls with khao piak sen, baguette vendors, and coffee. 6-10AM.
Khua Din Market: Less touristy, more local. Food stalls on the upper level serve authentic Lao home cooking for 15,000-25,000 LAK.
Bakeries & Cafes
Le Banneton: The best French bakery in Vientiane. Croissants, pain au chocolat, proper bread. The baker trained in France. Pastries 15,000-25,000 LAK. Coffee 20,000 LAK.
JoMa Bakery Cafe: Multiple locations. Excellent Lao coffee (grown on the Bolaven Plateau), pastries, and light meals. 20,000-50,000 LAK.
Sinouk Coffee: Lao-owned coffee chain using local beans. The iced coffee with condensed milk is exceptional. 15,000-25,000 LAK.
Restaurants
Kualao Restaurant: The best introduction to Lao cuisine in a proper restaurant setting. Tasting menus (100,000-150,000 LAK) cover a range of traditional dishes. The or lam and laap are excellent.
Makphet (formerly Kua Lao 2): A training restaurant for disadvantaged youth. The food is excellent Lao cuisine at fair prices (30,000-60,000 LAK mains). Good karma included.
Doi Ka Noi: Vietnamese-Lao fusion near the river. Pho and spring rolls alongside Lao dishes. 30,000-50,000 LAK.
The Beer Situation
Beer Lao is the national beer and it's genuinely good — a clean, crisp lager that's won medals at the World Beer Awards. 10,000 LAK ($0.50) at most bars and restaurants. The dark version (Beer Lao Dark) is richer and worth trying.
Beer Lao at a Mekong sunset bar is the cheapest luxury in Southeast Asia.
Daily Food Budget
Meal
Typical Cost
Breakfast (baguette + coffee)
25,000-35,000 LAK ($1.25-1.75)
Lunch (laap or noodles + drink)
30,000-50,000 LAK ($1.50-2.50)
Snack (fruit shake or pastry)
10,000-20,000 LAK ($0.50-1)
Dinner (night market)
40,000-60,000 LAK ($2-3)
Beer Lao x2
20,000-30,000 LAK ($1-1.50)
Daily Total
125,000-195,000 LAK ($6.25-9.75)
Under $10/day for three meals, a snack, and two beers. In a capital city. With food this good.
The Franco-Lao Paradox
Vientiane's food identity shouldn't work. French colonial cuisine and Lao village cooking are about as different as two food traditions can be — one built on butter and technique, the other on fermented fish and raw herbs.
But the combination creates something unique. A morning that starts with a flaky croissant and Lao drip coffee, moves to a ferociously spicy papaya salad for lunch, and ends with a sunset baguette sandwich stuffed with chili pate — that's a food day that no other city in the world can replicate. Travelers who enjoy this often also love Hanoi. If you're exploring the region, Bangkok offers a compelling comparison.
Vientiane's food scene hasn't been "discovered" by the international food media the way Bangkok's or Hanoi's have. The prices reflect that. The authenticity reflects that. And the experience — eating great food cheaply in a relaxed capital — reflects that too. For a different perspective, consider Chiang Mai as well. Travelers who enjoy this often also love Luang Prabang.
