Monday, August 4, 2008

Food Trip in Luang Prabang and Vang Vieng


Posting these culinary delights is always such a pleasure. Could travel be as fun and adventurous without the gastronomic and gustatory experience to be had in these interesting places? They’re more than half the thrill as I partake the delicious and the not-so-delicious; the not-so-pricey and the dirt cheap. Here are a few of those which I was able to document. Several have not been documented out of the urgency of an appetite. Ha ha ;-> Bon appétit!


Fried chicken with vermicelli soup (the microscopic chicken bits are somewhere in the mix), Phousi Guesthouse and Restaurant, 20,000 kip ($2.50). Pepsi was 4,000 kip ($0.50). It took me half an hour to decide where to have this meal coz there’s so much option. This is located at one of the side streets of Sisavangvong; one which leads to the Mekong riverside.

Phousi Guesthouse and Restaurant



A sidestreet of Sisavangvong where Phousi Restaurant is located.

A sticky rice cake with a very tentative taste. You need to dunk it into any of the sauces provided. 10,000 kip, 2 pieces.

Bakery Restaurant and Guesthouse. A favorite hang out and dining place along Sisavangvong.

My 27,000 kip ($3.38) meal at the Le Tam Tam Garden Restaurant; Coke at 8,000 kip ($1); steamed rice at 5,000 kip ($0.65). It is delicious as it looks. My dessert was dragonfruit. I bought a pineapple pie for 5,000 kip and forgot to take it along with me.

Le Tam Tam Garden Restaurant and Guesthouse, Sisavangvong Road. Laos people are a brilliant culinary people; the way they mix their spices, vegetables and garnishes.

Luang Prabang’s dragonfruit has a purplish juice which stains your hand and lips. It took several vigorous washes before I was able to remove (not completely) the reddish stain. A dragonfruit I bought from the Robinsons in Manila has an offwhite or colorless flesh and Laos’variety is way sweeter, juicier and messier to eat. Price: 5,000 kip per piece ($0.65)

Fruits galore: elongated mangoes, green oranges. Durian, watermelon, lansones, rambutan, mangosteen. Manila mangoes are a lot sweeter. Ask big band crooner and actor Harry Connick, Jr. (last seen in the movieP.S. I Love You” and “Bug- and recently had an immensely entertaining concert at the Philippine Interternational Convention Center.)


Stir fried chicken with cashew nuts. Tatmor Restaurant, along Sisavangvong. 20,000 kip ($2.50). Now I enjoyed this meal thoroughly, the taste and crunch of cashew on a fantastic mixture of ingredients and the perfect and mildest of spiciness. As a rule, I don’t like spicy food. But I loved this one. That’s why I was wondering why Tatmor had so few customers.

Tatmor Restaurant, along Sisavangvong. A cozy dining place.

Roast pork, just along the main highway in Vang Vieng. Ang sarap! 14,000 kip ($1.75). Khao nio (sticky rice) is 2,000 kip ($0.25). Pepsi can is 6,000 kip ($0.75). Donuts – 2 pieces,10,000 kip ($1.25). Laos is Pepsi Country. This is probably one of the few places on earth where Coca Cola plays second fiddle to Pepsi. I found that a lot of the locals aren’t very familiar with Coke. I am a Coke person myself.

Pork rice meal. Bus stop, Vang Vieng, 15,000 kip ($1.88). A horrendous meal that needed bone crackers.
















19 comments:

Unknown said...

very nice. nagutom tuloy ako. ;->

Anonymous said...

hey man if you ever need an assistant... holler up this way.

eye in the sky said...

@lucy: me too.

@anonymous: which way? lol. thanks for dropping by.

Twin said...

I love the dragonfruit being sold here. Good thing have not encountered the purplish stain you were describing...

thescientificlolita said...

Your post had me drooling in no time.

You should visit Taiwan; the food is just as cheap, and also delicious.

I would love to travel to the countries you have, but as of now it's not in my future cause of my skin condition. Sigh...And I know what it's like to buy food and forget it, I do it often, ahaha.

I'm going to keep an eye on you, a travel blog is always something I'd like to read (:

x said...

wow, wow, woooow!!!!! they all look good! and those dragon fruits! wow. :D

eye in the sky said...

@ rica: maybe it's a reginal variety. i honestly haven't tried the dragonfruits i saw in vietnam, thailand or jakarta so i cannot say for sure. basta yung sa robinsons supermarket, puti or offwhite at P55/piece (they were sliced and packed already). and not as sweet.

eye in the sky said...

@rica: i meant, "regional" hehe

Twin said...

btw eye, got a coke from a co-worker who's now based in vietnam. yes, looks like ours but cool pa rin makakita ng vietnamese characters maski small lang :)

eye in the sky said...

@ nana: taiwan is already in the horizon. would be cool to have taiwan in my pages. i do have some concerns. a friend told me that it is expensive, but i'll take your word for it. re: delicious taiwanese food, oh yeah. the same friend couldn't stop drooling, telling me how good food was. :->

and i am going to keep my eye on yours. you seem to put your heart on your sleeve, while writing about it pretty well too. that's refreshing.

i met a taiwanese girl in vientiane and she was quite a sophisticate. we have become fast friends as we shared a bench while waiting for our rides. hers was luang prabang. mine was savannakhet. i owed this girl huge coz she was able to notice how our tickets got interchanged 5 minutes prior to each of our buses' departure! we would have taken the wrong bus! lol

eye in the sky said...

@ acey: as good as your avocado concoction, i'm sure. :->

eye in the sky said...

@ rica: ayun, so you have a friend even in vietnam! where in the world don't you have a friend? :-> i rememebered "friends" from the U.S., switzerland, now vietnam...

Twin said...

mas maraming kang friends sa kin, millions of viewers around the globe, countries we even haven't heard of! you're a travelling ambassador :) hehe

Abou said...

prutas! pagkain! im salivating he he

eye in the sky said...

@abou: ako din. :->

Twin said...

A short plug from a blogger-friend...
What: Buhay Coke Vlog Contest Announcement of Winners Party
When: August 8, 2008, Friday, 6:00 p.m. onwards
Where: Taste Asia at the Mall of Asia
Wassup?: Announcement of winners and just simply to parteeh the Taste Asia way!

There's room for 500 people! So kindly spread the word too! Free food!

My post is at http://aileenapolo.blogspot.com/2008/07/buhay-coke-party-ulit-announcement-of.html

Pam said...

came by way of acey's...wow the pics are beautiful...very colorful. some of it made me hungry. i'm a coke person, too...though i'm trying not to drink too much of it now! LOL :)

eye in the sky said...

thanks for dropping by, ciara. thanks for the nice words. some meals don't seem complete without coke, but like you, am trying to cut down too. but as a guilty pleasure, its really not all that bad. :->

Mark said...

Really very nice information related to luang prabang travel