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 movie “P.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:
very nice. nagutom tuloy ako. ;->
hey man if you ever need an assistant... holler up this way.
@lucy: me too.
@anonymous: which way? lol. thanks for dropping by.
I love the dragonfruit being sold here. Good thing have not encountered the purplish stain you were describing...
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 (:
wow, wow, woooow!!!!! they all look good! and those dragon fruits! wow. :D
@ 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.
@rica: i meant, "regional" hehe
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 :)
@ 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
@ acey: as good as your avocado concoction, i'm sure. :->
@ 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...
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
prutas! pagkain! im salivating he he
@abou: ako din. :->
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
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 :)
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. :->
Really very nice information related to luang prabang travel
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