Lao Food in Luang Prabang Laos

Lao Food in Luang Prabang Laos

Lao food in Luang Prabang was actually quite tasty as most of the local hawkers or coffee shops serve excellent Lao food which is a little similar to the Vietnamese and Cambodian style food. So if you have been to either of the those countries and tried the local food there, then it should not be a problem trying the Lao Food here. If not, there is always a first.

Luang Prabang - Lao Baguette stall

Luang Prabang is also famous for the local Lao Baguette. They are found throughout Laos at makeshift stalls by the roadside or coffee shops sell them. Some of the restaurants may even serve the Lao Baguette. I personally tried one baguette a day from different vendors and they all tasted almost similar. Most of them are served with roast chicken stuffed with fresh cut vegetables and herbs.

Video of a Lao hawker making a Lao baguette

Lao local food - Grilled pork and fish

Exploring Luang Prabang's back lanes and outer roads from town, I came across many local road side stalls that sold all kinds of Lao delicacy. A lot of them were mainly roasted or grilled above charcoal fire or wood fire. Grilled pork, chicken and fish were the usual suspects at most of the stalls.

Lao delicacy - Fertilized Duck eggs

Even in Luang Prabang main town area, there was a side lane filled with various Lao hawkers selling all kinds of local Lao food. Some which looked totally delicious while others looked pretty odd to the foreigner. Among the odd ones I encountered were a bucket of eggs with numbers written on each of the egg. I asked the stall owner what they were and she politely told me that they were the age in weeks of the unborn ducklings inside the egg. Alright, that is something I am not going to try but I was told that the locals love it there. They are Fertilized Duck Eggs by the way.

Luang Prabang local hawker food

Other roadside makeshift stalls sold mainly Lao soup noodles or fried noodles. I did try some but not at the road side stalls. I opted for the coffee shop soup noodles which were equally tasty from what I was told.


If you walk along the main road along the Mekong River, you will be greeted by many restaurants that have outdoor seating with a beautiful view of the mighty Mekong River. This is one of the popular tourist places with local staff there speaking good English and serve a variety of local Lao and Western food. If hawkers or roadside stalls are not your style, then I suggest you give these places a go. Most tourist are seen here trying the local Lao food and having a cup of Lao Coffee admiring the scenic views.

Mekong River Restaurant Menu

Before you go into some of the Mekong River View restaurants, there are huge picture menus outside for you to decide on. This makes things a whole lot easier to understand what you are going to order.

Mekong River Restaurant Drinks

I couldn't help but give it a try since the weather was pretty cooling and the view was beautiful. The restaurant was simple and we ordered some authentic Lao coffee, some Iced Lemon Tea and a roast chicken baguette the size of an American football, which we only ate half and took the other half on our exploration around town. I could understand why travelers would sit with a book and pass the afternoon here sipping some good Lao coffee.

Luang Prabang Mekong River Restaurant View

The overall view was fantastic considering the restaurant was naturally shaded by the huge riverside trees. They sell Beer Lao and also Wines at some of the restaurants, a perfect setting for some travelers.

Luang Prabang local coffee shop menu

Moving to another area near the Dara Market in Luang Prabang town area, we found a nice little corner Lao coffee shop which served mainly locals. In we went and the waitress didn't even speak a word of English, so the lady shop owner had to take our order. I hesitated at first but looking at the interesting menu, I ended up ordering the Lao Fried Rice while Lilian ordered some Lao Soup Noodles and some authentic pure Lao Black Coffee. The food was great with no complaints but the coffee........

Authentic Lao Coffee

The Lao Coffee was really interesting for the both of us. In the picture above, you see Lao black coffee with condense milk at the bottom and served with a coffee spoon. So, what one has to do is stir in the condense milk with the coffee, giving it a good mix and then drink it. But in this scenario, after stirring the condensed milk, the coffee still remained black. Alright, maybe it's like that so Lilian has a go and wow! Just sipping one spoon of the coffee and she could not take it. The Lao Coffee was just too strong. In fact, it was the strongest coffee she had ever tasted and we left it as it was, paying the bill and moving on.

Lao Food - Lao soup noodles

Luang Prabang fresh herbs from a local market

Other than trying out the local food in Luang Prabang, we did walk to a local market selling fresh produce for the locals. All we saw were just shops and shops of fresh vegetables, herbs and dried goods. The Lao people tend to cook a lot with local grown herbs which gives the food a very distinctive taste compared to Southeast Asian cooking.

Luang Prabang Town - Coconut vendor

My conclusion to the Lao local food - Please try whatever you see that would suit you and also the Lao Baguette. Don't forget the traditional Lao Coffee. Lao food is pretty much clean and tasty especially when they use the local fresh herbs and vegetables. We hardly ha any stomach issues while trying out the local food and saw many foreigners having a go at the local stalls. If you have a very weak stomach, then you should not attempt this.

Visit the UNESCO World Heritage Website for Luang Prabang

Best time to visit Luang Prabang

• Between October and March
• May till October - Rainy Season
• March till May - Tempreture of 90 to 100 degrees F
  

My other Laos and Luang Prabang blog postings:

Luang Prabang Night Market
Luang Prabang Town Part 1
Luang Prabang Hotels, Buildings and Restaurants Part 2
Whisky Village in Luang Prabang
Pak Ou Buddha Caves in Luang Prabang
Phu Si Hill in Luang Prabang

Talat Sao Morning Market in Vientiane
Food in Vientiane
Patuxai Arch in Vientiane
That Luang Stupa (Golden Stupa) in Vientiane
Buddha Park (Xieng Khuan) in Vientiane

~ David Jr

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