Khaiphaen — Restaurant in Luang Prabang

On my first exhausted day here in this town, I was looking to have my first meal of the day in the evening. Having chanced upon this food stall was a great blessing.

I was surprised by their pride in giving a restaurant style service. Iced water was served without asking. My first dish is the minced meat salad paired with jasmine rice— it resembles the Thai Larb salad but not as spicy. The effort they took to decor the dish (chilli) was really impressive given the price tag.

I was asked by the server if I wanted a dessert. I said no at first and after changing my mind, it ends up being one of the best gastronomic experience in Laos!

I ordered the ‘Cashew Nut Banana Fritters With Coconut Ice Cream’.

I have tasted banana fritters from the origins of Indonesia which tends to be thickly battered and deep fried. Laos version was so unique. It’s skin was so thin, covered with fine cashew nuts and it’s barely even oily. Crispy on the outside yet soft on the inside. On the plating was a dash of lime zest sugar syrup as a dipping sauce evoking a pleasant delight. Accompanied with a unique coconut ice cream that taste so organic and so full of goodness.

I have never tasted such a unique meal in such a nice & cooling indoor too. Price was affordable. Thank you for the tasty food & warm service, it ended my bad day on a beautiful note.😌🌿

P.S They are a non profit who raise fund to help train more young locals in hospitality to give them a brighter future. Great hearts of...

One of our two favorite restaurants in LP, the menu has only 9 main dishes. 6 of them are authentic Lao. Presentation and taste were amazing. We had Or-Lam which is a staple stew invented in LP with pepper wood, eggplant, pork and wild forest greens. A must try while in LP and this version was quite tasty with a smoky aromatic flavor.

Lao sausages are a huge surprise for me. Having lived in Thailand for 4 years, all pork sausage is literally a piece of pork with red food coloring and they dip it in spicy sauces. In Lao, their version is an amazingly flavorful array of local spices served with a Jhao (Lao dipping sauce) that will differ with location. Their portion is a bit larger than most. It’s not greasy and I couldn’t get enough.

The side was a version of long beans with an amazing flavor thanks to brown butter mixing with lime and cashews. Common dish in Lao but this is the best rendering we had.

Dessert was better than most Asian desserts which our western palate finds boring or too sweet. Banana fritters with coconut ice cream was a perfect finish. The coconut pandan panna cotta was equally excellent and well with ordering.

Prices are about in line with the better touristy restaurants but the quality of food is higher than most in our opinion. The place is small so go at by 6 or call ahead to reserve. Excellent...

Edited as I visited again the following night!

Excellent food and great service.

Unfortunately on the first night I was only able to try one dish, the chicken curry, as they had run out of my starter choice (aubergine dip) as well as rice, which I thought odd at 8pm, but they gave me some nice toasted baguette with garlic. Curry sauce was not quite as good as I’ve found in thailand, flavour could have been a bit more intense but it was packed with chicken & veg and still delicious with the subtler flavour.

I came back the next night and was able to try three other dishes. The aubergine dip was fresh and one of the vegetables it came with was completely new to me which adds to the experience. Everything in the fish & chips dish was full of flavour, a herby tartare sauce, crispy seaweed (actually riverweed, from the Mekong), fresh mango salad… and then the banana fritters and ice cream, wow that blew me away!

Well worth a visit, if not more than one, especially given how they are supporting the community through education...