Le Calao restaurant — Restaurant in Luang Prabang

Chanced upon this place while looking for a dinner place nearby on a holiday where many restaurants were closed and it seemed like a storm was coming. The interior is posh and tastefully decorated and they play nice instrumental music. I sat indoors and it got really warm so I asked for the fan which they gladly obliged. There was a young thin male waiter who was very friendly, polite and attentive. I was the only dining customer. I ordered the Tom yum goong (asked for it to be less spicy) with rice, lime juice and coconut ice cream. The Tom yum goong soup was very diluted and honestly tasted like instant soup stock. For the price, the amount and size of prawns was dismal. They were of varying sizes, some really tiny shrimps :( The rice was hard, dry and undercooked. It was a rather disappointing meal given the price and classy ambience. The coconut ice cream was delicious though. It was nutty with bits of coconut inside. Service by the numerous staff were attentive, almost too much as they kept peeping at me, as if i might suddenly run off. Later when paying, the waitress behaved as if I was going to dine and dash. She only thanked me after checking and counting that I had paid in full. Not a nice way to...

If you have been eating Lao food for a week or two then this is a great "antidote".

We planned to go to Elephant but it was closed and the concierge at our hotel knew they had the same owner; so we went to Le Calao.

A great old, restored yet still slightly dilapidated colonial building oozing charm.

The waiter was a friendly lad with good English and knowledge of Western food and wine.

The bar staff knew their stuff and we got really good martini and margarita.

For mains we had duck, local beef and rabbit, cooked 'just so', and the gratin to die for. A good 6-yr old Australian red helped the food go down and the waiter decanted it without being asked.

Great, and obviously, house-made honey and ginger ice cream accompanied by eau de vie prune and...

Had lunch on the terrace- fried Mekong fish and frogs legs. Very simple prep- the dried rub on the fish was perfect, the garlic on the frog legs was classic but could have used a bit of sugary/spicy dipping sauce imo. I put the frog sauce in the fish and vice versa. I was told Lao frogs are scrawny but they were fine. The chocolate mousse was ~2+ days old; it was clear the stale cookie on top had been removed, when they should have just told me it wasn't available. Gin sling too sweet, Lao gin and tonic interesting to try. Seems to be the same owner or restauranteur as bistro bat van sene and l’elephant but better cooking in my opinion. it's a bit tiresome seeing the same menu items at different places. one of the best in LPB, but we’re not talking Michelin...