Souphailin Restaurant — Restaurant in Oudomxay

Read some reviews so decided to check myself. As I approached the Souphailin restaurant, the owner/chef hailed me from the front door and ushered me into her rustic and genuine space.

I was never offered a menu (the online menu must be a decade old once you compare those prices with the bill you end up with) so I told her through google translate that I trusted her cooking and could she do two small dishes with sticky rice.

I got bamboo soup and stir fry bamboo with chicken. When she came to me and showed me the bamboo prior to cooking, I confirmed them that each dish would cost 50,000 Kip.

Two young girls arrived carrying two big beerlao. They’d obviously been sent round to the corner shop to buy my beer. They took great delight in pouring my beer while posing for photos.

The meal was originally good, the dark soup broth based on I don’t know what and the stir fry bamboo tasty but not as spicy as I thought I was going to get. Sticky rice was perfect.

The bill was 140,000 Kip (1 beer Lao), the experience really good, the food ok, the atmosphere was original and untouched like walking back in time and the service was friendly...

When we arrived, Souphailin was sleeping, but she woke up quickly and welcomed us warmly and with a big smile. We took the Pad Thai, which was really good, tasty, full of flavors. We waited 30min, which is not so much for food freshly cooked. If you are in a rush, just go in the center where they have the pots ready to serve, but not so good! Prices are a little bit higher than other places, but as travelers, we cannot always be cheap, taking and enjoying from poor country for our low budget travel; it's also okay to give and participate a little in enriching the local population. We were really happy to give our money to this woman and came back the evening. We had the rice pineapple banana, which was REALLY good! Highly...

Take your time and enjoy the food and your company..

What a place! Hidden behind plants and a bamboo entrance you will find two tables that will be served with freshly cooked food.

There's a lot of options- many vegetarian ones as well. While you wait, as every meal is prepared after another, you can learn some Lao (first side of menue), grab a book from the bookshelf, read through the extensively filled guestbook or check out the inside - with loads of photos from her throughout her life in the kitchen.

The wait is long but worth it (we were 3 persons and sat for over 2 hours). The food is...