Tangor, bistro tropical — Restaurant in undefined

EDIT EDIT :D

Since Thibault likes educating foreign tourists on “deep respect for Laotian culture,” let me share what it actually looks like he is doing in Luang Prabang. From the outside, it comes across less like cultural respect and more like running a French-owned resto bar in the priciest tourist street, selling imported wine at European restaurant prices. Gives grey-zone foreign business model Laos says it does not officially allow.

He says he is “giving jobs to the locals,” but to me it looked like the kind of low-wage service work that typically ends if a business closes. If you know the ‘colonial’ pattern in the region, locals serve and, at the end of the day, leave without equity, while the profit and brand remain with foreign ownership. In some cases, a local’s name is added on paper to meet legal requirements, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they hold any meaningful control or benefit. Whether the registered owner is a local spouse or another nominee, the structural power and profit often remain exactly where they started.

And back to Thibault, operating a commercial venue serving alcohol is directly at odds with Buddhist norms, so the “respect” here is more marketing spin than lived practice. This isn’t about preserving Lao culture, it’s deriving a kick from bothering a European solo female traveler in a rude tone.

If you want to really support locals, there are plenty of local family businesses too :)

EDIT: Dear Thibault,

Thank you for your message. Since you’ve raised concerns about what is “deeply inappropriate” in Lao culture, allow me to offer a perspective on what is globally inappropriate:

Following a woman through town the next day, after she left a review, while she is seated alone, minding her own business, and making it clear that your original intervention was not welcome, is not respectful. It is intrusive. It is patronising. And it is far more offensive, both culturally and personally, than placing a foot on the edge of a chair or a wooden beam.

You did not follow me out of concern. You followed me out of discomfort at not being deferred to, and this message is an elaborate attempt to reframe that discomfort as virtue. As a foreign business owner profiting off Laos’s tourism economy, invoking Lao cultural norms as a moral cudgel when it suits your authority is not “integrity”.

Please, in future, leave women to enjoy their afternoons in peace. Or “embarrass” themselves in peace if they choose to.

I had just spent a significant amount on a meal elsewhere in a country whose economy you profit off and where the average daily wage is a fraction of what your establishment charges, and I was not disrupting anyone.

The fact that you were “off duty with your kids” yet still felt entitled to correct, follow, and moralise at a solo tourist says far more about your boundaries than mine.

I do not owe you gratitude for that intrusion. And your disappointment that I failed to perform the correct level of submissiveness in return is not a moral failing on my part. It simply reveals that what you called “help” was, in fact, about control.

Tldr; “Thank you” for proving the point. Kindly don’t do it again.

—— Approached by the (presumably French, judging by the accent) proprietor with the opening line: “Do you speak English?”—an ironic start, considering he didn’t wait for a full sentence before cutting me off to deliver a cultural etiquette lecture.

Apparently, sitting quietly on a veranda with one’s feet up is a grave offence to Laotian sensibilities—while patronising other foreigners in a foreign country is perfectly...

The setting was ok, but we went to way better places on this stretch and area. I asked to try the white wine before ordering a carafe and was given under half a sip, little odd and tight but nevertheless i ordered the carafe. I had to explain that it wasn't cold so the staff put it in an ice bucket with a few bits of ice only so it never chilled really. The manager (we pressumed) was there but never checked on our meal or experience, or said anything about the wine not being chilled. My partner had the burger which was fine but the portion was a bit small and the chip portion was tiny. I ordered the baked camembert and this was not good at all. It was luke warm, not hot or melted, so you had to cut it into wedges. The worst baked camembert I've had, it's something we normally enjoy dipping bread into but you can't dip if it's not even melted and barely warm! All in all, a disappointing dinner with...

Simply the best option in town for romantic lounging and dining: the cosy and nostalgic decor, warmly lit at night is becoming iconic of Luang Prabang! Tangor has a very unique menu that blends elegantly French cuisine and Indochinese flavours in an innovative fashion, wether in their meals or even in their house cocktails. The wine and whisky selection is great and the service is outstanding, one of the best in Laos in a private establishment, because the Laotian staff is well trained by the ever present french owners, who often do the service themselves to keep in touch with the customers. Their constant involvement and dedication are the key reasons for Tangor to remain one of the very best restaurant in Luang Prabang, a beautiful experience for the first timers to Laos, and an institution of sorts among...