Vientiane Lao Thai Restaurant — Restaurant in Garden Grove

Solid Laotian food at affordable prices. This place used to be a hole-in-the-wall with only a handful of tables. Now, everyone knows about it thanks to word of mouth and Yelp.

I sat with a regular who came in just for beer. He told me that to keep up with the demand, Vientiane doubled the size of their dining area several years ago. The place has become so popular that they even have the guts to charge 19% gratuity for parties of 10 or more.

Kao poon: Laotian rice noodle soup with a heavy coconut milk broth. Unlike the khao soi, a popular soup noodle trending in Thai restaurants recently, the kao poon is a much more mild dish. The broth is neither heavily spiced nor overbearingly sour, instead it tastes split between sweet and tangy. Most of the spiciness is produced from the galangal, but with low intensity, as it is covered up by the generous amount of coconut milk added. The broth is somewhat thick and silky, leading me to believe some coconut cream is used in the kao poon.

The other half of the kao poon are the thin rice noodles that soaks up the rich coconut broth. I chose fish as the topping. It was served in pounded form (I guess that's the local Lao prep) that drowned in the broth and was not remarkable. The kao poon was accompanied with a tray of banana blossoms, dried mints, and cabbage, a similar set to what is served with Vietnamese bun bo hue.

Kao poon was hearty and flavorful, but I would probably skip it since noodles in a cloying broth is not my thing. I didn't feel like the ingredients meshed with a sweet broth. I personally prefer the khao soi more for its spicier soup base, and I would rather eat soup noodle with a chicken leg than pounded meat.

Sai oua: Laotian pork sausages served with a fiery nam prik dipping sauce is Vientiane's bread and butter specialty. From what I observed, Vientiane sources sausages which undergo a fermentation process. As I understand, the fermentation is to develop the sausage's sour flavor and soft interior texture.

Vientiane chefs grill the sausages on point, the exterior is made crisp before served. It was perfect. The nam prik blend was a few notches less fiery than expected (probably 7/10 spice level, less intimidating than it appears), instead it was just extremely pungent with a hint of sweetness. This dipping sauce was somewhat aggravating to the tongue, I liked it. In addition to Thai chili, there was definitely a generous amount of fish sauce and garlic added in the nam prik. Its strong savory flavors paired very well with the grilled pork sausages. I think that the sausage is a must-order at Vientiane. If you like the nam prik, Vientiane stocks a few varieties in the beverage refrigerator for customers to purchase.

The last time I checked into Vientiane, it was crowded even on a weekday. I don't think it is still an unknown hole in the wall anymore. If you haven't yet, go check out Vientiane Thao-Laos before you become the last Yelper to try excellent Laotian food in...

Parking: Free parking. They’re located in a busy plaza, but I noticed people are always going in and out. So parking can somewhat be easy to find.

Ambiance/Environment: They have a small space with limited seating. We came in @17:30, and we just missed the dinner rush. It started getting busy closer to @18:00. You can either dine in or order take out.

Service: Everyone was courteous, but special shout out to our server Ethan! He took great care of us. I will say we did wait a while for our orders. We waited approximately 35 minutes for our food.

Food & drinks: They have a large menu filled with traditional Lao and Thai dishes.

1. Pho Lao - Lao original rice noodle soup with beef balls, sliced beef, green onion, cilantro, and bean sprouts. This was my first time trying Lao pho, and it did not disappoint! They only offer one size, and I’d consider it a large bowl. The broth was very delicious, generous amount of meat, and lots of noodles. I’d prefer less toppings of yellow onion, but I really enjoyed this dish. 4/5

2. Rad Na - Fried rice noodle, topped with beef gravy, made of Chinese vegetables and chicken. The chicken and Chinese broccoli were cooked well. Everything was drenched in the beef gravy. The beef gravy was too salty for me, but everything else was good. 3.5/5

3. Nam Kao Tod - Crispy fried rice. You can tell which pieces were fried on the outside and which were on the inside. The outside pieces of the rice were definitely crispy. Fair warning, you might get some pieces stuck to your teeth lol. I really enjoyed this basic rice dish. 4/5

4. Thai Tea - Really refreshing. You can see the layers of tea and creamer. I believe the ratio is 50% tea and 50% creamer. It wasn’t too sweet, but I’d prefer the tea flavor would be stronger. 4/5

5. Green Thai Tea - This was also refreshing. The green tea flavor definitely came through. It wasn’t too sweet either and perfect amount of creamer. 4/5

Pricing: Prices are $$$ which is basically the average price now. Our total came out to $68.19 (tip included). I’d say it’s worth it. We enjoyed our dishes and...

This is definitely a hole in the wall restaurant. My boyfriend had showed me this place after eating with his family. My first impression was that the interior needed some TLC. There aren't too many tables so there might be a wait. The last time I went on a Friday at 6, there was still tables, but once it hit 7 there were at least 8 groups waiting outside for a table.

This place was definitely an example of "don't just a book by its cover". The food was surprisingly very good and well priced! The dishes are family style so the portions are pretty big. I've tried the Pad Thai and Pad See Ew. Tasty, but nothing special with these two. The Khua Mee Lao is kind of like pad thai, but a Laos version (i could be wrong...). It is verrry good and definitely worth ordering. If you're looking for a fried rice dish, get the crispy fried rice. It's different and interesting. It comes with sour pork, which I wasn't really a fan of, but can be easily picked out. Crying Tiger is a hit or miss at this place. The first time I came, they cooked the beef really well, but the second time it was overcooked and chewy. The sauce it comes with is...