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Top 5 best food streets in Vientiane
Cuisine itself is an attractive feature of tourism showing both the culture and history of a destination. When talking about cuisine in Laos, many may mistake the country’s cuisine with its neighbors’ cuisine like Thailand or Vietnam. Why don’t we spend time discovering the differences between those by ourselves? Let us help you craft the map of Top 5 best food streets in Vientiane before you start your own journey.
1. Ban Anou Night Market:
We start the list of Top 5 best food streets in Vientiane with Ban Anou Night Market. This is one of the most popular night markets in Vientiane and is home to a wide range of food stalls. The night market offers a great option from local foods to foreign foods. You will be amazed with hundreds of different dishes it offers. If you wish to savor something local and basic, let take Klao Niaw (sticky rice).
This is a very popular food in daily meal of Laotians. Laotian people may be the one who consume the most Klao Niaw. Basically, Klao Niaw is sticky rice and eaten as main course in daily meal. So when you visit a Laotian family, you can easily see that there is a Klao Niaw steamer in daily meal of many Laotian families. Klao Niaw can be enjoyed with port floss, grilled meat or fish cooked with sauce.
2. Lane Xang:
Coming next in the list of Top 5 best food streets in Vientiane is Lane Xang. The street stretches from the Presidential Palace to all the street of Pha That Luang. The variety of foods offered here can surely satisfy you. No matter which food you choose to take, this is a practical chance for you to learn the taste and get familiar with Laotian cuisine.
Remember to take Laap – considered as the national dish of Laos. Laap is a perfect mix of different meats and vegetables like onion, peppermint, garlic and lemon juice. Laap is another perfect fit for Klao Niaw as well.
3. Pha That Luang:
A night bazaar near Pha That Luang is a great place for those who prefer somewhere less mainstream and crowded. When wandering around the place, let try out Khao tom.
This dish is made from sticky rice and coconut cream wrapped in banana leaf and then streamed. To boost the flavor, the cookers may add some peas, beans or pork fat to it. For those who love sweet flavor, Khao tom is perfect food for you.
4. Ban Haysoke:
Sitting at the junction of Chao Anou and Rue Hengboun Roads, Ban Haysoke is a perfect place for you to find some yummy dishes and spend your night out. If you wish to eat up all kinds of snacks, then heading to Ban Haysoke is totally a right choice. The famous snack of Laos is Lao sausage. This food is made from pork meat with herbs like shallots, kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, cilantro, galangal enjoyed with fish sauce.
Another similar food is sour pork sausage but sour pork sausage is fermented for 2-3 days until it is ready to consume. In detail, sour pork sausage is made of raw pork meat, then it is fermented with garlic, some peppers to boost the flavor. After that, the mixture is wrapped into banana leaf and leave in normal room condition for 2-3 days. Then it is ready to use right away or you can fry it and enjoy with chili sauce.
5. Mekong River area:
If you wish to find a place to enjoy walking alongside the Mekong River while exploring the food there, then the night bazaar near here is a wonderful choice. This area gives a perfect nightspot for both locals and foreign visitors when in Vientiane City. The night bazaar here provides a good selection of trinkets and clothes. And of course you can find plenty of food stalls setting along the river.
Would you like to try something green to balance the taste? Let give a try for green papaya salad. This is a very popular dish in Laos making from sliced unripe papaya blended with sour lime, sugar, chili, fish sauce and salt. If you want to you can ask the sellers to add meat or fish to the dish. So yummy and worth a try.
Some places in the list of Top 5 best food streets in Vientiane only open in the evening like the Ban Anou Night Market or the night bazaar near Mekong River area, so remember to spend your nighttime heading there to both enjoy the night and savor the scrumptious foods. For more interesting suggestions to discover Vientiane to the fullest, check out some related articles below:
