Text and Photos by Mick Shippen

On any other day, Luang Prabang would be a delight to explore on foot. The historic town, which occupies a slender finger of land at the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers, is home to some of Laos’ most exquisite temples, charming cafes, and stylish boutiques. But shortly after my wife and I arrived in town, the heavens opened. We were, for the day at least, going nowhere. And we couldn’t be happier because our hotel of choice for our two-night getaway was the luxurious Avani+ Luang Prabang.

Hemmed in by rain, we gravitated to the hotel’s Main Street Bar & Grill for lunch. Ordinarily, a hotel restaurant wouldn’t be our first choice if we wanted to experience local flavors, but we were soon glad the storm had blown us this way. The Avani had recently appointed Cherd Thamrongsuksir as its new Executive Chef. As he explained at our table, he had refreshed the entire menu and although it aimed to please an international clientele, Chef Cherd also included several notable Luang Prabang dishes. The most intriguing was lon som moo, an unusual pork soup featured in the bible of royal Lao cuisine, Traditional Recipes of Laos by Phia Sing, a former chef at the royal palace in Luang Prabang during the mid-1900s. The work was compiled by Alan Davidson (the British Ambassador to Laos from 1973-75, and later an accomplished food writer) after he was given Phia Sing’s original notebooks by the then-Crown Prince. Released in the early 80s by a small UK publisher, it has remained a niche book.

It was interesting to discover that Chef Cherd had chosen to draw inspiration from its pages and introduce diners to a little-known dish. Lon som moo is a fascinating choice as it includes coconut milk, an ingredient more associated with Thai food than Lao, and cured fish roe used as a seasoning, giving the dish its distinctive blush-pink color.

The new menu at Main Street Bar & Grill also includes two other well-known Luang Prabang dishes of interest; a green salad with an egg yolk dressing which is now a classic in the town but influenced by the French colonial era, and the local version of the famous spicy raw papaya salad, tam mak houng, which slices the papaya into broad ribbons and uses nam pou, or crab paste, to season the dish. Also noteworthy is the chef’s khao phat khem khong, a tasty egg-topped fried rice dish accompanied by Lao sausage and crispy pork skin, and his perfect ending, pandan pudding with mixed fruit in a luscious coconut milk sauce. Fortunately, Chef Cherd kindly invited my wife to join his one-on-one cookery class. And so later that day, she spent an engaging, insightful, and fun afternoon discovering the secrets and nuances of Luang Prabang cuisine including lon som moo. The best part, of course, is that following the class we could sit down to eat the dishes in the relaxed and elegant surroundings of Main Street Bar & Grill. 

Main Street Bar & Grill at Avani+ Luang Prabang is open daily from 6:30 am to 11:00 pm. Chef Cherd’s cooking classes are available daily. Visit avanihotels.com for more information.

Big Flavors at Little Lao

The next day, blessed with sunshine, we walked the length of the Sisavangvong Road to Wat Xieng Thong. Here, the rouge-colored walls are decorated with glistening glass mosaics that depict scenes of daily life in the rural north. Later, over lunch at Little Lao Culture Bar, we discovered that this rich cultural heritage, bound by Buddhist rituals and the seasonal rhythms of the rice fields—indeed the artistry of the mosaic itself—inspired this beautiful new restaurant.

Little Lao is set in a lovingly restored French-era shophouse midway down Sisavangvong Road. Its menu offers an impressive 22 kinds of jeo, Lao dips and relishes ordered as small sides to enliven appetizers and main dishes. The chef’s repertoire includes classics such as jeo mak len, a spicy tomato and chili dip, as well as the Luang Prabang favorites, jeo bong, a sticky and robustly flavored chili jam served best enjoyed with grilled meats, and jeo khing, a ginger and peanut relish. The selection of mains also features local classics such as sai oua keuang, an herb-rich pork sausage, and aw lam, a hearty beef stew seasoned with pepperwood vine.

 At Little Lao, the chef also gives a respectful nod to Phia Sing’s legacy with a dish featured in Traditional Recipes of Laos, khai khouam, boiled eggs stuffed with ground pork and herbs, then dipped in beaten egg and fried. Little Lao has quickly gained a reputation for its creative cocktails which can be savored with your meal in the main restaurant, or upstairs in the chic bar, Sun Song Social. The cocktail menu includes Mak Houng Dong, a mix of tequila infused with chili, pickled papaya, cucumber, rice, and lime, and Sakhaan, a blend of gin, bael fruit, and pepperwood vine. 

Little Lao is open 11 am – 11:30 pm, and Sun Song Social from 5 pm – 11.30 pm, every day except Wednesday. Discover more on Facebook: Little Lao Culture Bar.

More newcomers

Also on Sisavangvong Road, look out for the recently opened Tumwan, a pounded salad restaurant, though the array of dishes on the menu is more Thai-style than Lao. At Maison Sam San, you can browse locally made crafts on the ground floor, sip freshly brewed Lao teas on the second, or ascend to the rooftop bar on the third floor where you can see Luang Prabang’s main street from a new perspective, sundowner in hand. Tucked away down a leafy side alley is Lost in Baan. Think art on the walls, vinyl on the turntables, and Asian fusion food on the plates. 

GETTING THERE

Lao Airlines has frequent flights from Vientiane, Hanoi, Chiang Mai, and Pakse to Luang Prabang.

MORE INFO

visit these restaurants on Facebook

 – Tumwan

 – Maison Sam San

 – Lost in Baan