Muang Kham
Eat and meet
Muang Kham
Eating in Muang Kham tends to revolve around making sure your table offers a good vantage point to the bus station.Nang Orn Ta Restaurant across the road from the bus station is the only really good vantage point for sitting while you wait during the many hours that the bus from Vientiane to Sam Neua may come. They have a big pile of fruit out the front, which unfortunately includes neither papaya nor cucumber, so spicy-sour salads made of these fruits are not an option. They manage an interestingly delicious version of this using pomelo.
Nang Orn Ta also have a row of pots on a table that are less than appetising by the end of the day. For freshly cooked food there is very little choice, with no menu and very few ingredients to work with. What they do produce is bland and uninteresting. The speciality of the shop is pho but even their version of this Lao staple is nothing special, although the restaurant is pretty popular with the locals.
There's a bigger restaurant a little further along. The view of the oncoming buses is not so good, but give it try and keep your eyes sharp.
Up the main road a little way from the bus station is a large, modern restaurant clearly used for weddings and other celebrations. At all other times it is a noodle soup restaurant, but unlike the other places in town, they have a menu in English with a decent range of dishes. The food is good, but can be a little oily, and the prices are reasonable. Definitely the culinary pick of Muang Kham.
