Region: Northern Laos> Province: Xieng Khuang> Location: Phonsavan

General

Keo Kong Guesthouse - Limited but great food and good backpacker meeting
Phonsavan - Xieng Khuang
Tel: (061) 211 354;

The menu might be limited at Keo Kong, but the dishes they do cook are delicious. The laap has a little kick and a lot of zest, the spring rolls are fresh and tasty, and the curry is creamy with well balanced flavours. The atmosphere is pretty cool, with a wooden balcony in the front garden offering cushion seating on the floor. Old bomb casings and war remnants decorate the garden, and one particularly large example serves as the fireplace for a small open fire on busy evenings. At night they often screen a documentary about the war and its effects, particularly focusing on the local devastation.

It's a good place to meet other backpackers, particularly if you're looking to join a group tour of the Plain of Jars the next day.
Type of Food: Lao /

Saing Tavanh Restaurant - Extensive menu
Phonsavan - Xieng Khuang

At the top of the T-intersection, next to and associated with Saing Tavanh Guesthouse, sits the restaurant of the same name. It's a largish place: a mix of family home and working restaurant. The menu is extensive, with plenty of variety and lots of very Lao dishes. The menu even includes fresh cow dung, beef with pickled eel and the local speciality of swallows served baked, fried or stewed. Plenty of food more palatably described is also available. Particularly good is the stir-fried asparagus, and the tom yum, although the vegetable spring rolls are a little disappointing. Worth a try… at least for a look at the bottles of rice whisky lining the walls, all filled with different health-giving herbs.
Type of Food: Lao /